Starter Playbook

The online coaching starter playbook

Three tools you can put to work this week. Copy the intake questions into your form, run the pricing numbers for your own business, and follow the onboarding checklist with your next new client. Nothing here is theory. It is what working coaches actually use.

Client intake form

Send this before the first call, or walk through it live. The point is simple: know exactly who you are coaching, what they have tried, and what could stop them, before you write a single program.

Goals

What do you want to be able to do or look like in 12 weeks?
Why does that matter to you right now?
How will you know this is working? Give me one number or one photo.

Training history

What does a normal training week look like for you today?
What have you tried before that worked, and what did not?
How long have you been training seriously?

Injuries and health

Any injuries, surgeries, or pain I should build around?
Any medical conditions or medications that affect training?
How is your sleep and stress most weeks?

Availability and equipment

How many days a week can you realistically train?
How long is each session, door to door?
Home gym, commercial gym, or minimal kit? List what you have.

Nutrition

Walk me through what you ate yesterday.
Any foods you will not eat, or cannot eat?
Who cooks and shops in your house?

Measurements and starting point

Current height, weight, and any measurements you track.
Send three photos: front, side, back, same light, same time of day.
What is your resting energy like across a normal day?

Commitment

On a scale of 1 to 10, how ready are you to change your habits?
What has stopped you from reaching this before?
What would make you quit on me in month two? Be honest.

Coach's note

The commitment questions matter as much as the training ones. A client who cannot tell you why they want this, or what has stopped them before, will churn no matter how good the program is. Screen for it here, not three months in.

Pricing worksheet

Most coaches guess their price and then feel resentful. Do the math once and you will price for the result you deliver instead of the hours you burn. Work top down: decide what you want to earn, then figure out what each client has to be worth.

1Set your target monthly income. Pick the number you actually want to take home, not a shy one.
2Decide your client capacity. Be honest about how many people you can coach well at once, not the maximum you could cram in.
3Divide income by capacity. That is your minimum average revenue per client, per month.
4Add your cost and time per client: software, admin, calls, program writing. Your price has to clear this with room to spare.
5Round up, not down. The number you land on is a floor, not a ceiling.

Example calculation

A coach who wants to earn 4,000 a month and can coach 20 clients well:

Target monthly income: 4,000
Client capacity: 20 clients
Minimum revenue per client: 4,000 ÷ 20 = 200 / month
Cost and time per client: about 40 / month
Healthy price floor: 240 to 300 / month

So this coach should not sell coaching under 240 a month. If that feels high for their market, the fix is a stronger offer or fewer, better clients, not a lower price.

Three packaging models

Pick one to start. You can always add a tier later once the first one sells.

Single tier: one clear package, one price. Easiest to sell and easiest to deliver. Start here.
Good / better / best: three tiers where the middle one is the one you actually want people to buy. The top tier makes the middle feel reasonable.
Core plus add-ons: one base coaching price, then paid extras like weekly calls, nutrition, or check-ins. Good once you know what clients keep asking for.

Coach's note

Price for the transformation, not the time. A client does not care that a program took you 20 minutes to write. They care that in 12 weeks they are stronger, leaner, and off the fence they have been sitting on for years. Charge for that.

First-week onboarding checklist

The first seven days decide whether a client stays or quietly disappears. Your job in week one is to make them feel certain they made the right call. Work through this in order.

Send a personal welcome message within an hour of payment. Voice note or short video beats a template.
Deliver the intake form and give a clear deadline to return it.
Book the assessment or first call while their motivation is highest.
Run the assessment: movement, starting numbers, photos, and one honest conversation about the goal.
Deliver the first block of training and nutrition inside the app, walked through, not just dumped.
Set up the app together: log in, notifications on, first workout marked, show them where to message you.
Agree the check-in cadence in writing: what you need from them, when, and what they get back.
Engineer a first win in week one. One PR, one habit held, one good photo. Something to prove this is working.

Coach's note

Retention is won in week one, not month six. A client who logs their first workout, hits one small win, and hears from you personally will still be here at month twelve. Make the first week feel like the best decision they made this year.

The three guides that move the needle first.

Frequently asked questions

The starter playbook is three tools you can use this week: a client intake form, a pricing worksheet, and a first-week onboarding checklist. Here is what each one does and how to put it to work.

What is in the starter playbook?

Three ready-to-use tools: a client intake form that surfaces the information you need before day one, a pricing worksheet that works out a sustainable rate from your own numbers, and a first-week onboarding checklist so no new client falls through the cracks.

How do I use the intake form?

Send it before the first call. It covers goals, training and injury history, food and schedule, and what has failed before. Reading it first means the first session is spent building a plan, not gathering basics, and it flags any client who is not a fit before you commit.

How does the pricing worksheet work?

You start from the income you want and the number of clients you can coach well, then work back to a per-client rate and sense-check it against real market bands. It stops you from pricing on gut feel or copying a competitor whose costs and offer are nothing like yours.

What does the onboarding checklist cover?

The first week: welcome message, plan delivered, app or tools set up, first check-in booked, and an early win identified. Most churn happens early, and a client who has a clear first week and one quick result is far more likely to stay.

Do I need special tools to use the playbook?

No. Everything works with a document, a spreadsheet, and whatever you already use to message clients. You can print it or save it as a PDF and adapt the wording to your own voice. It is a starting structure, not a rigid system you have to adopt whole.

Is the playbook really free?

Yes. You get it with your email, and there is no charge. The site is run by the team behind Trainera, a coaching platform, and the playbook is how new coaches get a first taste of a repeatable process.