The most important job that your contract does for you

What’s the most important job that you didn't know your contract is doing for you.

Do you want to know? it's pretty simple:

It sets boundaries. Scroll down to read more (or click the image to watch me explain it!).

what boundaries can your coaching contract set for you?

Client boundaries can look like a few different things.

having office hours in your contract

Access to you is a big boundary-setting exercise. Setting that boundary in your coaching contract makes sure your client knows you won’t be available to respond 24/7!

How do you set this boundary in your contract? Simply by stating your office hours. For example, “Coach will be available to respond to communications between 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday.”

turnaround time

How long do you want to give yourself to respond to phone calls, DMS, Voxer messages and other communications?

It can really help to solidify your relationship with your clients if you’re upfront and clear about how long they can expect to wait to hear from you. 12 hours? 24 hours? And don’t forget about holidays and weekends!

establishing communication boundaries with your clients

What types of tools do you use to communicate with your clients?

Maybe you don't text with clients as a general rule. That's something that you would put in your contract.

Or maybe, for HIPAA reasons or other confidentiality-related reasons, you don’t talk about health-related issues in your Instagram DMs. That would go in your contract, too!

conclusion

Remember, your contract is there to make sure you and your client are both on the same page when it comes to expectations. All in all, it's about communication boundaries. Having these things in place ensures that the client knows what “the rules” are, (whatever those rules are to you) in an easy-to-understand way. This ultimately helps the client in her relationship with you and helps free you up from unnecessary back-and-forths so that you can work your magic.