Best CRM Software for Coaches
In a Nutshell
As a CRM analyst, I’ve tested, reviewed, and evaluated the most popular CRM software specifically tailored to coaches’ needs to help you identify the best CRM systems for coaches to manage and control projects and clients more effectively.
7 Best CRM Software for Coaches Shortlist:
Here’s my pick of the 7 best CRM for coaching from the tools reviewed.
- Honeybook – Best CRM for coaching businesses with a focus on client experience
- Coaching.com – Best for coaches who want an all-in-one coaching platform
- Hubspot – Best for scalable coaching businesses with complex sales funnels and marketing automation needs
- Keap – Best for established coaching businesses focusing on sales automation and email marketing.
- Paperbell – Best for Solo coaches or small coaching businesses
- CoachVantage: Best for simplistic platform with several automated features
- Bonsai – Best for freelancer coaches who need a CRM with basic features
Why Coaching Businesses Need CRM Software
Fortune Business Insights reports that the global CRM market is predicted to reach $157.53 billion by 2030, representing a growth of 12% from 2020 to 2030.
Factors contributing to the growth include increasing business migration to online platforms and the benefits of cloud computing, such as scalability and high resource availability.
As more businesses switch to online platforms, so are coaches. However, you need various tools to help streamline your online presence. These tools include CRMs.
Choosing the best CRM for business coaches allows you to easily manage client data, track interactions, schedule appointments, and send reminders.
Criteria for Selecting the Best CRM for Coaching
Below are various factors I’ve used to help identify the best CRM for coaching:
- Integration options: I’ve ensured that all the CRMs listed for coaching have various integrations to enable you to link with other software, such as email, social media, and payment gateways. Ensure you choose a CRM that functions well with your other tools or those you plan to use.
- Ease of use and coach-friendly tools: More than appearance, the best CRM for coaching should be easy and intuitive for you to use. Our list comprises CRMs that are easy for beginners and also for expert coaches.
- Customization: The best CRM for coaching is adaptable to various coaching types. So, whether you’re a life or public speaker coach, I’ve covered various software that will allow you to showcase the uniqueness of your service.
- Data-backed insights: Actionable insights are a key feature in your coaching business. Our reviewed list discusses analytics and reporting features offered by various CRM software to help you in understanding current client trends, business growth metrics, and session outcomes.
- Mobile accessibility: You need to access your business while on the move. That’s why I only talk about CRMs with a mobile-friendly interface or mobile app to help you make day-to-day tasks efficient.
- Reporting and analytics: I understand the importance of monitoring crucial metrics such as enrollment numbers, student engagement, and revenue. Make informed business decisions by investing in only these best CRMs for coaching with a reporting and analytics feature.
- Automation: The best CRM for public speaking coaches allows the automation of various processes, such as sending automated reminders, creating invoices, tracking payments, etc.
Top 7 CRM Systems for Coaching Businesses
Without further ado, here are the top 7 CRMs I’ve selected for coaching businesses. Join me as I explore what I like about them, their top features, and the pros and cons.
Honeybook
Honeybook might be the perfect coach CRM for you if you want to maximize the utilization of sequences to save time managing clients. This CRM also offers business tools for invoicing and reporting.
Honeybook CRM is best for caches that are more focused on tracking client communication. So, this software is useful and versatile if you are a health, business, or life coach.
Why I Like It
The Honeybook software is feature-packed. Various features enable you to personalize your brand and design client-specific plans.
I also love that it has automated communication features that help improve the connection between you and your clients without too much manual work. In addition, you can schedule meetings and flesh out marketing strategizing using the contact forms and brochure templates.
Nevertheless, this top CRM software helps users easily automate workflows, manage projects, close deals, and get paid online. Customizable templates for things like invoices and contracts are also available.
The software has an intuitive and clean interface compared to other best coaching CRMs.
Most Important Coaching Features
- Online invoicing and payment: Simple and secure professional invoicing and online payment systems
- Automated workflows: Send tasks, emails, files, and follow-ups automatically.
- Customizable proposals to help reflect your brand
- Integrations such as QuickBooks, Calendly, and Zappier to enhance workflow management and efficiency.
- Generate and sign contracts digitally
- Scheduling.
Pros
- Automation features
- Integration with tools like Yahoo, Gmail, Zapier, and Calendly
- Templates
- Contract execution with signatures
Cons
- The phone app needs some working
- The online scheduling feature may not work well with all zones
- Note section for clients doesn’t allow for bolding, highlighting, and some other custom formatting
Whether you are a coach looking to improve your skills, find or manage clients, or a business looking for a coach, coaching.com might be right for you.
Coaching.com is another top CRM software designed to support and grow coaches in three main ways:
- Training: The Coaching Center of Excellence provides coaches with live coaching mastery sessions weekly, where respected leaders such as Layne Davey and Hal Gregersen share their knowledge. You will also enjoy panel discussions and fireside chats.
- Powerful features: The coaching management software comprises various features, such as client portals, integrated video conferencing, a customizable dashboard, and program templates, that help streamline the coaching career.
- Coaching marketplace: Post your services on the coaching.com marketplace to find clients easily. What I love about the marketplace is the ability to create multiple marketplaces, which ensures you can attract various clients.
Why I Like It
What I like about this best CRM for business coaches is that pre-made programs can be used in future engagements, so you don’t have to create them each time you need them.
Also, the feedback and goal-planning features provide coaches with smooth ways to set goals and track their progress.
Additionally, I like that it offers multiple integrations to enable coaches to sync their calendars, videoconferencing, and accounting software.
Coches will also appreciate the comprehensive range of practice management tools, such as instant messaging, invoicing, and appointment scheduling.
Most Important Coaching Features
- Coaching program that includes discussion and live sessions
- Marketplace to help coaches find clients easily
- Scheduling
- Automation features
- Online invoice and payments
- Video conferencing
Pros
- A free plan is available
- Mobile app
- Ability to analyze stats for better communication and workflow.
- Invoice and billing management
Cons
- It may be challenging for newcomers.
Coaches looking for an all-in-one marketing and CRM solution may choose HubSpot. The software offers various features that help customers manage customer relationships easily. With HubSpot, coaches can learn about company insights, track emails and notifications, and access valuable information through an intuitive dashboard.
Hubspot puts its customers in control through frequent updates about how their business is doing. Now, you don’t have to worry about whether your client opens their email or if it is too early to send a follow-up email.
I also like how customizable the dashboard is. You can add to the existing modules or delete unnecessary ones. Additionally, the dashboard has an active middle area where you can perform multiple tasks.
Why I Like It
One tool I like and that makes HubSpot the best CRM for health coaches is the contact management feature. This tool allows you to manage contacts, which, in the long run, enhances customer relations, conversion, and service delivery.
The contact management feature will also help coaches maintain healthy databases, create an effective content strategy, and segment contacts easily.
Another excellent feature is the task management tool. You can set priorities, deadlines, and task status for all tasks, including basic and crucial ones. Whether you are a team of three or more, the task management feature allows you to create tasks, assign them, and manage notifications for tasks assigned.
Unlike in the old days, coaches don’t have to spend hours reading about a company before they send their pitch. With the information features, you can quickly learn a company’s information, such as size, annual revenue, and description.
Most Important Coaching Features
- Availability of a meeting scheduler
- Valuable coaching business insights
- Reports and analytics
- Unlimited users and over 500,000 contacts
- Live chat and click-to-call features to easily connect with clients
- Customize campaigns to ensure clients only get the best of you
Pros
- Free plan available
- Comprehensive customer management
- Marketing automation and lead generation features are available.
Cons
- Extensive tools can be overwhelming for newcomers.
Formerly Infusionsoft, Keap is another of the best CRM for health coaches, especially for those who must stay in touch with prospective clients and professionally send follow-ups.
An interesting feature of Keap is the pipeline tool, which gives you an overview of the levels of the sales funnel your potential clients are in. This helps you easily monitor your client status and then use the automation tools to nurture them.
Keap CRM offers features such as landing pages, email, and text automation, lead capturing, sales funnel automation, and more. The site also allows you to categorize and organize your contacts for easy access and effective coaching.
Why I Like It
Keap literally takes all the tedious work of being a coach. The available features include the ability to capture leads, create landing pages, send emails and text messages, process payments, and organize dates. This means you don’t have to spend much time handling logistics, which means more time coaching.
Most Important Coaching Features
- Invoicing and payments
- Scheduling
- Email and text marketing
- Lead capture and management
- Marketing and sales automation
- Contact and lead management
- Reporting and analytics
- 1500+ integrations including Shopify, Typeform, Dropbox, Xero, and Woocommerce.
Pros
- Offers a 14-day trial
- Automation features
- Excellent marketing features such as email and text marketing
- Integration with several business tools
- Mobile application to manage your business while on the move
Cons
- Costly plans. Starts at $199/month
- Limited customization
- May experience minor bugs occasionally.
Paperbell was founded by Laura Roeder, a coach who couldn’t find CRM software that best suited her coaching needs.
Paperbell makes a coach’s life easier by handling all major aspects of your coaching business, allowing you to dedicate more hours to coaching. These include contract handling, scheduling, online invoicing and payroll management, and dealing with client admin.
Paperbell is the best CRM for health coach as it can also keep notes on clients, identify the most profitable aspects of your business through financial breakdowns, and use questionnaire answers to review what your clients have told you easily.
Why I Like It
Paperbell qualifies as one of the best CRM systems for coaches for two main features: group coaching and live workshops.
These tools enable you to select the times and dates of your sessions and the maximum number of participants. There is also an option to input an expiration date or bill using a payment plan.
Another reason I like this top CRM is the ability to automatically include digital downloads, such as a video series, PDF, audio download, etc., with any of your coaching packages. This ensures you sell these digital downloads and complement your coaching offers.
Most Important Coaching Features
- Scheduling: Clients can schedule themselves according to their availability.
- Contract Signing: Clients can sign their contracts as part of their online checkout and scheduling flow.
- Surveys: Client surveys can be shown to your client when they first sign up, before an appointment, after an appointment or whenever it makes sense in your coaching flow.
- Detailed client profiles including your notes and a full history of purchases, previous appointments, and the number of remaining appointments in their package.
- Video Call Integration: You can integrate with Skype, Zoom, Google Meet, or any other video meeting or conference line platform.
- Customizable automated emails that pop up when making a purchase, before and after appointments.
- Sell Subscriptions and Payment Plans: Offer auto-billed ongoing month-to-month subscriptions or plans with a set number of monthly payments.
Pros
- Excellent customer service
- Easy to use
- Easy to set packages and recurring appointments
- Free trial available
Cons
- Limited content upload space
- May not have all the features coaches need
CoachVantage is another CRM that offers all the must-have coaching features and much more.
However, what sets it apart from the rest of the CRMs in our lists is the website’s unending improvements. Since it is mostly designed for life coaches, it really takes feedback from its customers seriously.
If you are looking for a simple CRM to help you automate operations without an extensive list of features, this might be your platform. Still not convinced? Explore the site by signing up for the free trial or watching the demo videos to learn more about the software.
Why I Like It
What I like most about CoachVantage is the marketplace, which makes it the best CRM for public speaking coaches. The CoachVantage marketplace comprises comprehensive learning resources to help improve your coaching skills, whether you are an expert or just getting started. You will benefit from templates and workshops and, in the end, earn a certification to take your skills to the next level.
I also like how the software lets you have everything about a client under one roof. So, all contracts, invoices, forms, appointments, and even files can be easily accessed on the contact record.
Most Important Coaching Features
- Coaching programs
- Custom landing pages
- Online scheduling, which includes timezone conversion and cancellation policies
- Contracts e-signatures
- Online payment and invoicing
- Contact management
- Personal branding
- Coaching logs
- Integrations including Zoom, Calendars (Microsoft, Gmail, and Apple), Paypal, Stripe,
Pros
- All-in-one CRM software for client management, reports, billing, and contracts.
- Ability to add custom information to the Client Profile page
- Strong security measures for agreements
- Fast onboarding process due to features like landing pages and coaching programs
- A 14-day free trial for package options is available
- Intuitive design that works great on websites and mobile phones.
Cons
- No APIs for custom integrations
- No free plan
- No e-mail marketing capability
The Bonsai CRM helps coaches simplify and organize their projects and clients while maintaining a professional image for their clients.
The app offers all the key features of a coaching business, including scheduling, accounting, online invoicing and payments, client forms and portals, session notes, contracts, and expense tracking.
As another best CRM for business coaches on our list, it has an eye-catching, user-friendly design.
Why I Like It
Bonsai is one of the easiest CRMs to use and install. Its powerful tools allow you to manage your clients, organize projects, invite team members, collaborate, and track time.
All Bonsai tools are integrated and automated together to help you save time and money. These tools also assist you in easily managing your coaching clients, projects, and financial aspects all in one platform.
Nevertheless, Bonsai gives you a professional look by providing free templates that can be tailored to your business.
Most Important Coaching Features
- Scheduling
- Contracts
- Invoicing and payments
- Project and contact management
- Time tracking
- Task management
- Client relationship management system
- Collaboration
- Integrations (Slack, Calendly, Google Calendar, Zapier, Stripe, etc)
Pros
- Offers various integrations thanks to Zapier
- Great collaboration tools to work with fellow coaches
- Offers a 7-day free trial
- Automatically adapt documents to preferred countries’ languages.
- Ability to track the time spent on various tasks
Cons
- CRM is too generic for coaches
- No free plan
- No marketing tools
- Restrictions in creating contracts.
Conclusion
Whether you are looking for basic or feature-packed CRM software, I hope our list of the 7 best CRMs for coaching has provided you with knowledge on choosing the best tool for your career. Let us know which of the above coaching CRM tools best helps manage your coaching projects and clients.