Every call our client success managers take has a meeting note filled in before it starts. Nobody joins a call to find out what it is about.
Most session notes templates are written for the coach's memory. In a program with 300 clients, the note has two more jobs. It tells the next person on the team where the client is, and it is part of the record that delivery happened.
What should coaching session notes include?
Two halves. A prep half written before the call, and an outcome half written within the hour after it. The prep half is quick when the client board is current, and the outcome half is four lines.
| Line | When | What goes in it |
|---|---|---|
| Client and offer | Before | Name, package, start date, coach and client success manager |
| Milestone | Before | The stage they are on and the time it should take |
| Status | Before | On track or overdue, and by how much |
| Blocker | Before | What the last check-in, chat or form said is in the way |
| The call's outcome | Before | The one thing the client should leave with |
| Decision | After | What was agreed, in the client's words where possible |
| Next step and due date | After | One action, with the date it is due |
| Promises | After | Anything the coach or team said they would do or send |
| Flags | After | Refund talk, a result to ask proof for, a signal for the next offer |
Why write the note before the call?
Because a call without prep turns into a catch-up. The coach spends the first part of it finding out what the note would have said. The client leaves with a vague plan.
The prep also catches what the call would miss. A client who is overdue on a stage, or who mentioned money in the last chat, needs a different call. The person writing the note sees that first.
Every meeting has a meeting note filled in beforehand, so it is never a random call. I hate random calls. The client success manager preps the day's calls in the morning, right after the chats and the support inbox.
What do you write after a coaching call?
Four lines, inside the hour, while the call is fresh: the decision, the next step with a due date, any promise, any flag. A promise is anything the team said it would send or do. Unwritten promises are how clients end up feeling ignored.
The due date matters most. Every stage of the program has a time it should take, and the next step should fit inside it. If it does not, the note says so and the client is marked overdue on the board.
Where should session notes live?
On the client's row in the client board, in Monday.com or a Google Sheets tracker. Not in the coach's notebook, a doc on a laptop or a chat thread. When a coach or client success manager leaves, notes kept anywhere else leave with them.
One place also turns notes into data. A client success manager scanning the board sees who had a call this week and which flags came up. Read across all clients, the blocker column shows where people get stuck.
Do session notes help with refunds and chargebacks?
Yes. A dated note per call, with what was agreed and what the client did next, is part of the record that delivery happened. With the call recordings and the contract, it is what a payment processor looks at in a dispute. This is not legal advice.
So write every note as if the client might read it. Facts and actions, no opinions about the person. A note that names the step not done and its due date beats one that says the client did not do the work.
How long should session notes be?
Short enough to read in a minute. Client success managers who send long messages lose clients' attention, and long notes go unread for the same reason. One line per field, links instead of summaries.
Group calls get one note for the whole call and one line per hot seat. The line names the client, the question and the action they took away. It goes onto that client's row too, so their record shows the group call.
Further reading: Client tracker template for a coaching program · What happens on a check-in call with a coaching client
Diego Miescher
