Originally Posted on The Coaching Tools Company as How to Create Your Life Coaching Welcome Packet
Make a Great First Impression with Your Life Coaching Welcome Packet
In this article we look at all the things that go into creating an excellent life coaching welcome packet.
Why excellent? Well, when someone signs up to be coaching by us, they’re committing their precious time, money and energy. And that’s a big deal for them.
So we want our clients to feel really good about hiring a coach and, specifically, hiring you!
And your Coaching Welcome Packet is an important part of your client enrolment process, both validating your client’s faith in you—and setting the tone for your relationship going forwards.
Some questions for you! When your clients sign-up with you:
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What is a Coaching Welcome Packet?
A Coaching Welcome Packet is simply a package you put together to welcome your new clients. It can be electronic, physical (or both), and it should both welcome—and clearly spell out the next steps for your new client.
You may also like to include a gift and/or personalised items like an inspiring quote or a coaching exercise to get them started.
And key for you as the coach, is to have a process and/or checklist for yourself with standardised forms, tools and templates ready to go that just need a quick tweak for your new client.
This will save you time, ensure you don’t forget anything and keep you looking like the professional you are.
Here’s a quick Coaching Welcome Packet Checklist
Key Elements of your Coaching Welcome Packet
- Welcome Letter or Email including what to expect, a list of what is included in the Welcome Packet and also detailing their next session time/location.
- A Coaching Goals Sheet that outlines what they want to get out of coaching with you (if they haven’t already completed it).
- A Coaching Agreement or Contract. This outlines payment method and terms, useful admin and much more (if they haven’t already signed it).
- Coaching Ethics or Professional Code of Conduct.
- General Coaching Homework to get to know the client and get them into a coaching frame of mind.
Optional inclusions for your Welcome Packet
- A (Useful) Gift. For example, this could be a book (written by you or not), post-its, a notebook, pens etc.
- A Coaching Reminder/Preparation List.
- Specific Coaching Homework: a Coaching Form or Exercise that is specific to the client’s goal or issues.
- Vouchers for a Free Sample Session they can give to friends or colleagues.
- A beautiful handwritten card welcoming them to your practice.
And remember to include something inspiring like a quote, infographic or quote graphic that is unique to your client. This can be printed out, or digitally included in your welcome email.
TIP: Put your branding on all the client-facing materials you use—whether they’re electronic or paper-based.
Check out our Done-for-You Coaching Welcome Packet!
Get a welcome letter template, intake session checklist, coaching contract template, motivation quiz, life map, coaching reminders, admin forms and much more!
Add to cart
$37.00
But first things first:
Will you go Electronic or Physical with your Welcome Packet?
This is a crucial decision. And here’s my take: do both!
Why your Coaching Welcome Packet should be both electronic and physical:
The minimum for your welcome packet should be an electronic package. These days people expect to receive their invoice (if you give one), receipt and welcome letter etc. electronically.
It would, in fact, be weird for your client NOT to receive these communications electronically from you.
TIP: If you’re using a coaching app, you’ll likely be able to automate these steps.
And I also recommend sending a Coaching Welcome Packet in the (snail) mail
Here’s why: whenever we (in this case our coaching clients) do something new, it can be a little nerve-racking. And it can also be scary when we spend a chunk of money on ourselves: Am I doing the right thing? Did I choose the right coach? Will it be worth it?
And it’s especially hard because coaching is so intangible: it can take weeks or months for our clients to get noticeable results.
Giving a physical welcome packet (whether in the mail or giving it in person), is a fabulous way to reassure our clients that they’ve made a good decision. It’s reassuring because it’s tangible. It’s something they can see and touch that says: this is (in part!) what I paid all that money for.
Here are some things to include in a physical coaching welcome packet:
- An attractive, professional wallet (coloured card or recycled/reusable plastic).
- Your business card/s.
- A hand-signed, personalised welcome letter on quality paper. This adds a great personal touch.
- I also like to include a small gift to ‘surprise and delight’ the client.
You could also include any or all of the following:
- A printed coaching tool or exercise.
- A printed (relevant) special report or article written by you.
- A beautiful hand-written card welcoming them to your practice.
- A printed infographic or inspiring quote graphic they can pin up somewhere.
- Printed vouchers for a complimentary sample session to give to friends and colleagues.
Hopefully that’s given you some ideas for what a great tangible welcome packet can look like.
Now, let’s explore the key components to include in your coaching welcome packet in more detail—and why.
5 Key Things to Include in Any Coaching Welcome Packet
1) Your Welcome Letter
To save you time (and ensure you don’t miss anything), your welcome letter and/or email should be a template, which you then personalise for each client.
See our Welcome Letter Template (free) here. Once you have a template, you simply customise/fill in the blanks for each client.
Step 1) What to put in your Welcome Letter Template
Let your clients know what will happen next
We all feel discomfort when we’re unsure what happens next.
So put your client at ease by clearly laying out your coaching process—and what they can expect.
Your welcome email or letter should include:
- The date/time of their first coaching session.
- How to pay (if they haven’t already).
- What number to call/Zoom link to use (and any password or code needed).
- If the session is a phonecall, confirm who calls who!
- If it’s in person, confirm the location and any parking arrangements.
Remind them of any important actions:
- Ask them to complete and return your coaching agreement if you have one.
- Remind them of any actions or homework they may have from a consultation with you.
- Share anything else that’s relevant or unique to your coaching process.
Top Tips for your Welcome Letter
- If you’re using a Coaching App like Paperbell*, much of this can be set up as an automated process, and it’s well worth spending the time to do this.
- Make your client feel special: tell them that you’re excited to work with them.
- Include an inspiring or thoughtful quote that’s relevant to the client (this can be a graphic or text). A personal touch like this shows that you’ve seen and heard them.
IMPORTANT: Make the process clear and simple for your client. This will allay any fears or uncertainty your client may have, and make you look like the professional you are.
2) A Coaching Goals Sheet
If your new client hasn’t already completed a coaching goals sheet with you, be sure to include this essential in your coaching welcome packet!
Why is a Coaching Goals Sheet so important?
Well, first, a client’s coaching goals are not the same as your client’s life or career goals.
A client’s coaching goals are what your client wants to get out of coaching with you. When completed this worksheet should answer the question: Why did they hire you?
If the client doesn’t know what they want, or is vague, a Coaching Goals Sheet helps you get the conversation started! This crucial tool will highlight gaps in expectations and help you dig deeper into your clients’ wants, needs and motivations.
The Coaching Goals Sheet I use asks them to choose 3 primary things to focus on during our coaching. And then they choose 7 secondary things they’ll work on on their own.
In addition to helping the client (and you) get super-clear on what you’re working on together, a Coaching Goals Sheet is a great way to baseline how a client is doing at the start of their coaching journey with you. Then, when you’ve been coaching for a while, you can review their baseline scores to show them how far they’ve come!
Learn more about how to baseline and measure coaching progress here >>
3) Your Coaching Agreement or Contract
If you haven’t already sent out (or received a signed Coaching Agreement back) from your new client, include your Coaching Contract/Agreement in your Welcome Packet.
This is an important document that sets out your payment terms, standards, expectations and more. It should also include admin like how to cancel/move an appointment and the process for ending the coaching. In addition, especially in this time of communication in many forms, you may want to outline
- The types of communication you will share with your client eg. can they text/message or email you between sessions? And how many times?
- And how quickly they can expect you to respond?
TIP: Again, if you’re using a coaching business app like Paperbell*, this important form can likely be set-up and sent out automatically.
A Coaching Welcome Packet—Done-For-You!
Get what you need for your new clients—including a sample coaching contract, welcome letter, coaching exercises like the motivation quiz, life map, wheel of life and much more.
Add to cart
$37.00
4) Coaching Ethics
Including a printout or link to a coaching ethics document makes you look like someone who takes our profession seriously—and reassures our clients.
- If you’re an ICF (International Coach Federation) member, you can (scroll down the page to find a) download a .PDF of the ICF ethics to include in your Coaching Welcome Packet.
- Or if you are an IAPC&M (International Authority for Professional Coaching & Mentoring) member, you may prefer their Code of Professional Conduct.
5) Include some homework in your Coaching Welcome Packet
Another great thing to include in your welcome packet (whether electronic or physical) is some form of coaching ‘homework’ that gets clients into a coaching frame of mind, and helps you get to know them a little!
Some great general homework ideas to include:
These ideas below are useful for all clients, giving you an overview or insight into key areas like motivation, their life history, values etc.
- Powerful Pondering Questions: begin to get to know your client’s beliefs, motivations and what they might be avoiding with a simple set of questions.
- Use the Life Map to get a quick overview of their life history (and impactful life experiences).
- Include the Wheel of Life Template to find out how balanced they are, and what areas of their life they might need to work on.
- Sample Values List to begin the process of figuring out a client’s values.
- Include a simple Motivation Quiz to get a quick idea of how motivated your client is to make change in their lives.
- Finally, you could also include a specific exercise that relates to their unique goals for a more personal touch.
Other things to consider including in your Coaching Welcome Packet
6) A Useful Gift
Whether you send a physical welcome packet or not, I recommend you still send a personal (physical) gift. By this I mean something substantial the client can hold. This is a great way of giving the client something tangible for their investment (which is unlikely to show results for some time).
This gift will also make a client feel special. Who doesn’t like to receive a surprise package in the mail?
It doesn’t have to be a big or pricey gift—it can be under $10. And I wouldn’t spend more than $25-30 or the gift may seem like “too much”.
Finally, make your gift something relevant to the coaching process—or your niche. Here are some great examples:
- Colourful and fun post-its (these could also have your branding on)
- Pens (I used to send a pack of 10 multi-coloured pens)
- A relevant book (which could be yours if you have one)
- A journal or notebook
- An inspiring fridge magnet etc.
I have given all of these gifts at some point to one client or another. What else can you think of?
You could also go digital—like giving a subscription to a meditation app or similar. But I really like to give something physical and tangible.
7) Coaching Reminder/Preparation List
This can be as simple as a one pager reference document that helps clients think about what they want to get out of each coaching session ahead of time.
And you can also make this a form for clients to complete and return to you before every session.
A tool like this helps our clients maximise the value they get out of each coaching session by ensuring they’re clear on what specifically to use their coaching session for.
TIP: Some clients may only use this form in the beginning, but I’ve also had clients who have found this useful to refer to before every coaching session.
8) Specific coaching homework or reading
This can be as well as—or instead of—the general coaching homework mentioned above.
Do you have a coaching tool/exercise or special report that will be super-helpful to this particular client and their needs?
For example:
- Your client wants help identifying their strengths. So you send them the 25 Powerful Questions to Identify Strengths Handout (Free).
- Or your client wants to develop a leadership style, so you include your special report about the future of leadership.
9) A voucher for a free sample session for friends or colleagues
The great thing about a physical welcome packet is that you can include extra business cards for clients to hand to friends or even a voucher for a free session to give to their friends or colleagues.
This is a great way to raise awareness of coaching (and you!), get practice hours if you need them—and meet new people.
TIP: You could also include a referral program where your client gets a reward when a new client they refer signs up with you.
10) Make it inspiring and unique!
Whether it’s simply a quote included in the text of your welcome letter, a printed or digital graphic, fun magnet or something else uplifting: make your welcome packet inspiring and unique to you and your client.
Your Brandable, Fully Customisable Coaching Welcome Packet!
So what do you think? Want to save time and create a really excellent coaching welcome packet? Check out:
Add to cart
$37.00
Wrap-up
There are now more coaches than ever. In this era of worldwide competition, with so many people cutting back on spending—and even competition from AI—we all need to create a great EXPERIENCE for our clients.
We can do that by ensuring we have a strong, clear and professional enrolment process—and making our coaching welcome packet personal and memorable.
It takes courage for our clients to say: I want to change my life—and I need help to do that. Hiring a coach is no small investment—so we can use our coaching welcome packet to help our clients feel they’ve invested wisely.
But perhaps more importantly, remember your enrolment process and Coaching Welcome Packet sets the tone for the rest of your coaching engagement. So make it great!
And what about you? Do you have a checklist for that first coaching session?
If not, see the intake session checklist I use (free) here >> This is a non-client facing tool with a simple checklist of what you need to remember to cover in that very first coaching session.
Like this article all about creating a Life Coaching Welcome Packet? You may also like:
- The Top 10 Tools for Coaches to use with Brand New Clients (Plus Why and How to Use Them)
- The Complete Guide to Life Coaching Tools, Forms and Exercises (with Examples)
- How to Use The Wheel of Life in Your Coaching Practice: A Complete Guide
* We are regularly asked for recommendations on different tools, training, resources and services for coaches. As a result we have put together some recommended resources for coaches that I’ve either personally used (in most cases) or that come highly recommended by people I trust. We are an affiliate for Paperbell, meaning we get a commission if you decide to make a purchase through our links, at no cost to you.
