What is a Coaching Program, and How is it More Valuable Than Coaching Sessions?

By: Stephanie Tuesday October 6, 2020 comments Tags: product creation, Client attraction, Customer Service, Business planning

 
What is the difference between a coaching program and a series of coaching sessions that aren’t part of a program?

A fellow coach recently asked me this, and I thought it was a very good question. To my knowledge, there is no official consensus regarding what differentiates a program from any other type of coaching, and there are different ways to structure a program.

But there are some criteria that I find useful for making the distinction. In this article, I'll explain what those criteria are, and how they can make coaching programs more valuable for you and your clients than individual coaching sessions.

Criteria 1: The size

Coaching sessions can be sold individually or on a subscription basis, whereas a coaching program is more likely to include a set number of individual sessions, such as 1 group call per week for 3 months, and/or 5 one-on-one calls you can use at any time during the program.

Bundling multiple coaching sessions into a coaching program can help you to sell more sessions to each client, and to increase the odds that the client will stick around long enough to get their desired result.

Criteria 2: The structure and focus

Non-program sessions may all be on the same topic, such as business or relationships, but they aren’t necessarily all steps in the same system with the same specific goal.

A coaching program, on the other hand, usually includes a proven system or series of steps that the client can tailor to their unique situation, as opposed to depending heavily on the coach coming up with advice on the fly.

Also, a program is usually focused on helping the client reach a specific goal, such as building their email list, creating a coaching program, or becoming more attractive to their ideal partner.

This helps clients to have a clearer idea of what they can expect to accomplish through your work together. It can also increase their confidence in your ability to help them get the results you promise, because if this system worked for other people, that's evidence that it can work for them.

Criteria 3: The materials it includes

Because a coaching program is more likely to be structured, it’s also more likely to include bonus materials, such as walkthroughs, templates, scripts, and recipes. These can make it much easier for your clients to get results, and can make the program more valuable than a set of coaching sessions that don't include these things.

It can also include pre-recorded training materials, or recordings of live calls, so your clients can use and benefit from your training even when you aren't actively working. This enables you to coach more people at a time, and to keep serving people and making money even outside of your working hours.

In summary, a coaching program will usually include coaching sessions, but it is generally more structured, more focused on a specific goal, and equipped with more features and bonuses than individual coaching sessions or ongoing coaching subscriptions.

Are you offering a coaching program?

If not, would you like to?

In my new book, I walk you through the process of turning your expertise into a coaching program, so you can coach more clients at a time, or even help them via a pre-recorded course when you’re on vacation or asleep!

Go here to learn more and get your copy.

About the Author: Stephanie

Stephanie is a writer and coaching program design specialist. She helps coaches to design lucrative and life-changing group programs, so they can help more people, make more money, and have more time freedom.