Best CRM for coaching businesses in 2024

Keeping up with the business side of any coaching practice can be time consuming and resource draining. You have to have an overview of your upcoming meetings, and ideally all your notes in one place so that you know where to pick up after your last meeting. As well as any new clients that you meet at events. To help you get started, in this blog post we'll unpack what features you need to keep an eye on client progress, have all your client information in one place and explore the best CRM solution on the market that fits the bill.

5 features coaching businesses need from any CRM software

Whether you're building your coaching business from the ground up or scaling, make sure any CRM platforms you consider has the following features so that

1. Contact management

A good CRM should be able to help you sync real-time contact information so that if you update something from your CRM. A great CRM should be able to help you store your customer data from multiple inboxes so you're not limited to either Gmail or Outlook

2. Pipeline management

Your CRM should be able to help you expand your client database and keep an eye on your existing clients. This way, you'll be able to stay on top of all your client communication and lead management with out having to constantly switch context.

3. Note taking and reminders

With every client meeting comes progress, so you'll want to find a CRM that can allow you to create notes attached to someone's profile. And provide you the space to build on top of your previous meeting notes too. This way, you don't have to look amongst your many post-it notes and can easily pick up where you last left-off.

4.  Lead capture

If you're looking for more clients, your CRM should be able to automate the process of manually capturing their data so that you do not have to constantly copy and paste their contact information. Saving you time and from the headache.

5. Mail merge

Instead of having to switch context just to have access to a mail merge system that can provide you with the analytics you need to gauge how well your email campaign is going – it's better to look for an all-in-one CRM. Bonus points if it can help you with sequences, and provide AI assistance to help you save time personalizing your emails.

4 CRM tools for building a successful coaching business

Let's do a deep dive into 4 popular CRM platforms designed to help coaching businesses.

1. folk

Best for: all-in-one CRM with sales and marketing automation

folk is an all-in-one customer relationship management platform that can support your sales process, email marketing needs and grow your client base. It can also house all your session notes and allow you to attach them to a client's profile. You can use it as a solopreneur, or invite team members and tweak the privacy settings for each one.

Key features

• Pipeline management: To help you grow your client database and automate repetitive tasks such as organizing duplicate contacts.
• Contact management: So that you can do client management across different platforms and keep them updated in real-time – and keep an eye on your customer interactions so you know exactly when to follow-up.
• Mail merge: That allows you to connect up to 5 inboxes, including Gmail and Outlook so you can have access to contacts across multiple accounts and set up email campaigns and sequences as you build client relationships.
• Lead capture: Allowing you to capture contact information from across the web including social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Facebook, X and more. Each folk account comes with several free Chrome extensions that can boost your LinkedIn social listening, export search lists and contact information without interrupting your workflow.
• Note taking and reminders: Build on notes so that you can have all your notes in one place and recall what you spoke with your client last. Without the fuss.

Pros

• Suitable for solopreneurs and teams: folk can be used by a solo-user and can support the back end of your coach office when you're ready to scale.
• User friendly: Expect to avoid the steep learning curve that comes with implementing a new CRM platform.
• Highly customizable: You can easily create dashboards in folk from sales cycle, to leads.

Cons

• Reporting is not available in folk yet – but is coming soon.

Pricing

You can try folk for free with a 14 day free trial. After that, a monthly or annual subscription plan is as follows. 

• Standard: $20 per user, per month 
• Premium: $40 per user, per month
• Custom: Starts from $60 per user, per month 

2. Keap

Best for: Small coaching businesses with two or more plus people on their teams

Keap is a CRM platform specifically designed to support small businesses. It's more for two+ person teams who are looking for a CRM for their small business that has a little automation for sales, marketing and lifecycle management.

Key features

• Customizable pipelines: Tailor your sales pipelines to fit your specific coaching workflow.
• Lead capture: Collect data with landing pages and forms from your website.
• Mobile app: Manage your business on-the-go with the Keap mobile app.

Pros

• Automation: Keap offers robust automation features for email marketing, client follow-ups, and appointment scheduling.
• All-in-one solution for two+ people teams: Combines CRM, email marketing, and e-commerce.

Cons

• Learning curve: The wide range of features can be overwhelming for new users.
• Price: Higher cost compared to some competitors, which might be a barrier for smaller coaching businesses.

Pricing

Keap's price plans are relatively steep. An annual subscription plan is as follows.

• Ignite plan: Starts from $249 per user, per month
• Grow plan: Starts from $329 per user, per month
• Scale plan: Starts from $499 per user, per month
  

3. Less annoying CRM

Best for: simple CRM software

Less annoying CRM is a bootstrapped platform designed to support small businesses.

Key features

• Simplicity: Designed to be straightforward and easy to use, perfect for non-tech-savvy users.
• Integrations: For Mailchimp, calendar, contact management and task management.

Pros

• Affordability: Budget-friendly pricing makes it accessible for small businesses.
• Customer support: Excellent customer service with personalized support.

Cons

• Limited features: Lacks some advanced features that larger businesses might need.
• Customization: Less customizable compared to more complex CRMs.

Pricing

You can get a 30 day free trial. After that, there's only one price plan to choose from which is $15 per user, per month.

4. Honeybook Inc.

Best for: sending invoices and contract management

Honeybook is more of a CRM for your back office. It can support you with invoice creation and management, project management and online payments.

Key features

• Project management: Manage your projects, clients, and payments in one place.
• Invoicing: Easily create an invoice that aligns with your branding and set payment terms all in one place.
• Contract management: Allows you to prepare and browse legally-vetted templates, and can allow you to auto-fill client details.

Pros

• Comprehensive: Combines CRM, project management, and payment processing.
• Integrations: Integrates with popular tools like QuickBooks, Google Calendar, and Zapier.

Cons

• Complexity: The array of features can be complex to navigate for beginners.

Pricing

Expect a 7 day free trial for any Honeybook account. And after that 2 months free if you opt-in for an annual subscription. After that, price plans are as follows.

• Starter plan: Starts from $16 per user, per month.
• Essentials plan: Starts from $32 per user, per month.
• Premium plan: Starts from $66 per user, per month.

Conclusion

Ultimately, the best CRM for your coaching business depends on your specific needs, budget, and workflow. By carefully considering the features and pros and cons of each option, you can select the CRM that will help you manage your client relationships effectively and grow your business in 2024. Try folk today for 14 days and see how it can help you scale your business.

More resources

• The ultimate guide to CRMs for SMBs

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