5 Reasons to Use Online Coaching Terms and Conditions Instead of a Contract
Are you thinking about how to engage clients legally and considering implementing online coaching terms and conditions? I’m telling you why you should use online terms and conditions instead of a contract for a smooth, easy and fast onboarding process.
Signing on new clients to your coaching program is so exciting, but if you’re anything like me, you want to make the process of actually signing on new clients as smooth, easy and fast as possible while still protecting yourself legally. As a lawyer myself who drafts online coaching terms and conditions for all types of coaches like you, I am telling you why online coaching terms and conditions are the best options and how to implement an onboarding system that is smooth and quick.
You will learn about why you need online coaching terms and conditions and how to implement your online coaching terms and conditions template in the most efficient way.
After learning why you need online coaching terms and conditions, you will smoothly onboard clients without any awkwardness of presenting a contract for signing!
This post is all about why coaches need online coaching terms and conditions instead of contracts to implement a smooth, easy and quick onboarding system for clients and avoid any awkwardness.
Convenient Online Coaching Terms and Conditions
Why you should ditch coach contracts
To convince you of why you need online coaching terms and conditions, I have laid out five reasons below.
1. Convenience
The problem with coach contracts
Using coach contracts, even if they are digital ones, can be quite a hassle. Especially if you are a life coach coaching individual, they are not going to have their own e-signatures like businesses do to sign your life coaching contract pdf.
Even if you use an online signature system, like DocuSign or Signaturely, you have to upload the contract, then go through the contract to find the signature page and place signature boxes for your clients.
The solution with online coaching terms and conditions
By using online coaching terms and conditions, you will have a legally binding contract.
How? By including your online coaching terms and conditions in a registration form through which clients can register for your coaching program.
At the end of the form, you can include a link to your online coaching terms and conditions.
With this system in place, you will not need to fill out your client’s information in a contract, AND you will have a legally binding contract!
2. Online coaching terms and conditions are legally binding
You may wonder whether online coaching terms and conditions are legally binding if you just include them in your application form. Will this system provide you with a legally binding contract, just like a traditional contract that is actually signed?
The short answer is “Yes if you do it right”. If you just include a link to your online coaching terms and conditions, and your client submits the form without having to agree to those terms and conditions explicitly, then you won’t have a legally binding contract.
In order for your online coaching terms and conditions to serve as a legally binding contract, you must:
have your clients explicitly agree to those terms and conditions; and
include the proper wording in your online coaching terms and conditions, stating that a legally binding contract is formed when the client checks the checkbox on your registration form or submits the registration form.
You can have your client explicitly agree to your online coaching terms and conditions in your registration form by including a checkbox with a text saying something like “I agree to the coaching terms and conditions.” The link to your online coaching terms and conditions should be included in those words.
If you have the proper wording in your online terms and conditions, you will have a legally binding agreement with your client if your client checks that box and submits the form.
3. Easy access to client information
The problem with coach contracts
When you draw up a contract for a client, you have to ask them for all their information, like full name, date of birth and address, to include in your contract.
Then, after you have finally filled out the contract and had it signed by your client, you need to ask your client for all the other information you need by sending them another email and hoping they will send you all the information you need in one single email.
The solution with online coaching terms and conditions
By using online coaching terms and conditions, which you include in a registration form, you will have a legally binding contract AND all the information you need from your client with one quick submission.
In that registration form, your clients can fill out all the information that you need to have, and at the end of the form, you can include a link to your online coaching terms and conditions.
With this system in place, you will not need to fill out your client’s information in a contract, AND you will receive all the information you need from your client through one simple submission!
4. Saves time so you can focus on coaching
Admin, finance and legal are arguably the most annoying parts of the business, but it does not have to be (at least not when it comes to contracting)!
By implementing an onboarding system by which clients can contract with you by submitting a registration form by which your clients agree to your online coaching terms and conditions, you will save SO much time!
You will save time on having to ask your clients for information to fill out the contract, filling out the contract, sending the contract for signature, and asking your client for additional information you need.
This initial implementation might take some time, but once you have an onboarding system in place, you will have freed up so much time to just focus on what you really want to do: coaching!
5. More clarity and less questions
By implementing a proper system where clients contract with you through the submission of a registration form in which the online coaching terms and conditions are included, you will also receive fewer questions from clients.
Even when you share coach contracts with clients to sign, they don’t actually read the contracts most of the time. So, you’ll receive questions about the rescheduling options, your refund policy, and your contact hours, which are all included in the contract your clients don’t read.
By implementing an onboarding system in which the most important terms are highlighted and agreed to by your clients, you will avoid many of those questions.
Want to know what that system is? Then read my next blog post on how to implement your online coaching terms and conditions!
By ditching coach contracts and embracing the use of online coaching terms and conditions, you enhance efficiency but also show your commitment to client-friendly practices. Leveraging the benefits of online coaching terms and conditions will streamline your onboarding process while having full legal protection. At the same time, you’ll provide a seamless and accessible experience for your clients, which they will appreciate. For all the reasons discussed in this blog post, integrating online coaching terms and conditions is an essential step toward optimising your coaching services.
Do you need an online coaching terms and conditions template?
I sell a 1-on-1 coaching contract, which includes two templates: a coaching contract (that can be signed digitally) and the online coaching terms and conditions you can include in your registration form.
They both include the proper wording to make them legally binding.
And they have specific clauses for your coaching niche!
Find out more about my online coaching terms and conditions template on this page of my contract shop!
How to implement your coaching terms and conditions template
Want to know how to implement your coaching terms and conditions template? I tell you exactly what simple steps to take to implement your online coaching terms and conditions in this blog post on the 7 Simple Steps to Implement a Coaching Terms and Conditions Template For Easy Onboarding.
This post was all about why you need to use online coaching terms and conditions and ditch coaching contracts.
Want to avoid some of the most common mistakes made in online coaching terms and conditions? Read this blog post on the 7 Major Mistakes to AVOID in Your Coaching Terms and Conditions (No One Talks About).
Are you a life coach? Read this blog post on the 5 Essentials Every Life Coach Must Have in Their Life Coach Terms and Conditions.
Are you a business coach? Read this blog post on the 7 Essentials Every Business Coach Must Have in Their Business Coaching Terms and Conditions.
Do you need an online coaching terms and conditions template? Get your coaching terms and conditions template on this page of my contract shop!
