Life Coaching Agreements For Your Protection

Why Have Firm Life Coaching Agreements

As the saying goes "When there are no rules, people make up their own" so one of the first thing you need to do when you start coaching is to create a firm coaching agreement that sets out precisely the terms you operate under with you clients.

It's really easy to assume that when someone works with you that it will be all sweetness and light, and in most cases your coaching relationship with your client will be fruitful for them and rewarding and profitable for you.

However, in these days of "shoot from the hip" litigation, it’s super important to make sure your life coaching agreements, contracts, disclaimers and refund policy are in place to protect your income and reduce your liability. This applies whether your specialty is personal coaching, in all its numerous niches, to working with executives in corporations or owners of small businesses.   

So with that said, let’s first take a look at the content of your agreements, those things  it is vital to have confirmed before you actually start coaching.

What To Include In The Life Coaching Agreement

There are many things you should include in a coaching agreement, from how the sessions will be conducted, to the method and terms of payment of your life coaching fees and your refund policy. These are some of the things I have found really need to be set out very specifically, so there are no misunderstandings or assumptions. 

They should be agreed to with a signature on the agreement from both you and the client and both of you have a copy. For distance clients, get them to print the agreement, sign and scan and email.  

And if there are any variations down the track, make sure they are confirmed by both you and the client in writing.

Here are some of the things it is vital to include: 

Coaching Commitment

Include in your agreement the length and frequency of sessions agreed upon and how they are to be done, face-to-face or remote by phone or online platform, or a mixture. 

You may want to include a sentence that allows for flexibility in the length of the session something like this one:

Sometimes if we are done we may finish a session early. Other times, our schedule  permitting for both of us, we may run over.

Be clear about who calls who?
I did the majority of my sessions by phone or skype, and contrary to what most agreements state, I chose to do the calling, rather than have the client call me. This meant I was't waiting around for late comers or forgetters. I'd try calling twice and then maybe send a text before giving up.

Also be clear about contact between sessions if that is part of your coaching. You can opt for limited text, phone of brief phone calls. It's important to be specific so you are in control of your time and are not at the mercy of a too needy client. 

Missed Sessions:
Be specific about how much notice you require if the client has to reschedule or miss a session if that session is not to be forfeited? Be really firm in your statement on this one. You can always use your discretion to be more lenient in extenuating circumstances. Life happens😀 and you may even need to schedule sometime!

You can also include the rule that if a client is late for a session, the session still ends at the allotted time. You don't have to stick to this but this rule is there if you need it.

Fees and terms of payment

The fees for a session or series of sessions and terms and times of payment you and the client have agreed on should be clearly stated. Most coaches get paid in advance. If you don't get paid in advance  be very wary of letting unpaid sessions build up whatever the excuse. 

Include a precisely worded disclaimer

To protect yourself, make sure the client agrees that all decision and actions they take are a result of their choice not your coaching. This is to ensure there is no comeback to you if things don't work as they hoped. Your lawyer can help with this if needed but I have found this simple disclaimer quite sufficient for life coaching. 

(Your name) role as coach is to facilitate the client towards his/her own choices of action. Whether to make a particular choice or take a particular action is entirely the responsibility of the client. (Your name) accepts no legal responsibility for the actions or outcomes of actions that the client may take as a result of the coaching. 

A disclaimer is especially important if you coach in a physical or mental health related field and are not a licensed therapist. On my page on this site on on achieving Weight Loss Goals, I have a disclaimer that is an example of this you are welcome to adapt. 

Please note: This page is written as general information on goal achievement only. It is in no way intended to be or replace a coaching client's own medical advice. The tips are not intended as medical advice and should not be taken as such. 

If you find you are working with a client who has weight issues, do keep an eye out for a  problem that is really an eating disorder that should be immediately referred on to a relevant therapist. 

Coaching Client Confidentiality

When someone other than the client is paying

When a client comes to you of their own accord, engages you as their coach and pays the fee, it’s a straightforward agreement between you and them.

 But if the coaching is being paid for by someone else such as their employer, a parent a friend, it can get a bit sticky and there are some additional agreements that need to be put firmly in place.

All these need to be clearly stated and understood by the client and the person paying and preferably put in writing as part of the coaching agreement.

 These are five things that need to be considered:

 1. Who is paying for the coaching and how

2. What is the commitment in terms of sessions and time frames

3. Reasons for the coaching to cease and refunds

4. Does the person want to be coached?

5. Communication and Confidentiality

 The first three are pretty straight forward to determine. The last two need to be navigated more carefully.

 Does the prospective client actually want to be coached

Many people are quite happy, even grateful, to have their employer or some other person pay for their coaching, as they can see the real value in it.

 Others may have been pressured into being coached because they are told they “need” it and really defensive or just not interested. Trying to coach somebody who has been reluctantly “dragged” into being coached can present real challenges and end in a poor result for both the coach and the client.

 My solution to this is to insist on having an initial confidential conversation with the prospective client to help enrol them/or not in the process.

 Address any fears or objections they may have and emphasise nothing will be shared with anyone else without their permission.

 Also discuss the benefits of coaching and see if you can get them to come up with a goal for the coaching that really matter to them – a reason why for agreeing to be coached.

Emphasise you are not attached to any particular outcome other than helping them move forward in whatever direction the coaching takes them.

Confidentiality

You may have to be quite firm about the reporting of the coaching to the person paying as, in some cases, they will feel they have a right to know about progress and even what was said in the session etc.

The client may not be happy about their intimate shares being passed on to their employer or family member and as a coach you must respect this.

The client needs to feel safe that what happens and is said in the session is not going to be shared with anyone at any time without their permission. And the person paying needs to respect this.

All you need share is a generalisation such as “It’s going well”, or maybe “we still have some work to do”. Or “I’ll leave it to ……. to tell you if that feels right for him/her.

And if the person paying needs to be brought in as part of the coaching process, then this also should ideally be with the agreement of the person being coached.

No guarantees of results

The person paying may have a particular outcome that they hope the coaching will achieve. So they need to understand that there are no guarantees that the end result will achieve what they were hoping. 

For instance an employee may come to the conclusion that they would be better off leaving the company.

Or a family member may reveal his behaviour has a justified cause or decide to follow a path that the parent disagrees.

Of course all this need to be explained with empathy and no judgement.

In conclusioj, if you have good conversations and make firm agreements with the client and the person paying then you will have made a clear path to a good coaching result.

Creating A Firm Refund Policy

Nobody like to give a refund, but having a clear policy around this essential. Some coaches have a "no refund under any circumstances" type policy but personally I think this is too draconian and can lead to a nasty experience for both the client and the coach.

If you have a refund policy for sessions committed to but not taken, or if the coaching simply is not working out, be specific about the circumstances that would warrant this. Situations such as a real life trauma that occurs for the client or needing to refer the client to a therapist, before the series that has been paid for in advance, is completed. 

There may be clients that you find you just can't coach. They may turn out to simply be uncoachable, at least by you, for whatever reason such as being a a total mismatch or even (as I once had) so oppositional they undermine your coaching confidence. 

Have a clause that allows both the client and the coach to end the coaching agreement if things are really not working out. Be specific about what situations warrant a refund. 

I would add here that I believe it is sometimes better to graciously give a refund (even if it is not really deserved) than to have an unhappy client out in the world putting you and your coaching down to other people. 

Refunds for course and webinar content
Unfortunately, some clients and course participants (in person and online) may request a refund that is completely unjustified. And again sometimes to avoid nastiness it is good policy to just give them their money back so they have no reason to speak badly of you or your coaching.

However occasionally, with online courses, the request is really a well thought out scam to download all of your course content and then say “it was not what I thought it would be, so can I have a refund?"  The answer here is to be really clear in your course or webinar promotions about the syllabus.

Also you could design it so the whole course cannot be downloaded in one click. Rather have it in modules and only offer a refund if the participant is dissatisfied and requests a refund after say two modules.  

Protecting Your Online Website And Course Content

Unfortunately plagiarism - stealing other people's website and course content, is rife in the coaching industry and not new. I once discovered, many years ago, one of my newsletters had been sent out, almost word for word, by another coach under her own name and with no acknowledgement to me. 

So how can you find out if your content has been stollen? I regularly check through a free service called Copyscape. If you discover a large part of something you have on you website or in one of your  newsletters, or webinars has been exactly copied without permission or acknowledgement there are steps to take.

1. Write/email the source that has copied your stuff and request them to remove it.
2. If you receive no answer you can report them to Google.

Google takes a very poor view of "duplicated copy", and will take action on your behalf. The first few paragraphs on the explainer page from Google  will tell it better than I can.

Of course there are some generic things you may have on your website such as a version of "what life coaching is" that do not warrant action. 

It is more difficult to protect the content of "live" presentations. If you discover another coach or trainer has stollen your content without alteration or addition of their own interpretation, your only option is to approach them and ask that, at least, they acknowledge you as the source. 

Sample Agreements and more help

You'll find there are loads of free sample agreements available, that give varying versions of the items discussed about, including a very detailed one from the International Coach Federation.

The important thing is to make sure your agreement meets your needs in the coaching field, state and country you are working in. 

An affordable resource I can recommend is the Welcome Pack from the Coaching Tools Company, which includes a coaching agreement template. The pack is just the thing you need to get off to a great start in your coaching business. It has 16 great tools for you to brand to your own coaching including:

• Agreement template
• Invoice template
• Intake session checklist
• Client reminder list to get them thinking before a session
• and many other really useful tools and processes

You can view all 16 items in the Welcome Pack here.  

If you have a lot of intellectual property such as courses, webinars and  website content that needs protecting, I would suggest you consider having a lawyer to help with your coaching agreement. It will be worth the cost in peace of mind. 

So there you have it.  I hope this has helped you get clear on what you need to know about keeping your coaching business legally congruent and  protected from litigation and plagiarism. Think of it as an investment in your integrity and peace of mind.