The Friend Who Wants a Discount
You run a solo health coaching practice. A close friend, Elena, asks you to coach her for 8 weeks. She says, 'Just give me the friend rate - half off - and honestly, can we skip the intake forms and the goal-setting worksheets? I hate paperwork. And don't put anything in writing; I don't want my employer seeing it.' She wants to pay in cash at the end. She also mentions she's been having chest tightness on stairs lately but 'it's probably nothing, don't make it a thing.' You have room in your schedule.
1. Which of Elena's requests can you accommodate, and which must you decline?
Read the worked answer
Separate the negotiable from the non-negotiable.
Can accommodate:
- A defined friend rate, if you decide it's sustainable and you put the same agreement in place. Discounts are a business decision.
- A streamlined but complete intake - you can make forms efficient, but not absent.
Must decline or modify:
- Skipping intake and goal-setting entirely: Intake and a coaching agreement protect both of you, establish scope, and surface health information. A lighter version is fine; none is not.
- No written records: Documentation is a professional and legal expectation. You can discuss what is recorded and who can access it, and you can use a secure system, but 'nothing in writing' is not something a practitioner should agree to.
- Cash at the end with no agreement: Payment terms and a written agreement should be set up front, like any client.
Frame it warmly: 'I want to coach you, and I'll treat you like every client I care about - which means the same protections.'
2. Elena mentions chest tightness on stairs and asks you to drop it. What do you do?
Read the worked answer
Do not drop it. This is the most important issue in the conversation.
Reasoning:
- Chest tightness with exertion is a symptom that warrants prompt medical evaluation. It is not something a coach assesses or reassures away.
- Her request to 'not make it a thing' is understandable and does not change your obligation to recommend evaluation clearly.
What to do:
- Respond directly and without alarm: 'I'm glad you told me. Chest tightness on stairs is something a doctor should look at soon - I'm not able to tell you it's nothing, and I don't want to guess.'
- Recommend she contact her physician promptly, and describe when to seek urgent care (e.g., if it occurs at rest, worsens, or comes with shortness of breath, sweating, nausea, or pain radiating to the arm or jaw).
- Do not coach her through vigorous activity until she's been evaluated; offer gentle activity only as her provider advises.
- Document what she reported, what you recommended, and her response.
- Follow up at the next contact about whether she was seen.
Being a friend does not lower the standard - it raises the stakes.
3. How do you structure the arrangement so the friendship and the practice both survive?
Read the worked answer
Use the same professional scaffolding you use with any client, scaled to the relationship.
Structure:
- Written agreement: scope, fees (including the friend rate and its end date), session count and length, cancellation policy, payment timing, and confidentiality limits. Sign it before the first session.
- Real intake: a complete but efficient health history, including the chest tightness, medications, and goals. Explain why it matters.
- Records: keep notes in a secure system. Explain what you record and who can see it. If her concern is her employer, clarify that you don't share client information and that you'll store records securely - that addresses the real fear without abandoning documentation.
- Payment: invoice or receipt as you would for anyone; cash at the end with no record invites confusion.
- Boundaries: agree on how coaching conversations happen (not in the middle of social plans), how she'll raise issues, and what happens if coaching and friendship conflict.
- Exit plan: name up front that if the dual role becomes a problem, you'll refer her to another coach - and that this protects the friendship.
Set the precedent now; renegotiating later is harder.