In my first year of helping coaches to build their coaching business, one of my clients asked for a full refund after I spent 6 months of private work with her. I was floored and had not seen this coming!
I found out later that she had asked for a full refund from her coaching training school as well and I knew that this was really about her needing money.
I had a phone conversation with her and told her that I couldn’t in good conscience refund her because I had already given her my time and her post program results were her responsibility — something I could not control.
But she threatened to complain to Visa, Better Business Bureau and PayPal, so I gave her a full refund to remove those threats.
I thought it was just as well that she wouldn’t be a coach. And, I felt compassion that her financial straits were such that she was searching for money.
I will never again give a full refund for time that I already spent one on one with a client unless my integrity is clear that I should.
Let Your Integrity Decide If You’ll Refund a Coaching Client
The threat of refunds due to dissatisfaction is fully behind me. And, with easy adjustments to your mindset, programs, pricing and more, you can put it behind you too.
My last episode detailed ways to proactively prevent the likelihood of clients asking for a refund by setting your business up in a professional way. Check that out at prosperouscoach.com/243.
Now I’m going to cut to the chase with my answer to the powerful question — should coaches ever give refunds? YES, as guided by your integrity.
Consider, getting fully in touch with your integrity and the intuitive feelings that tell you something is amiss in your coaching relationships.
What could flag your integrity?
If you feel that you mishandled the co-creative relationship or got sideways with a client over a personality issue that you didn’t address quickly enough. That could call for a refund for your time.
And it’s always your choice what you do. Just know it could be an uncomfortable learning opportunity especially if the client decides to make trouble for you with a merchant account or on social platforms.
Again, my previous episode really goes into detail about what you can do to prevent those types of clients hiring you who are likely to ask for a refund.
Respond with Compassion to Your Coaching Client’s Long Term Emergencies
There are circumstance where you may want to give a partial or pro-rated refund for time not yet spent with clients.
The main way that I work with clients is in my 5-month VIP Coaching Business Breakthrough program where I act as thinking partner, guide and mentor for coaches to create all the foundational pieces of their business so they launch with a strategic niche, customer journey, valuable content plan, a client-winning website, a free offer and all the little steps in between.
If you don’t want to have to figure everything out on your own and would appreciate hand-holding through all the steps I’d love to work with you. Fill out the application at prosperouscoach.com/vip.
Five months is a long period of time — the right amount of time for my program — and so many things can happen that neither I nor my clients can control.
These circumstances could arise for any coach that has clients pay in advance for services, which is a good idea.
For example:
- The client suddenly has a sudden long-term illness or flare up that makes it impractical to continue
- A family member of the client becomes ill and the person needs to care for them full time
- The client experiences an unplanned pregnancy and that changes their plans
- Or the coach has an emergency and needs to clear the decks
These are all good reasons to give a pro-rated refund for the time left in your program.
Money Back Guarantees for Digital Products and Programs
The other area where you might want to have a refund policy or guarantee is if you are selling digital products, —ebooks or online training without a live training or service component. In these cases, it’s smart to set conditions for refunds based on a limited time.
I had money-back guarantees with two online training programs I used to sell. It said:
MONEY BACK GUARANTEE:
If you are not satisfied with the quality of this program
within the first 7 days of your purchase
you may request in writing and receive a full refund, no questions asked.
After 7 days this product cannot be refunded.
Of course, I had long sales pages with clear descriptions of what they would receive, when and how as well as testimonials. The program dripped out weekly so I was not going to give the full program away before the refund policy was out of time. I never had anyone ask for a refund beyond 7 days.
People will request refunds for digital products. It’s the nature of selling programs online.
Unfortunately, the investment for programs like these does not often inspire commitment to consume and implement the material. It’s one of the reasons I stopped selling digital programs — I want my clients to succeed and I know that their commitment to their success is critical for that to happen.
By the way, if you give too many refunds for digital programs you may lose your account or be penalized by merchant services such as Stripe and PayPal so it’s important that your policy is clear and not in small type.
Remember, your integrity is your best guide for whether, when and how you give refunds for your work.