8 Must-Have Coaching Software for Client Success

Your days are jam-packed marketing your coaching business, creating tailored programs and plans, and working with clients 1:1 or in group settings.

Thank goodness for modern technology: Coaching management software provides a place to offload some of your never ending-task list vs. doing it all yourself. 

So, what software do coaches typically use in their tech stack? 

When it comes to picking the right software, the best choice ultimately depends on your business model. However, there are common tools that you can use within your tech stack to better automate and streamline your coaching business.

From coaching appointment software to automation platforms to software that helps with professional development, there’s something out there for coaching businesses in every industry and of every size.

Let’s dive in!

1. For scheduling client appointments: YouCanBookMe

Are you still searching for that elusive perfect system of scheduling and organizing client appointments? Enter YouCanBookMe, the best scheduling software for coaches to save your calendar once and for all. This fully customizable scheduling platform simplifies the scheduling process and helps you create a personalized customer experience. No more endless back-and-forth emails to get a time on the calendar.

Create a booking page that showcases all of your different appointment types to help clients book the right services. You can also customize your booking form to ensure you have all of the information you need to show up prepared to every client meeting. Clients can visit your page to book a meeting with you no matter what type of appointment they’re looking for or what time zone they’re in. You can also reduce no-shows by setting up personalized and automated reminders via email or SMS.

Other must-know YouCanBookMe features include its ability to accept payments (via CC, Stripe, and Google or Apple Pay), and the ability to embed your booking page on your website or social media, plus generate a QR code for your page. “We have the YouCanBookMe page embedded in Kartra,” one client says.

Take a free tour to learn more.

Key features:

• Customizable booking page: Create your own branded booking page with a form that’s tailored specifically to you and your coaching business. The result? A booking process that’s clear, simple, and relevant to your clients. You can get a generic booking page anywhere, but with YCBM, your page is an extension of your brand. 

• Appointment types: Do you offer different services? Define and categorize your appointment types, including any differing prices and lengths. You can also offer clients add-on services, helping increase your revenue per booking without needing to add extra time.

• Calendar integrations: Connect your calendars from places like Google, Outlook, Apple, or FastMail to avoid double bookings. 
• Hybrid appointments: Allow your clients to choose an in-person meeting with a specific location, or a remote meeting held over Zoom or a platform of your choosing. YouCanBookMe will automatically create a new Zoom meeting when someone books a remote meeting.
• Workflows and notifications: As part of your booking page, set up a custom workflow where trigger actions put messages into play. For instance, immediately after a client schedules a new booking, YouCanBookMe will send them a confirmation email with all of the important details.

What this will help you streamline: YouCanBookMe gives you a way to create a self-serve calendar for your clients to book time with you (according to the parameters you’ve set). This improves your customer experience and frees up more mental space on your end.

Popular integrations YouCanBookMe offers coaches include calendar integrations (Google, Outlook, and FastMail), Stripe, and Zapier.

Pricing: Free forever, or opt for the paid plan (which gives access to all paid features, like group bookings and the ability to add your branding) for $10.80/calendar/month.

“YouCanBookMe [takes] all the guesswork and back and forth out of the equation. Send a link, and they book a session, and that’s it… The mental work saved is even more than the time saved. I love that it brought clarity, as well as saving time.”

 — Inger Kenobi, Life coach

2. For accounting: QuickBooks

Every coach needs a way to keep track of cash flow—invoicing, billing, taxes, all the boring but essential stuff—and QuickBooks is our top recommendation. Think of QuickBooks as your on-call accountant (for a much lower price): This accounting software is capable of sending invoices to your coaching clients, accepting payments, handling your virtual bookkeeping, tracking your mileage and other expenses, and so much more. With small business-specific plans, it’s a great resource to cover your business finances from anywhere and anytime. 

Key features:

• Invoicing and taking payments
• Track day-to-day business expenses
• Tax prep and filing
• Business forecasting
• Automatic mileage tracking

What this will help you streamline: QuickBooks helps ensure you never miss collecting (or making) a payment. From invoicing clients to paying contractors to tracking your profitability, the financial side of your coaching business is all in one place.

QuickBooks has over 750 integrations, including PayPal, MailChimp, and DocuSend. You can also integrate QuickBooks to YouCanBookMe through Zapier.

Pricing: Start with a 30-day free trial, then choose from plans beginning at $30/month. 

“As a small business owner who is still in the growing pains stage, I cannot commit to hiring a tax professional at this time. QuickBooks lets me organize all of my transactions between multiple platforms in one place so come tax season I have everything organized and ready to go. I can upload my receipts too, which is convenient.”

— Kathryn M.

3. For no-code automation: Zapier

By this point in the 21st century, we all understand the basic principle of automation: It helps you get stuff done more accurately and in less time. But not all of us have the IT skills necessary to set up the automated workflows we’d like. 

That’s okay! 

With software like Zapier, we don’t have to. Zapier makes automation accessible by building workflows, chatbots, or interfaces according to your specifications—no coding required. Work from a premade template, or simply describe what you want to automate and Zapier will immediately create a workflow for you.

Key features:

• DIY automation for workflows
• Databases designed for workflows
• Custom pages to power your workflows
• Integrate with over 6000 apps

What this will help you streamline: Zapier helps you automate repeatable tasks (including tasks you may not have realized were repeatable). Use it for marketing, customer support, sales, project management, or lead management.

Zapier’s 6,000+ integrations include Google Sheets, Notion, and YouCanBookMe (that’s us!). 

Pricing: Stay free forever to automate basic workflows with a max of 100 tasks per month, or pay for plans starting at $19.99/month. 

 “Zapier allows one person to act like a full administrative team. If you really take the time to thoughtfully create your zaps and workflows you can get a lot of productivity handled with minimal effort.” 

— Stef B., Real Estate professional

4. For community-building: Circle

If your coaching business is built on a foundation of community, Circle is the best coaching software for you. This platform provides an all-in-one location for you to offer multiple products, such as a course, live classes, community, and other resources. This also gives your coaching business a secondary stream of revenue that doesn’t rely on real-time calls.

With Circle, you can run calls or events with the native live streaming software and design your own membership packages and subscriptions. However you design your business and whatever industry you’re in, Circle is a user-friendly software where you can add your own special touch and create a true community around your brand.

Not to mention, offering clients a community aspect to your services is a great add-on and sets you apart from the competition.

Key features:

• Native live streaming software for scheduled or spontaneous group calls or 1:1’s
• Upload course content using drag-and-drop builder and use immersive learning features to help students engage throughout 
• Host engaging, real-time conversations using the chat and discussion features

What this will help you streamline: Circle provides a single home for all of your coaching products to live. Even better, your students and clients can connect over the content you offer.

Popular integrations Circle offers coaches include Instagram, Active Campaign, Stripe, PayPal, and MailChimp.

Pricing: Start with the free 14-day trial, then choose from plans starting at $49/month. 

 “Circle provides an incredible amount of customization for your community and courses. You can design a member experience that isn’t overwhelming, confusing, or generic. I’ve tried several membership and course platforms, and Circle has been by far the best. Additionally, their customer service is fantastic. Always friendly, quick and eager to resolve hiccups.” 

— Jaymi H., Founder and Instructor