An endurance coach isn’t just an endurance coach. A coach is also a business owner who needs to not only coach athletes, but also manage their business. This means there are often several balls to juggle, especially if the business is going to grow and thrive. Having information and details organized is critically important in projecting a professional coaching business out to prospective athletes. The following Customer Relationship Management System (CRM) description and features are exemplary of the ThyvHive Website, Business and Marketing Suite.

There are a few important keys to successfully run a coaching business while also maintaining your excellence as a coach.

  1. Be organized (this is where a CRM is crucial)
  2. Be proactive (marketing)
  3. Be professional and provide excellent service quickly
  4. Be efficient (wise use of time so that you can focus on your coaching rather than on your business = in comes automation)
  5. Function within a controlled and efficient budget
  6. Don’t forget to take steps to help your potential clients know you are a well-qualified coach – Get Certified!

What is a CRM and How Does it Help you Build a Successful Business?

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management, and is a platform that allows businesses to easily organize client and potential client (collectively known as Contacts) information and provides a platform for many different kinds of automation.

A quality CRM integrates with other business tools so that there is an automatic record of every type of action taken with that person. For instance, when an athlete you coach sets up their monthly meeting with you via your appointment link, that appointment is automatically stored in their contact record. Or if you have them sign a waiver or contract, a signed copy is automatically stored in their contact record. If a prospective client goes to your website and signs up to receive your newsletter or other free gift you’re offering, they are automatically created as a new contact in your CRM. The CRM will automatically indicate which emails a client or prospective client received. You can manually add any type of notes related to your client. You can store additional files in their contact record. There are really an endless list of details that can be added and automatically applied.

The most important piece is that all of these details, notes, records and files are all in one place and you didn’t have to do anything to put them there.

Also note the repetition of the word “automatically.” The CRM is the hub of all your automated actions (you’ll read more about automation below). Probably the most common type of automation associated with a CRM is email automation. This is when one or more emails automatically send to a contact based on something they did. For instance, if a new athlete clicks your “Free Consultation” appointment link on your website, they are immediately sent an email confirming the appointment. They can also receive automatic reminders of the appointment. And even further, if you meet with clients virtually on Zoom, the Zoom meeting can be automatically set up so that the Zoom link is also sent to the client. All of these processes happen without you doing anything at all.

Being an Efficient Coach: What is Automation?

Automation is quickly becoming the standard in marketing as more business owners of every type learn and understand the value. It’s not just for the technically skilled anymore. Business owners, particularly those like coaches who really want and need to spend their time doing their craft, often lack the skill, team and time to handle all the organizational details.

Let’s start with the basics of what we mean by “automation.” Automation in business is when something happens without a person manually having to make it happen. A simple example of this is when you set up a recurring invoice to go to a client every month. You don’t have to manually send it every month. It goes out on its own based on a one-time action you took to set it up.

You can imagine that any type of activity that happens repetitively can be automated. And anything that is automated ultimately saves you time and mental energy.

Here are some examples of simple automations coaches might find useful:

  1. Setting up an free gift to provide through an “opt-in” and drip a short series of “nurture” emails to your potential customers once they opt-in.
  2. Create an athlete on-boarding automation that brings your new athlete through all the steps, from filling out intake forms, to signing waivers/contracts, to setting up a Let’s Get Started meeting.
  3. Use automation to get your website visitors signed up for your monthly newsletter.
  4. Automate emails associated with sales and subscriptions.
  5. Send out a birthday email to your athletes offering them a special gift.
  6. Send out a weekly motivational video to your athletes.
  7. Create training plans with the email builder and automate dates to send it.

The possibilities of automations that can be set up are limited only by your imagination. With a quality CRM system, almost anything is possible! If you plan to grow your business, a CRM is a foundational tool that you’ll soon realize you can’t live without!

Is it easy to use a CRM?

Like anything else, it depends on the CRM. Some are more complicated and take a bit more time to learn. Thankfully, with advances in technology, there are great user-friendly options available. The ThryvHive system utilizes an award-winning WordPress plugin based CRM known as Groundhogg which is not only known for its robust functionality, but is also simple to use with a quick learning-curve.

Cindy is a UESCA Certified Endurance Coach and life-long competitive athlete. She is a partner in UESCA and the mind behind the creation of ThryvHive. She has extensive business experience and an endless curiosity of technology and business efficiency.