I have a small dog named Bo. I want to take him with me to Europe in February, and to do so he needs a rabies jab and some paperwork. Our usual vet at Vets4Pets in Brook Lane doesn’t offer that service, so they referred me to the Caldy branch of Vets4Pets to get what I need.
When I registered with Brook Lane recently, I had a telephone conversation and at the end of it, Bo was registered and an appointment was booked. Simple. Straightforward. One conversation, job done.
Caldy vets, however, offer an utterly different and friction-strewn process.
The Friction in Action
First, I rang them to ask about the travel jabs and paperwork process. I explained what I needed to one person, who asked me to hold while she passed me to someone else. The next person I spoke to had no idea who I was or what I wanted, so I had to explain again from the beginning.
When I finished, she told me to email them and ask for a registration form. I didn’t want to do that without understanding what I need for Bo, what the process is, and what the costs are. She explained these things and then told me again to email for a registration form. I asked if they could send me a registration form, but was told that’s not our process.
I asked if I could simply register now and book an appointment, but was told that’s not our process either. I cannot have an appointment with them unless I’m registered, and the only way to register is for me to email them, for them to send me the registration form, for me to complete and return it, for them to acknowledge that I’m registered and then – when I’ve done all that – I can call to make an appointment.
There is so much friction in that process. Multiple steps, multiple people, multiple communications, none of it necessary. Brook Lane managed to register me and book an appointment in one phone call, but Caldy needs me to jump through multiple hoops before they’ll allow me to give them money for a service I need.
It got me thinking about all the places that coaches put friction between themselves and potential clients.
Where Coaches Create Friction
Some coaches have easy, one-click processes. Others have endless back-and-forth requirements – first DM me, then we’ll exchange messages about a meeting time, then I’ll send you a bunch of questions to complete before we can book, then you need to fill in this intake form, then we can finally schedule a call. I. may be exaggerating slightly, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about.
Overly complicated booking processes are everywhere in the coaching profession. Arduous paperwork before someone can even speak to us. Scary contracts that run to multiple pages – I’ve known coaches lose clients because their contract was so large and detailed that it frightened potential clients (ones who had already said yes) away.
Another place coaches add friction is when they give a presentation and finish with four different ways of contacting them. They think they’re providing choice and being helpful, when what they’re really doing is adding complexity. Complexity equals friction, and friction reduces the movement of people from where they are now to becoming clients.
Here’s another example that most coaches don’t even realise is friction. In a coach’s “About” section on LinkedIn, they give a link or an email address as a way to contact them. That’s massive friction. The reason it is is because most people use LinkedIn on their phones. The About section doesn’t let you use hyperlinks (a hyperlink is a clickable link) and so what coaches are actually asking the reader to do is to cut and paste from the About section and then go off to either email them with the cut-and-pasted email address or to look at a website.
The truth is that if it’s hard – if there’s too much friction – it doesn’t happen. Instead of providing email addresses or website URLs, suggest the reader DMs you on LinkedIn. That’s a one-click process to your inbox and is far more likely to happen if the reader wants to talk to you.
Why We Create Friction
Coaches don’t have concerns or objections about creating friction by which I mean that they don’t worry about what will happen if they make things easier. The problem is that they simply never thought of what they were doing as adding friction at all, it’s a completely new concept for most of them.
We think we’re providing value when we send detailed intake forms before a discovery call. Presenting a comprehensive contract feels professional to us and offering multiple ways to get in touch seems helpful. Requiring people to jump through various hoops before booking a call appears to be protecting our time.
What we’re actually doing is making it harder for potential clients to work with us. Every additional step is a place where someone can drop off. Every form to fill in, every email to send, every choice to make between multiple contact methods – these are all points where friction slows down or stops the momentum of someone moving towards becoming a client.
What Low Friction Looks Like
The right amount of friction is as little as possible. The more complex we make it, the less likely it is to happen. One click is perfect, two clicks is the next best thing, and so on. Every additional step we add reduces the likelihood that someone will complete the process.
Low friction looks like Brook Lane vets – one phone call, registration complete, appointment booked. It doesn’t look like Caldy vets – call, explain, get transferred, explain again, be told to email, wait for a form, complete the form, return the form, have the completed form acknowledged, then call back to book.
For coaches, low friction means someone can go from “I’m interested” to “I have an appointment booked” in as few steps as possible. Ideally, they click a link in your LinkedIn profile or on your website, they see your available times, they book a slot, they receive a confirmation with everything they need to know. Done.
It doesn’t mean they have to DM you first to request a link. It doesn’t mean they have to fill in a questionnaire before they can book. It doesn’t mean they have to email back and forth to find a time. It doesn’t mean they have to read through a ten-page contract before their fist session All of that is friction, and friction stops people from becoming clients.
The Friction You Don’t See
The most dangerous friction is the friction we don’t realise we’re creating. We think we’re being thorough or professional or helpful, when we’re actually making things unnecessarily complicated. We add steps to our process without considering whether each step is truly necessary or whether it’s just adding another opportunity for someone to drop off.
That detailed intake form you send before discovery calls? Friction. That back-and-forth messaging to find a time rather than using a booking system? Friction. Those four different ways to contact you at the end of your presentation? Friction. That email address in your LinkedIn About section rather than a suggestion to DM? Friction.
None of these things feel like friction to us because we’ve created them and we understand why they exist. But to potential clients who are already uncertain about whether coaching is right for them, who don’t fully understand what we do, who are trying to take a step towards getting help – every additional thing we ask them to do is a barrier.
What This Makes You Wonder
If you’ve never thought about friction before, if it’s a new concept to you that the processes you’ve created might be making it harder rather than easier for clients to work with you, what else haven’t you thought about?
What else exists in the world of client acquisition that you’re not aware of because you simply don’t even know it exists? What other ways are you unknowingly making things harder for yourself, creating barriers you don’t see, adding complexity where simplicity would serve you better?
This is the problem with trying to figure out client acquisition as we go along without proper training. We don’t know what we don’t know. We create processes that seem logical to us without realising they’re adding friction. We make choices that feel professional without understanding they’re creating barriers. We do things that appear helpful without recognising they’re actually reducing the likelihood of someone becoming a client.
Friction is just one example. It’s one aspect of client acquisition that most coaches have never considered. What else is out there that you’ve never thought about? What other principles, concepts, and strategies exist that could make the difference between struggling to find clients and having a steady flow of enquiries?
Reducing Your Friction
Start by looking at every step in your process from initial interest to booked appointment to becoming a client. How many steps are there? How many forms to fill in? How many emails back and forth? How many choices to make? How many hoops to jump through?
Then ask yourself: is each step absolutely necessary, or is it friction? Who benefits from each step? (If it’s you, remove the step). Could this be simpler? Could this be one click instead of three? Could this be automated instead of manual? Could this be clear instead of offering multiple options?
The goal isn’t to have no process at all, the goal is to have the minimum necessary process with the least possible friction. Every step should serve a genuine purpose that benefits the client or protects your business in a meaningful way. If it’s there because “that’s how it’s done” or “it seems professional” or “I thought it would be helpful,” it might just be friction.
Remove the friction, and see what happens. Make it easier for people to work with you, and watch how many more people actually do.
But also recognise that if you’ve never thought about friction before, there are probably dozens of other aspects of client acquisition you’ve never thought about either. Learning properly, from people who understand how to market a coaching business, means discovering all those things you didn’t know you didn’t know.
Friction is just the beginning.
An Opportunity
If you’re amazed at the concept of friction and that you’ve never even considered it before, may I offer you a way to learn more things you’ve never thought about for free? Why not join my next free challenge, Nail Your Niche? We run it several times a year and there’s even an option to upgrade to a VIP version, which gives you 3 x 60-minute group mentoring sessions with me for just £99 (inc VAT) – that provides us with time for a lot of conversations about things you may not have considered.
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