Starting a coaching business can seem like an easy business model, you don’t NEED a venue and you don’t need stock so all you need is a website and you are set right?
I’m going to say no, sorry! But I have made a list of 5 tools which can set your business apart and put you on the right foot.
1. Appointment booking software
We want you to book clients, so make it easy for your clients to make their appointments.
Acuity and calendly are two options which you can include on your website and both have limited free options or depending on your needs have priced options as well.
Acuity has an Apple and Android app if that’s important for you, but I link my Google Calendar with Calendly so it’s on my phone when I need to check appointments.Both have the ability to integrate to other business tools, including billing software which can make life a lot easier!
2. CRM
A what? A Customer Relationship Management program. I have tried many CRMS but since finding Dubsado, I’m a one system lady!
I can use Dubsado from my initial client interview stage right through our relationship, including onboarding, task lists, time tracking and invoicing! You can set up clients with their own portal and track all emails and contracts in the portal (which also means you can see when they have received/opened emails!).
Dubsado makes branding your business communication and as a graphic designer this is something that makes me very happy.
3. Project management
My top two project management systems are Asana and Trello. Both have their own stand out features.
Asana is great for list people, it is a very task oriented approach to managing your projects and great for tasks which have a process behind them.
Trello I find is great for visual people, it is mostly a card-based (think lots of post it notes 😉 ) task/project management tool. The only drawback is that Trello isn’t as user friendly when there is a team working on the project.
4. Landing page software
Having a landing page is your business welcome mat, and the perfect way to gain contact details for leads. Leadpages or Clickfunnels are the two programs I recommend for landing pages.
If you are just wanting a landing page to collect your leads and you aren’t looking at setting up sales funnels, Leadpages is perfect, landing pages are their thing! If you are wanting to set up sales funnels that build on your leads Clickfunnels is Leadpages on steroids! So you need to look at your needs and work out what direction you want to take your business.
5. Email management
What are you going to do with those leads? Finding an email management program so you can communicate with your prospective clients and clients en masse, my go to is Active Campaign.
Active Campaign will see your leads right through the lifecycle of being a client of your business. It includes Zapier Integration which means you can integrate it with so many other programs to keep everything almost in one spot, and saves double entry.
With 3 pricing options you can easily find the package to suit your business as you grow.
Do you already use any of these tools? I would love to hear what your go to business tools are!
Alethea xx