Simply Coach

Simply Coach is perhaps the most advanced online coaching platform out there and has gathered more than 1,700 coaches.

It’s designed to be a one stop shop for everything coaches might need to run their business online, whether their clients are individuals or organizations.

It’s part of our top 10 coaching platform ranking and today we’re reviewing the tool in detail.

We’ll break down exactly everything you can and cannot do, and how Simply Coach compares with its competitors.

Online coaches need a few different tools to be able to best serve their clients with ease.

They usually have to patch them up together, but Simply Coach aims to offer everything in one place.

Here are all the features it offers:

There is a lot to unpack here but note that the platform is already working on new features such as a mobile app or a community tool.

Let’s see what these main features look like and how they perform:

Client Management

Simply coach allows you to deliver your services to clients of all sizes, including 1:1 coaching sessions but also big corporations and cohorts.

You can manage contracts and progress of each client through the portal:

This is also where you can personalize your coachee’s journey or simply re-use templates you’ve created before.

The interface may look a little intimidating at first but as you go through the setup you’ll understand what each tab does.

Simply Coach also offers one of coaches’ more important tools: a built-in scheduler.

You can set up availability but also some standard rules such as buffer between calls or maximum notice.

Once you’ve connected your calendar (Google or iCal) you’ll then have a handy summary of your calls in the platform too.

Another way to communicate with your clients is to use the Shared Space which acts as a sort of a messaging system on the platform.

Payment/Invoicing

Simply Coach also offers everything you need for on-boarding new clients.

You can create Contracts templates and re-use them for future clients.

And then just send it for signature directly in the platform:

This makes other agreement and contract tools redundant and saves you the extra spend!

Simply Coach has released the beta version of its invoicing and online payment system.

This will allow you to use Stripe to charge your clients on a one-off or recurring basis.

Another great thing to mention that the platform takes care of for you is Taxes.

You can set up different regions and keep track of your VAT or local taxes.

Coaching Program Tools

We mentioned it before but it’s worth saying again: Simply Coach offers one of the most advanced coaching tools set out there!

Each Engagement, which are projects you’d have with a client or organization, can have any of the following activities inside:

Goals: These are self-explanatory but they are essentially ways to set milestones and tangible results.

Sessions: the coaching session your client has scheduled through the Simply Coach scheduler will automatically appear there - which you can reschedule or add notes for.

Private Journals: This is for you to keep entries and notes for this particular client, they won’t be able to see them.

Actions: These are to-do to tick off for everyone, you can set dates and reminder to keep the project moving along and everyone accountable.

Resources: Add files, downloads and even videos and any document you want in an easy to manage media library.

Shared Space: This is essentially a message system in the platform

Nudges: These are similar to Actions but they are meant to keep engagement up rather than have your client tick something off.

Stakeholders: List of everyone involved in the project

Tools: These are meant to be used as surveys to get feedback from clients on the program or how they’re progressing and feeling.

Other Tools

On top of these essential features that most coaches will need, Simply Coach has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

Let’s highlight these other tools:

• Coaching directory: As a user of the platform you'll have the ability to create a profile in the official directory the platform lists on its website. This may bring some extra client your way!
• Text Notifications: this is an added way of communicating with your clients and sending reminders
• Lead Capturing: Simply Coach gives you the ability to build an email list and collect information you can use for marketing purposes

Simply Coach is a relatively advanced platform which comes with a bit of a learning curve.

It still is however a somewhat intuitive platform with good user experience and interface.

The new menu UI condensed a lot of tabs into one in the dashboard:

There are a few things that could be improved when it comes to the navigation that is currently confusing.

For example you’ll find Sessions and Actions in several places and this can seem like they are different things (they’re not).

Overall, the platform is fast and reliable.

Simply Coach is surprisingly affordable for such an advanced platform.

You can start a 14 days trial of any plan without using a credit card.

As with most coaching platforms, upgrading your plan will most likely be to increase the client allowance.

The other notable reason to go up in the pricing ladder is the increased storage capacity, which is of only 1GB on the Starter plan.

Note that if you want to use a custom domain for your Simply Coach platform, you’ll need to be on the Leap plan at $59 per month (billed annually).

This may particularly be important for a platform like Simply Coach that promises to handle several parts of your coaching business.

The platform offers a few different ways to provide technical support.

One of them is through a handy Help Center with articles helping you learn and use the different tools at your disposal.

The other is to contact support directly via a chat widget:

The support team seems to be very responsive!

Simply coach does not unfortunately have any private group for users to connect.