When a lot of coaches first start out in their business, they may work with clients in a few different ways to test out different ways to work with people until they find the best format. Eventually at some point though, after all of the learning, a coach will build their signature coaching program.
In this article I am reviewing the signature coaching program template I have used with great success.
What Is a Signature Coaching Program?
A signature coaching program is the core offer of your business model through which you serve your clients and gain revenue. Typically a signature coaching program is structured in a group format, but many coaches signature programs are 1:1 before they transition to group.
There are different kinds of structures, outcomes, and investments for signature coaching programs. The key is developing a program that both meets your business vision and goals, as well as delivers results to your clients.
Why It’s Important To Have a Signature Coaching Program
It’s important to have a signature coaching program for a few reasons.
First, it streamlines your business.
Imagine (and maybe this is what you’re doing right now) that for every single client that comes to you, you are creating a different offer or way of working with them. While customization can seem like you’re doing everyone a favor, in reality, it’s forcing you to recreate the wheel every time you have a potential new client in front of you. Having a signature coaching program supports both you AND the client in having complete clarity over what the outcomes of your work together will be and how the work is structured.
Second, it creates focus.
The clients I’ve supported that have fast tracked their financial success and their impact have mainly focused on one signature coaching program. This has allowed them to dial in their focus and ensure that their funnel is leading to one core offer that they’re known for.
How To Structure a Signature Coaching Program
Like anything else in your business, it’s important to structure things in a way that is in alignment with your business vision, values, goals and even your personal lifestyle. Structuring your signature coaching program is no different, but there are a few typical core elements that you’ll find as part of a signature coaching program.
- Momentum – How you support your clients in creating their results.
- Content – Actual training or teaching materials.
- Access – Coaching support.
- Bonuses – Incentives to encourage enrollment.
We’ll dive into these a little deeper in the framework below.
A Signature Coaching Program Template & Framework: Step By Step Guide
The following signature coaching program template offers the steps that will support you in designing a strong program.
Step 1: The Who.
The first step in the signature coaching program template is to decide who you want to serve. Now, you may already know this, but it’s always helpful to go through the process of revisiting your ideal client avatar.
One of the most helpful exercises I’ve done to dial into my ideal client avatar is to think about the people I’ve worked with or are currently working with who have both lit me up the most and I’ve gotten the best results for. I reflect on what about them attracted me to working with them and continued to make the partnership enjoyable.
For instance, you could consider personal characteristics like their leadership, communication style, and values. I work with entrepreneurs, so I would also think about what stage of business my favorite clients were in, what resources they had available to them, and what their goals and visions were for their business.
It’s tempting to be really general in who you want to work with, because after all, we all want to have a big impact. But, the more honed in you can get on specifics of who you want to work with, the easier things like messaging, copy and structuring the rest of your program will be! And when you get clear on who you can get the best results for, it will serve both them (in getting said results), and you in feeling fulfilled in consistently supporting the ‘right’ clients in creating a transformation or success.
Step 2: The Why.
For this step, you want to consider WHY someone would want to consider enrolling in your signature coaching program. A lot of times you’ll hear this referred to as ‘Your Program Promise’. What end result or promise are you expecting to deliver that will make your program worthwhile for them to invest in.
It is helpful here to think about the challenges that are facing your prospective clients now, as well as the desired outcomes that they want to achieve by overcoming those challenges. Then craft a solid promise that you know you can deliver on.
Step 3: The How.
Now this is really important and it’s a step a lot of coaches skip over. It’s the how of getting your client from point A (where they are now) to point B (where they want to be).
Breaking down the journey and specifically what steps or process you take clients through to help them achieve the result is crucial to both understanding how you can best structure your program to actually deliver, what trainings or support are absolutely crucial in delivering your promise, as well as creating trust and communication to the client on how you’ll get them there.
Step 4: The What.
Next you’ll want to map out what exactly you will deliver. These are the tangible things your client will receive as part of your signature coaching program. There are four key components to most signature coaching programs.
- Momentum
- Content
- Access
- Bonuses
With any offer (from your signature coaching program all the way to your lead magnet), a key component is momentum. A lot of people will refer to this as the ‘quick win’. Investing time and energy into creating a signature coaching program with all the best content and the most access will not do any clients any good if they don’t actually take action, build momentum, and get results.
The content component of your signature coaching program will be the actual trainings or education your clients receive that help support them in their journey. Content can be delivered in lots of different ways: Pre-recorded video or audio, worksheets, prompts or exercises, live trainings hosted by you or other members of your team or partners.
Access is a very enticing component of your signature coaching program. There’s a saying ‘people buy from people’. And although a lot of people will argue that this sentiment is not true because people also buy from ‘brands’, in the coaching industry, it is quite often that people are enticed to join a program because they feel a connection to you as the coach. They believe that you are the person that can support them in achieving the result or transformation they desire. And so incorporating access to either you, or edified members of your team are important.
Finally, for bonuses this is one I waffle on because quite honestly, even though bonuses can seem like they create more value to a program, a lot of coaches just throw in bonuses without much intention and sometimes it creates more fluff rather than delivering something that is actually going to support the clients in getting a better result. Bonuses are great to support with urgency or scarcity in pressure launches, or are really valuable if they contribute to the result that you want your clients to get. So in my opinion, it’s better to include more impactful bonuses, rather than just throwing everything but the kitchen sink in just to make it seem like the client is getting more ‘stuff’.
Step 5: The When.
When developing or launching your first signature coaching program, it’s highly recommended to deliver your program in cohorts rather than rolling admission, at least at first. And even after you’ve delivered your program several times, sometimes it still makes sense to deliver in cohorts.
But, whichever format you choose, there will always be the ‘whens’ to discuss. For cohorts, meaning programs where clients start and end their program at the same time together, you’ll want to consider what date your program actually launches (starts), what date the program completes, when live calls will be delivered, and the schedule on which trainings or content will be shared.
For rolling enrollment programs that are inviting clients in at any time, you’ll want to consider if you will have certain pushes to enrollment (like a pressure launch) to gain bursts of enrollments, when live calls will be delivered, and the schedule on which trainings or content will be shared.
Step 6: The How Much.
This can be a challenging part of the process – deciding on how much your clients will invest to participate in your program. Here are some activities that can help you dial into your investment price points.
- Feel into it. Think about what feels like a fair exchange for what result you’re promising. If you are selling a program that has a direct return on investment, meaning the client will ‘make back’ their investment in revenue, you can take that into consideration. If there is not a direct return on investment, you can think about what the result you’re promising might feel ‘worth’ to them.
- Research what the market will bear. Research what others that have similar offerings are charging. That doesn’t mean you have to charge what others charge, but it will help you to understand what others are already willing to pay for the same type of services.
- Think about your revenue. Consider how much revenue you desire to earn, how many clients you have the capacity to serve at one time, and what pricing structure would support your goals and capacity.
What To Do Once You Create Your Signature Coaching Program
Start offering it! If only it were that simple (well, sometimes it is).
If you already have leads for your program, you most definitely can start reaching out and having sales conversations to invite qualified people into your program. However, if you do not have leads for your program, then you’ll want to consider how to generate them.
The most helpful first activity that can support your lead generation is to map out your customer journey. During this process, you’ll want to reverse engineer and think about all of the steps that clients are going to take BEFORE they enroll into your program.
What is the step before they enroll (i.e. have a sales call)? What is the step before that (i.e. attend a workshop or go through a shorter course or program that feeds into your signature course)? What is the step before that (i.e. find you on a social media channel and opt in to a free lead magnet)? Working through this process will help you decide what parts of your customer journey you might want in place to generate leads to your program.
Using a signature coaching program template or framework to structure your coaching program is a great way to work smarter and more efficiently. You will never feel like you have enough time, so be sure to make the best use of it for your coaching business.
Having a signature coaching program can support your business in creating a steady revenue stream by using a process that you can continue to refine over and over, to get clients better results. Keep in mind that the first ‘version’ of your program doesn’t have to be what it is going to look like forever.
Like every thing else in business, it will shift and transform as you run it and you learn what works and what you get to improve. You can use the signature coaching program template I shared to help you down the path to success. But the key to making it successful, is just to start!
