“What do you do after selling your service? How do you keep track of what needs to be fulfilled?” A question popped up in a group, sparking a discussion many of us can relate to. It's funny how often we overlook the importance of tracking open orders, especially after securing a coaching client during a flash sale. You’ll likely have a staggered onboarding, and some may even plan to start in a few months. It's crucial not to lose track, and here's how you can ensure everything stays organized in your coaching business.

Strategies and Tools for Effective Lead and Client Management

Managing leads and clients can indeed be overwhelming, particularly for coaches just starting. Implementing a system for tracking open orders is vital to ensure your marketing efforts are not useless. Let's look at some strategies and tools to help you stay organized and efficient.

Lead Management to Tracking Open Orders

If you’ve been around for any amount of time, you’ll know my belief that having a system in place is the first essential step. You can use a simple spreadsheet or a CRM tool like Honeybook to keep everything in check. Whether it's a project management tool such as Asana, Trello, or MeisterTask, these platforms can streamline your process. You can create tasks for each service request, assign them, set deadlines, and monitor progress. Remember, duplication of your lead template simplifies the process significantly.

A spreadsheet might seem basic for those just starting, but it's incredibly effective. I've assisted a multiple six-figure business coach who relied on Google Sheets for lead management. Tools like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets can help you maintain a detailed log of customer names, services provided, due dates, status updates, payments due, and links to essential documents.

Project Management Tool

Using a project management tool like Asana, Trello, or MeisterTask can help you manage and track your open orders.

You can create tasks or projects for each service request, assign them to team members, set deadlines, and track progress.

When a new lead comes in, simply duplicate your lead template and check off all the boxes. 

Use A Spreadsheet

As a new small business, even a simple spreadsheet will work. As I mentioned previously, I helped out a multiple six-figure business coach who utilized a Google Sheet for lead management in the past.

You can use a spreadsheet like Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets to track open orders or service requests. 

Create columns for details such as the customer's name, the service being provided, the due date, the request status, the start date, the end date, team member assigned along with payments due and links to supporting documents. 

Scheduling Tool

Using a scheduling tool like Calendly or TinyCal can be helpful if your coaching services need to be scheduled. This is a simple way to manage your availability and schedule appointments with future clients. This too, I’ve seen this in action with one of my past coaches. 

The process was simple and streamlined. 

Leads would fill out an application, and once reviewed and approved, email invitations with Calendly links would be sent to schedule a consultation.

If it were a “yes” client, following the onboarding process they would receive another Calendly link to book out all the calls with the coach. 

Regardless of which method you choose, it is essential to have a system in place to track your open orders so you can ensure that they are completed efficiently and on time.

Lead Qualification

When it comes to managing leads, it’s essential to know which is a good fit for your business. As much as you want, you can't be everything to everyone, so it's important to qualify your leads to find the ones that are a good fit for your coaching services. 

With this in mind, one way to do this is by asking qualifying questions during your initial contact with a lead. Without a doubt, a video call is the best way to get a good sense of who they are and if they’re serious about working with you.

Fortunately, there’s a simple solution. That is, create an application with good qualifying questions that will provide you with the information to decide if they are someone you’d like to work with. 

Here are a few basic questions:

• What are your specific goals or objectives?
• What challenges are you currently facing?
• How soon are you looking to start working with a coach?
• By asking these questions, you can quickly determine which leads are serious about working with you and which are not.

Lead Nurturing

But wait, just because a lead isn't a good fit at the moment doesn't mean they never will be. That's where lead nurturing comes in. 

Lead nurturing is building relationships with your leads and keeping them engaged until they are ready to become clients. This can be done through regular communication, such as email newsletters or quick check-ins on social media. 

Some ways to nurture leads or build up trust and respect include:

Sending out regular newsletters with valuable information and tips related to your coaching services.

Free resources, such as worksheets or e-books, can help your leads achieve their goals.

Follow up with leads regularly to check in and see how they progress.

Regularly nurturing your leads can keep them engaged and excited about working with you.

Client Management

Once a lead has become a client, it's necessary to have a system to manage their progress. This can include setting up regular check-ins and progress reports, as well as tracking their goals and progress. 

Some ways to manage your clients effectively include:

Make sure you have regular check-ins or progress reports to track their progress and make any necessary adjustments to their coaching plan.

Use a project management tool, such as Trello or Asana, to keep track of your client's goals and progress. 

Keep detailed notes of all communication and sessions with your clients so you can refer back to them as needed. Here’s a quick tip on note-taking: using a note-taking app during your calls will transcribe the call as you go.

During the call, the best thing to do is keep track of the action items from the call. At the end of the coaching session, review the action items and set a check-in date to keep your client accountable. 

Following the session consolidate notes, action items and other vital information in a Google Doc that can be shared with your client, this ensures everyone is on the same page.

It’s Time To Wrap This Up

The management of leads and clients is one of the most important aspects of growing a successful online business. In order to stay organized and ensure that you make the most of your time and resources, it is important that you pick a system that work for you. Whether it is a CRM tool, spreadsheet or project management software. Start with a simple process to qualify leads, nurture them, and manage your clients effectively. 

Thank you so much for your time. I appreciate you, and I hope you have a wonderful week!

The struggle to maintain work-life balance while running a work-from-home business, your family's busy schedule, along with Black Friday and end-of-the-year sales. I’m guessing most of you do it single-handedly, making the struggle oh-so-real.

Gratitude and Its Impact on Work-Life Balance

We've all heard about the power of gratitude, but did you know it can be a game-changer for entrepreneurs regarding work-life balance? Studies show that practicing gratitude can reduce stress, improve mental well-being, and boost creativity, all essential aspects of maintaining a healthy work-life balance for entrepreneurs. How can you cultivate gratitude in your daily hustle? Here are a few of my favorite ways to not lose sight of God’s blessings. 

Journaling 

At the time that I’m writing this, I’ve successfully journaled in the Day One app for 230 days. I’ve tried for years to be consistent with this practice. I’d find myself stopping because I let in all the noise about how I should be journaling. 

Nope, that’s not true. The best way to journal is the way that you’ll actually do it. What if pen to paper isn't working for you? That’s okay. Find a way that does work for you. As with everything in life and business, it is essential to find what works for you and what doesn’t work for you as an individual. 

Then, take a few minutes each day to jot down the things you're thankful for in your life and  entrepreneurial journey. Journaling out frustration, ideas, and gratitude helps to improve the work life balance of entrepreneurs.

Vocalizing Thanks

Do you struggle to pause and say “thank you”? Well, you’re not alone. I have lots of thank you thoughts that I don’t always pause to convey those thoughts to those around me. For what reason? It is a pretty lame excuse, when any excuse with do, busyness. Do you want to know something? If you pause and share your gratitude with others feels good to everyone involved. 

Expressing appreciation strengthens relationships and spreads positivity, improving entrepreneurs' work-life balance.

Reflecting on Progress

Do you take time to reflect on what is working in your business? Yes, most likely after a big launch, but how about the little things? Don't forget to look back and acknowledge how far you've come. Celebrating your wins, big or small, fuels your motivation and improves work life balance for entrepreneurs.

Setting Boundaries to Enhance Work-Life Balance for Entrepreneurs

While this one is not exclusive to entrepreneurship, it is felt wide and large across corporate America, too. While employees get time off, how many of them actually take time off? Most will be found with their face in their phone, checking emails.

Here’s the thing: burnout is the enemy of productivity and can significantly impact the work-life balance of entrepreneurs. As an online business, setting boundaries to protect your well-being and keep your priorities in check is crucial. 

Embracing Simplicity for Improved Work Life Balance of Entrepreneurs

In the world of entrepreneurship, things can get complex quickly as your online business grows. Even when you’re primarily a work-from-home business owner, as you begin to bring on remote team members, it will have an effect on how you balance your business and your family. With growth comes change that you’ll need to learn to navigate in this new season.

However, simplicity is often the key to success regarding the balance as a work-from-home business owner. Here's how you can simplify your business:

Streamlined Systems: Identify areas where you can streamline your operations. Are there repetitive tasks that can be automated?

Focus on Core Services: Keep your offerings simple and aligned with your strengths. Overcomplicating your services can lead to overwhelm, negatively impacting the balance you desire as a business owner looking for flexibility.

Hey there, busy business owners! Let’s be honest; finding time for organic content creation is tough when you're managing your family, your coaching business, and, well, life. And yet, the importance of organic content in your online business is something we can't ignore. But here's the deal: You can republish content in a way that's both easy for you and impactful to your audience. What if there is an easier way to create your organic content? Are you curious? It begins with one amazing social media post you’ve already created. Do you want to know more?

You may wonder how to turn a social media post into amazing organic content for your content calendar. One thing I’ve discovered with working with heart-centered coaches is that they give and give on social media, however struggle to publish organic content to a podcast and blog consistently. What I’ve been told is the process seems to time time-intensive; it’s not a priority, and we both know you are busy! Here are three steps that you can take to republish content you’ve already created on your social media feed into core content.

Step One: Identify Your Star Performer

First things first, take a close look at your social media analytics. This is where you'll uncover that standout post that has truly resonated with your audience. You could say it's like a hidden treasure, a gold nugget waiting to be uncovered and utilized in exciting new ways. What you're essentially doing here is laying the groundwork to republish content that's already proven to be impactful. 

Whether it's the number of likes, shares, or comments it's generated, these engagement metrics shine the light on what your audience finds valuable. 

Once you've zeroed in on this high-performing post, you've essentially found your building block to organic contentt. From this point, you can republish content into various formats, whether it's a podcast episode, a blog post, or even a newsletter. Trust me, understanding your analytics is the critical first step in your journey to republish content effectively.

Action Steps

Look at engagement metrics like likes, shares, and comments.

Identify the post's topic and consider why it resonated with your audience.

Step 3: Transcribe the Podcast & SEO-Optimize for a Blog

After your podcast episode is live, don't stop there; take the next step to republish content by transforming it into a blog post that your audience can read and reference later.

These days, you have a ton of different resources to have a podcast episode transcribed. At Miss Task we use Descript for podcast recording, editing, and transcription.

There is no one who wants to read a transcript, so transcriptions are edited for readability. You’ll want to make sure that the copy flows by using short paragraphs, bullet points, and images to draw attention to the key points.

In addition, be sure to optimize it for SEO. Adding in your keyword naturally throughout the blog post. A rule of thumb for keyword usage is no more than ten times. Your keyword should be in at least one heading two (H2), and your headline (H1) should have your keyword in the beginning.

Action Steps

Use transcription services like Rev.com or Happy Scribe.

Utilize SEO tools like Yoast SEO to optimize your blog post for your keyword.

Use UberSuggest to do your keyword research.