Coaching Payment Information

A coach has been collecting payment via a verbal agreement at the end of each session. She Venmos her rate after each call. After a client dispute over a late cancellation, she realized she has no written record of what was agreed.

Frame this as protection, not formality. 'The payment document doesn't create a new relationship with your clients - it documents the one that already exists. If you and your client have a shared understanding, this just puts it in writing.' Fill in her actual current rate and terms, not aspirational ones. The document should reflect current practice first, improvements second.

Watch the late cancellation and no-show fields closely. Coaches who have never enforced these terms often write a policy but then struggle to hold it. Ask her: 'The last time a client cancelled within 24 hours, what did you do?' If the answer is 'let it go,' the written policy and the practiced policy are different - and the client will notice that difference the first time she tries to enforce it.

After completing the sheet, ask her to identify the most uncomfortable field - usually the no-show line. Then: 'What would you say to a client who no-showed and then received a payment request that night?' That conversation script is as important as the document itself. If she doesn't have that script, the policy exists but she won't use it.

A coach has kept her rates flat for eighteen months and is raising them by 30% for new clients and notifying existing clients of a rate change in 60 days. She wants to communicate this professionally without making it an awkward conversation in a session.

Use the payment sheet as the communication vehicle. 'An updated payment information sheet is a cleaner way to deliver a rate change than a conversation mid-session. It signals that this is a professional practice, the rate has been considered, and the information is clear.' She should update all fields to reflect the new rate and terms, and send it with a brief cover note rather than as a standalone document.

Watch whether she soft-pedals the new rate on the document - writing it small, burying it in qualifications, or adding a note about exceptions. The payment document should state the rate clearly, once, without apology. Coaches who hedge on the written rate will hedge on the verbal rate, and clients will read the hesitation.

Ask her to write the two-sentence cover note she would send with the updated payment sheet to a current client. Then read it back: 'Does this sound like someone who has decided on her rate, or someone who is hoping the client accepts it?' The answer tells her whether the rate increase is settled internally or still in negotiation.

A coach shifting from per-session billing to three-month packages is finding that clients ask more detailed questions about billing when the payment structure changes. Her existing verbal explanations are creating confusion about what happens to unused sessions and whether packages are refundable.

Frame the payment sheet revision as a packaging decision made explicit. 'Packages introduce complexity that hourly billing doesn't have - session carryover, refund policy, early termination. Getting those answers on paper before a client asks them is significantly easier than answering them mid-dispute.' Fill in each field for the package structure specifically, not hourly equivalents.

Watch the refund and late cancellation fields - these are the areas most specific to package billing and most often left vague. 'Sessions do not carry over' is a policy. 'Unused sessions may be used at coach discretion' is a future argument. The payment sheet should be specific enough that both parties can read the same sentence and reach the same understanding.

After completing the sheet, ask: 'What happens if a client in month two of a three-month package decides to end the relationship?' The answer to that question should be derivable from the payment sheet alone. If it isn't, either the refund policy or the termination policy needs more specificity.