How to hire coaches for your online coaching program.

Out of about 30 Loom videos from candidates, we meet one or two. Nobody gets a meeting without one.

That filter does most of the hiring. A Loom shows how a person talks to someone they have never met, which is the job. A CV shows where they worked, and working for a big offer means nothing on its own.

Do you need another coach, or a client success manager?

Check before you post the job. A lot of what fills a coach's day does not need a coach: chat logistics, onboarding, chasing overdue clients. A client success manager exists to help people get further without expensive coaches doing that work.

A full-time coach with one-to-one calls and chat support carries maybe 200 to 300 clients. Most coaches in the programs we run are fractional. If your coaches are full and half their time goes on chat, hire the client success manager first.

What should you write before you hire a coach?

The role, on one page. Most companies hire first and figure it out later. Be very clear about what you are looking for: the calls the coach runs, what they never do, who they hand clients to, the tools.

Write it from the offer. Fulfillment decides what can and cannot be delivered, so the coach's role is the part only a coach can deliver. Group calls and hot seats on the current step. One-to-one calls where the offer includes them. Reviews of the work clients send in.

How do you screen coach candidates?

With the Loom. Ask every applicant for a short video of themselves. Who they are, why this role, and how they would help a client stuck on one step. In the Loom you read the person more than the track record.

Look for what the role needs, plus four things: emotional intelligence, calm, confidence and communication. A coach who knows the method but rushes or lectures will lose clients on calls. A coach who is calm and clear can learn the method from your video training.

What do you ask a coach in the interview?

Questions about the person first, then real client situations. Skip the questions everyone answers the same way. 'Are you a hard worker?' has never once been answered with 'no.' These six are the ones we use and adapt.

1. Who were you in high school?
2. What are your hobbies?
3. What was the biggest challenge in your life, and how did you overcome it?
4. Where did you work before, and why did you leave?
5. A client messages you: 'I want to quit, this program does not work.' How do you react?
6. On a group call, a client asks about something the method does not cover. What do you say?

The last two show how they handle a client who is upset or off the path. Those moments decide whether a client stays. Listen for a calm answer that ends with a next step for the client.

How do you onboard a new coach?

With a worksheet for the role, the SOPs, Loom recordings and a few training sessions. Then freedom to learn, regular check-ins and reporting back. How good a coach turns out depends on this month more than on the interview.

No KPIs in the first month. Every person has a learning curve, and early KPIs are pressure for no reason. After that, measure the coach on their clients: on track or overdue, results reached, proof collected. Review a share of their calls for quality.

Watch out. Do not hire a coach to fix a program with no structure. Without video training, a time per stage and a client board, each new coach rebuilds the program their own way. Clients then get a different program depending on who they got.

Further reading: The interview questions that find a real client success manager · How to review your coaches' calls for quality