You sit down at the computer to write training plans like you do every week. And there it is: the email notification that one of your favorite athletes, the one you were sure would be with you forever, is giving their 30 days’ notice.
The athlete is full of thanks, appreciation, and genuine sadness over this decision. But they are tired, burned out, need a break, need to focus on other areas of their life. We have all gotten this email at least once in our coaching careers. It doesn’t mean your heart isn’t broken.
You are still, of course, thankful for your time together, but then the next feeling pops in.
PANIC.
What does this mean about your business? If your favorite athlete can leave, does that mean that all of them will? What about 2027? Are you failing?
Why this email doesn’t mean failure
I am here to tell you: this is NORMAL. The longer you are in business, the more you see the seasons of coaching. And in late August/early September almost every one of us will get this email.
But I want you to reframe your thinking here. This is the time of the year you will get a few hours back that you can use to reinvest into your business. New athletes will come in their place, and now you can take the time you don’t have in the early and mid-season to prepare for new athlete inquiries and to streamline systems. Maybe you had 30 plans a week in May and in September and October you will be down to 23. That’s 2-4 hours a week back, maybe more!
You have a choice: fill those hours with worry or fill them with preparation.
Here’s why preparation should be your choice: In my almost five years of working with endurance coaches on their businesses (over 300 at this point), I’ve found that roughly 70% of athletes who go looking for a coach do it between September and February. They’re setting up next season right now.
The same window that took athletes off your roster is about to send new ones looking for you.
3 systems you should upgrade before next season
Here is my vote for how you should best use your reclaimed time:
System 1: Clean and build your workout libraries
This is the task that no one wants to do but will bring you the most time savings, PLUS will help you coach your athletes better. Organize your libraries, build progressions in workouts, write out the repeatable workouts you keep re-writing on the fly, systematize titles, etc. This can save you hours a week for years and even decades.
Tip → Now is the time to implement the new TrainingPeaks Strength Workout Builder. It lives inside Workout Builder, so you can plan strength training right alongside endurance training. This will up your professionalism while improving your plan writing systems!
System 2: Get your payments sorted
If you are still collecting through some combination of Venmo, PayPal, checks, and cash, it’s TIME. This is the window, before new athlete inquiries start arriving. I talk to so many coaches who are still chasing after late payments, missing failed payments (I spoke to one coach who found $5,000 in missed coaching payments when he fixed his payment system!), and it makes tax time so much easier and organized.
Tip → Get TrainingPeaks Payments set up to keep everything in one place and running for you. You can create products, send checkout links, set up monthly recurring billing, and check payment statuses. (Note: Payments is limited to the U.S., Canada, Australia, and the U.K.)
Check out this guide to learn how to get Payments set up, then you can implement the payment system with all your new onboardings. Make it easy!
System 3: Consolidate your coaching conversations
I speak to coaches every day who are absolutely overwhelmed by the communications with their athletes. Email, TrainingPeaks comments, FB Message, Instagram DM, phone calls, text messages. It’s exhausting, and key details such as race schedules and injury notifications get lost. The only and best way to fix this is to streamline your communication.
Do the majority of your conversations through the TrainingPeaks app. This way you are coaching your athletes where their plan is, not on the fly in the line at the bank or when you are running an interval workout on the track.
Tip → Use the TrainingPeaks Messaging feature to tighten your communication. Your athletes will know how to reach you and where to get their questions answered. With all the information in one place, you can coach them not only faster but better!
Turn your panic into a stronger business
My homework for you: Pick one this week to implement.
Use these weeks well, and future-you will be a year ahead: same (or fewer) hours, more freedom, and more profit. And your athletes will have a much better experience, which means better retention.
Need help filling the roster spots that opened up this season? Start with my free training: The Full Roster Fix.
