Writing a strong business proposal can be the most crucial step in your sales process as a coach. It's the right opportunity to market both yourself and your skills to make a great first impression and clarify how you plan to provide coaching services that are effective for your prospective customer. However, marketing might not be your strongest suit, so you might need assistance in creating a persuasive proposal that ensures your success.
While each client's coaching proposal should be customized for them, there is a way for you to streamline the onboarding procedure. Many professionals in the industry create their own coaching proposal templates to save a ton of time during the drafting process. This pre-written form allows you to only focus on filling out the client-specific details and quickly create a professional proposal for your new clients.
If you want to write your own coaching proposal, read on to find out the important elements that you should be covering.
Note: Looking for an efficient way to draft the perfect coaching proposal? Use Bonsai's free proposal templates and follow-up tools, specifically designed for professionals in the coaching industry. We help you save time to focus on your passion, not your paperwork! Claim your 7-day free trial here.
Essential Elements of a Coaching Proposal Template
A coaching proposal can come in a variety of shapes and sizes. A life coach might have a different approach than executive or business coaching services. However, when creating your proposal template, a few key elements must be included regardless of the type of professional services you provide.
Let's look at the most important information you want to cover in your coaching proposal template.
Client's Concerns (Pain Points)
Conducting a discovery session with prospective clients before you commit to working with them is a great way to discover their difficulties and pain points. Use this first section of your proposal template to explain the situation as you understand it, emphasizing their feelings and using the same wording they used during the discovery call to tell you what they want to work on.
Using familiar language will really help you demonstrate that you clearly understand them and have the right program to help them, so avoid using fancy or complicated vocabulary that might not resonate with your prospects.
Desired Results & Benefits
Before presenting your coaching package, you want to take the time to convince the client that this is the right way to go. First, based on the discoveries that you previously explained, go over the desired results so you show that not only you understand the problem, but you also know your client's objectives and how to get them there. This is also the right place to talk about your 'unique selling points' to make sure your client has no doubt you are their best option.
Make sure to outline the key elements of your process and why they are important to achieving the results your client is looking for. You can also mention certain milestones to show your client when they will be expected to progress and achieve their goals. This will help them envision a more tangible result.
Coaching Services Offered
Next, your coaching proposal template must present a well-structured package explaining the services you will offer. This must include the amount of coaching sessions the program includes, as well as the duration and frequency of the sessions. Include any assessments, tests, supportive materials, access to an exclusive community and anything else you determine will help your customer thrive. Presenting a tailored plan will demonstrate to your clients that you have already taken the time to carefully consider their circumstances and have developed a strategy just for them.
However, if you think your client might be open to an alternative plan (maybe a more expensive plan that includes additional sessions or extra material) feel free to include it along with the rest of the specifications. This gives you a chance to upsell your services without forcing the client to get more than they can afford.
Timeframe
An important aspect of your coaching proposal template clearly outlines the time you will require for the entire coaching process. Provide a proposed timeline including key events (assessments, presentations, etc...). You can also structure it by weeks, and make it clear what changes can or can't be made to the structure to fit your client's schedule better.
Pricing
In the pricing section of your coaching proposals, you want to provide the total cost of the coaching program, and include costs of extra services in case your clients are interested. For example, how much an additional session or a performance evaluation will cost. Don't forget to also mention anything that is not included such as traveling costs or other possible expenses.
Testimonials and Reviews
Before closing your proposal template, it's a great idea to provide a couple of testimonials or include positive reviews you've gotten from previous clients. Primarily if you have worked with clients who had similar problems as your prospective client, including a brief story or case study of how you were able to help them out can make a difference in your client's decision. It's an excellent opportunity to reinforce your experience, professionalism and expertise.
Next Steps
It's time to tell your prospective clients what they should do next if they decide to accept your amazing offer. Explain in detail how they can start the coaching program, including how to sign the contract, make the first payment, and schedule the first appointment. Indicate the best means and time to contact you and emphasize that you are open to any clarifications or questions they may have.
In order to guarantee the pricing, you can also ask your customer to contact you before a particular date. If you plan to follow up with them by phone, be sure to let them know when you'll do so. Remember, you can also include a FAQs section at the end of your proposal that addresses the most often asked questions you receive about your packages in order to avoid back-and-forth calls.
Use Our Free Proposal Templates for your Coaching Services
If you are still not sure how to structure your proposal template, or don't have a lot of time to create one yourself, don't worry. Skip the headache and use Bonsai to download your free coaching proposal template which you can fully customize to meet your client's and business needs. Whether you're looking for a financial, business or executive coaching proposal template, we have just what you need to get more business.
Add your branding elements to make it look more professional and enhance your sales process by including different package alternatives that your clients can easily choose from. Our proposal templates also enable your clients to accept the offer right within the online document, using legally-binding digital signatures. We will also send you a notification when the prospect gets and accepts the offer, as well as set up automatic email reminders, to assist you in keeping track of your proposals.
Get your free coaching proposal template today, and while you're at it, start your 14-day free trial to access tons of extra management tools that will take your coaching business to the