Two or three refund requests per 100 new clients is a good rate. Most of the early ones are fear.
A client spends a lot of money, opens the program and sees how much work is in front of them. The doubt comes back, and it reads like a verdict on the program. The cause usually sits earlier: the sales call, the first minute after joining, or an onboarding that took too long.
Why do clients ask for a refund in the first weeks?
Because they spent a lot and now realise they have to do the work. Fear and doubt lead to the request, and most refund requests are people giving up. It is a chain, and the request is the last link. These are the four links we check:
- Marketing or sales set an expectation that did not match what the client received.
- An objection was never handled on the sales call, so it came back after the payment.
- The client was not ready for the work, and the mindset was never addressed.
- Onboarding was slow, so the client saw the bill before they saw a result.
How do you tell fear from failure?
Ask whether the program delivered what the client was sold. If it did, and the client is scared of the work, it is fear. If the sales team promised something the business does not do, it is failure, and the failure is ours.
The recording answers it, which is why every sales call is recorded. The restaurant version: you reserved for the best steak in town and got fish. Maybe the fish is good and you stay. Maybe you do not eat fish, and that deserves respect.
| Fear | Failure | |
|---|---|---|
| What happened | The client paid a lot and now sees the work | Sales promised something the program does not do |
| What the call does | Understanding, then clear: no refunds, your goal has not changed | Confirms what was promised and what was delivered |
| What follows | One next step, then check-ins as often as possible | A refund, paid fast, the decision confirmed by email |
| What prevents it | A fast onboarding call and a first win inside two weeks | Framing on the sales call, recorded, and no refunds said at the close |
What does the call say to a scared client?
First, understanding. Let the client say what scared them. Then be clear: "There are no refunds, but let's figure this out. Your goal has not changed." Handle the objection positively and end with one next step.
Make clear this should not be a conversation again. Then hand-hold and check in as much as possible over the following weeks, by voice message on the chat the client already uses. That turns most of them around.
Always a call. Most people asking for a refund got scared: they spent a lot and now realise they have to do the work. Be understanding, then clear: there are no refunds, but let's figure this out, your goal has not changed. And if the sales team promised something you do not do, refund. A lot of people in the coaching space are too egoistic or too scared of losing a client, even when they messed up.
What stops the fear before it becomes a request?
Speed. Do the onboarding call as fast as possible and show the client everything, so they see what they bought is real and valuable. That raises the chance they stay. No guarantee.
Then a first win inside one to two weeks, 30 days at the latest. Past that the client already feels down and starts thinking the program is bad, even when it is not. The bigger the offer gets, the slower onboarding gets, and slow onboarding raises the chance of a refund request.
And say it at the close. In most offers we run, the contract says no refunds and the closer says so on the sales call. Offers that frame it this way get very few requests.
Who should take refund requests?
One person, always the same one, who gets on a call before any refund. Some coaches give refunds because it is faster than a call, and the number shows it. In some offers we ran with one person on it, refunds went to one a month or fewer, and some months to zero.
That person's job on the call is the client's mindset. The transaction in Stripe or Whop comes last, and only when the case is legit.
Watch out. A legit refund paid late costs more than the refund. Every day you wait raises the chance of a bad review, and Trustpilot can wreck an offer fast. Decide on the call, confirm by email, pay it.
Further reading: The call we do before any refund · Refund requests in a coaching business: a process, not a fight
Diego Miescher
