New Coaching Client First Week Checklist
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A first-week setup checklist for every new coaching client, covering the agreement, intake, client record, package terms, baseline, goals and privacy conversation, so nothing that matters in month three is left to memory.

[ ] Check your current active client count against the ceiling from the Coaching Client Capacity Planner before you say yes, so the new client does not push prep and notes into your evenings.
[ ] Send the coaching agreement and get it signed before the first paid session; it should cover fees, package terms, cancellation and late-cancel rules, confidentiality, and how notes are stored.
[ ] Send an intake form that asks for context, what the client wants from coaching, what they have already tried, and why they are coming now.
[ ] Create the client record before the first session, with a consistent name, contact details, start date and preferred way to be reminded, all in one place.
[ ] Record the package details: sessions purchased, price paid, start date, expiry or pause rules, and sessions remaining set to the full count.
[ ] Agree on session length, frequency and the standing day and time if there is one, and write it in the record rather than only in the calendar.
[ ] Agree how you will communicate between sessions, whether email, text or nothing, and what response time the client can expect from you.
[ ] Hold the first session and write the note within a few minutes of ending it, using the same headings you plan to use every time.
[ ] Capture why the client is coming to coaching now, in their own words, as one quoted sentence at the top of the record.
[ ] Write two or three goal statements in the client's words, each pointing to something observable rather than a feeling.
[ ] For each goal, record how you will both know it has moved: a self-rating scale you will reuse, a count, or a specific situation handled differently.
[ ] Record a dated baseline for each goal on the same scale you will use at every review.
[ ] Attach a review date to every goal and put those dates in your calendar as well as in the record.
[ ] Write the first between-session commitment precisely enough that you can check it next time.
[ ] Write one line about what you intend to do in session two, so preparation for it is a two-minute read rather than a reread of everything.
[ ] Tell the client how their notes are stored, who can see them and how long you keep them, and note in the record that the conversation happened.
[ ] If you use a shared or cloud tool, confirm that only you can open the client's notes, that two-factor authentication is on, and that the client's full name is not sitting in a calendar title other people can see.
[ ] Send a short written recap of session one with the goals and the first commitment, and keep a copy in the record.
[ ] Set the reminder for session two in the format the client asked for, and note that preference so every later reminder matches it.
[ ] Schedule a first progress review at the natural midpoint of the package and add it to the record next to the goals.
[ ] Add the client to whatever list or view you use to see sessions remaining across all clients, so the renewal conversation happens before the last session rather than after it.