I love it when a coach has a clear and compelling offer: one that is easy to understand and easy to buy with confidence, confidence stemming from a clear understanding of what exactly I’m getting myself into.
For me, the gold standard for a clear coaching offering is the N-session package, where N is some number.
What should that number be? Anything between 4 and a dozen seems to work very well.
It’s better than a one-off, which feels too transactional. A one-off is great for a tune up for your car when it’s making a funny noise. In coaching, a one-off is like stopping in for advice, an exchange of information and then “so long, good luck”. That lacks the continuity and accountability needed to let the work build upon itself and really move towards something1That said, when you’ve already built a working rapport with your client, there’s a great way to offer this as a sort of “Phone a friend” service..
N-sessions is also better than indefinite coaching. When there’s no time bound, there’s no firm pressure to get things done. Parkinson’s Law kicks in: “work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion”. Plus it’s not clear what the time and money commitment will ultimately be, and no one wants to have an awkward break up conversation.
Therefore: some number that allows building upon, yet is reasonably bounded.
Four sessions is just enough for an arc: the beginning, an end, and a middle that’s longer than either endcap.
Twelve works, too. Roughly a season if the cadence is weekly. A not unreasonable commitment, and granting a period of time in which to really accomplish something. It’s a time frame whose end generally doesn’t feel forever away, thus avoiding the worse of Parkinson’s Law.
Whatever the number N, an N-Session package suggests that coach has thought about this, and really knows what tends to work for the sort of results they support.
When designing your package (which can be one of several!), choose its N and explain why.
For example:
Our program works by creating and instilling certain key habits that support healthy work-life balance. Three months tends to work for getting those habits fully ingrained and automatic, and we’ll have roughly 7 bi-weekly sessions to support that.
You can even go further and offer a rough outline of what the numbered sessions are specifically for. For example:
In session 1 and 2 we work with you to define your desired outcomes and establish a baseline for your key habits. In session 3 and 4 we introduce new habits and put them into regular practice. In sessions 5 and 6 we continue to measure and strengthen those habits, course correcting as necessary, and we complete powerfully in session 7, setting you up to take these practices going forward.
Clear commitment. Intelligible plan. Compelling offer.
By setting an Invoicing Plan, CA will automatically manage whatever spread out plans for payment, up to and including processing the payment automatically with a card on file.
Finally, you can make such packages available for clients to sign themselves up for (purchase) in self-service fashion using CA Offerings, which you can embed right on your own website or link to from wherever.
Notes:
- 1That said, when you’ve already built a working rapport with your client, there’s a great way to offer this as a sort of “Phone a friend” service.
