Paperbell Coaching Software Review 2022 | Wellpreneur (2024)

Managing your coaching business can make you crazy. Just taking one new client requires a whole set of tools and processes: a way for clients to pay you, sign a coaching contract, and schedule sessions. When you’re working with multiple clients, it gets even more complex. You have to keep track of your various coaching packages, who’s paid (or not), how many sessions remain, group vs. individual coaching, delivering bonus materials, and more. It’s easy to waste hours chasing clients for missed payments or to book their next session. Many coaches find themselves spending too much time on admin and chasing payments, rather than working with clients!

Making your coaching business easier to run is exactly why Paperbell Coaching Software was created.

Paperbell simplifies running your coaching business. Instead of separate systems for booking, payment, contracts, digital products and more – Paperbell brings it into a single system. But will it really make your coaching business easier to run, or is it just another tool to learn?

I’ve been a coach since 2012 and have tried many different tools to make my coaching business easier. In this review, I’ll share my experience of Paperbell, its strengths and weaknesses, and who should consider it for their coaching business.

Just so you know, I’m an affiliate for Paperbell, so if you purchase through my link, I may receive a commission – however this doesn’t change the price to you, and all the opinions contained here are my own!

What is Paperbell Coaching Software?

Paperbell is a scheduling, payment, and client management tool in one, designed just for coaches. Your clients pay (including payment plans, ongoing subscriptions, group coaching, and multi-session packages), schedule their appointment, sign contracts, and access digital downloads in one online hub. Paperbell handles the admin so that you can spend more time coaching.

Viewing one of your coaching clients in Paperbell with all the important info in one place: number of sessions remaining, revenue, next appointment, signed contract, session notes and more.

Who should use Paperbell?

Paperbell is designed specifically for coaches and consultants whose businesses focus on one-on-one coaching or small-group client work.

Paperbell can be used by health and wellness coaches, career coaches, life coaches, relationship coaches, and other types of coaching providers. Paperbell is also suitable for health and wellness practitioners who work 1:1 or in small groups with clients such as nutritional therapists, herbalists, holistic therapists, and more.

Paperbell is suitable for both new and experienced coaches. If you’re just starting your coaching business, you could take advantage of Paperbell’s “first client free” model to minimize costs until you’ve started getting clients!

Why would you want to use Paperbell Coaching Software?

Paperbell simplifies your coaching practice. Instead of managing multiple tools for scheduling, payment, contracts, digital product delivery and more – Paperbell is an all-in-one coaching system. This gives you a simple, professional solution to onboard and work with clients – so you can spend more time coaching (instead of on admin!)

Paperbell can replace these tools and systems in your coaching practice:

• Appointment Scheduling (Acuity, ScheduleOnce, Appointlet etc.)
• Shopping Cart (Thrive Cart, SamCart etc.)
• Contract Signing (HelloSign etc.)
• Landing Pages (LeadPages or on your own website)
• File Sharing (Dropbox or Google Drive etc)
• Digital Downloads (Gumroad etc)
• Client Questionnaires (Google Forms or SurveyMonkey etc.)

Instead of finding, paying for, and integrating multiple tools, Paperbell puts all of these essential coaching business functions in one place.

Let’s look at how Paperbell works, with the scenario of onboarding a new coaching client.

How to Onboard a New Coaching Client in Paperbell

Let’s walk through the process of signing on a new coaching client in Paperbell.

A new client will see your “shop” on Paperbell which lists your coaching packages (or you could link to the package directly from your website, if you have one.)

A list of packages your clients could purchase from you in Paperbell.

When your client is ready to buy a coaching package from you, they do so right in Paperbell by clicking the “Book Now” button.

Here’s a coaching package in Paperbell that your client can purchase by clicking “Book Now”

Now, the client onboarding process begins. Your online schedule in Paperbell reflects your current availability (which you can set directly in Paperbell, or it will integrate with your Google Calendar). Your client only sees times to book when you are actually available.

First, your new client books their coaching session with you.

Here’s what it looks like for a client to book a coaching session with you.

Then, if you have a client contract, the client is able to review and sign the contract electronically.

Here’s how the client signs their coaching contract electronically in Paperbell.

Finally, your client pays for their coaching package.

Here’s the checkout screen a new coaching client would see when they buy your coaching package in Paperbell.

Congratulations! You have a new coaching client!

Now, to prepare for your coaching session, you have the opportunity to ask your new client some questions (this replaces needing to send an email with a link to a Google Form, SurveyMonkey, or Google Doc.

You can choose to ask your new coaching client questions prior to their first session.

And finally, you can deliver any digital downloads to your client (if you use them).

Here’s what your new client will see when they log into Paperbell:

The client view of Paperbell where they can see upcoming coaching sessions and download any files included in their coaching package.

If you’re an experienced coach, I’m guessing you’ve also had the experience of using multiple tools to onboard a new client – so you’ll immediately see how streamlined this is both for you and the client!

As a new coach, Paperbell eliminates the huge learning curve of finding, buying, learning and connecting multiple tools. Plus, just imagine the smooth and professional experience your first clients will have – it gives the impression that you’re really on top of your business, even if you are just getting started!

Now let’s dig further into a couple few functions for coaching software…

Scheduling Coaching Client Appointments in Paperbell

Booking coaching sessions is one of the key requirements of coaching business software, and Paperbell ticks all the boxes here. Paperbell replaces online scheduling tools like Calendly or Acuity. It has all of the same functionality as scheduling-specific tools (such as timezone support and integrating with your online calendar), but it also includes other features, like surveys, contracts, and payments, that are presented to clients when they schedule.

Paperbell is like a scheduling tool that also helps you with all of the other steps you need to onboard a new coaching client.

Here’s how a client books a coaching session in Paperbell

Here are some of the appointment booking options in Paperbell:

• Set different availability for different offerings
• Create A/B week schedules
• Automatically create a buffer between appointments
• Limit how far in advance clients can schedule
• Automatically show availability in your client’s local time zone
• Limit how last-minute clients can book with you
• Sync with google calendar

Having an online calendar for your coaching business is absolutely essential and saves tons of email back-and-forth with your clients to book and reschedule coaching sessions. The fact that Paperbell goes further and integrates in payment and contract signing is a huge plus for me – because in the past I’ve always handled these in separate tools.

Getting Coaching Contracts Signed in Paperbell

Paperbell includes contract signing (also known as electronic signatures). This allows you to upload your contract and put it right into your client’s checkout flow. Paperbell then saves a copy of the completed contract accessible to both you and your client. Paperbell uses HelloSign’s proven electronic signature technology, which is a tool I’ve used previously myself, so I feel confident in letting it handle client contracts.

Here’s how a new coaching client books their session, then signs their coaching contract electronically in Paperbell.

How Clients Pay for Coaching Packages in Paperbell

Buying coaching packages has always been a challenge especially for new coaches. Often new coaches resort to just sending a PayPal link to receive payment which is easy, but doesn’t look very professional. Plus you have the common issue of a client using 2 email addresses: one to book their coaching session and another to pay – it’s time-consuming to figure out which client actually paid you!

Paperbell includes shopping cart/online checkout functionality, so your clients can buy coaching packages from you without needing a separate website.

Paperbell integrates PayPal and Stripe, so you’ll need one of these accounts to get paid through Paperbell. This allows clients to pay with a credit card or with their PayPal account.

Because so many coaches who work online, work with clients around the world, I also like that Paperbell supports multiple currencies (including USD, GBP, EUR, AUD, CAD among others.)

Where Paperbell really excels is the type of coaching packages it allows you to sell and deliver. You can create free sessions, subscriptions, and multi-session packages, as well as sell digital downloads, group coaching, or online classes. You can also mix and match all of these options into a package, and you can create a payment plan for your clients.

Overview page of a coaching package in Paperbell.

All of this is integrated with scheduling automatically, so clients schedule exactly what they’ve purchased, in the same system.

Pros of Paperbell Coaching Software

Integrated, all-in-one system with scheduling and payments that talk to each other.

This is the biggest plus, and the main reason for using Paperbell as a coach – it’s simple and it just works. Eliminate situations where clients can schedule without paying, or pay without scheduling. No more chasing clients for booking appointments or paying for their sessions. Want to know how much revenue you’ve earned from a certain client? Or how many coaching sessions they have left? Just look in Paperbell! That simplicity is priceless.

Flexibility to create coaching packages that suit you and your clients – without being restricted by technology.

You’re no longer limited by technology for what kind of sessions and packages you can offer! You can offer 1:1 and/or group coaching, free discovery sessions, one-time payments or payment plans, and even include digital downloads.

Easy to “know your numbers”. See how much revenue came through a particular client or coaching package.

Everyone says you should “know your numbers” in your coaching business – but the reality of that is often complicated. You might have clients on different packages or payment plans, or even paying you through multiple systems (such as PayPal, an online shopping cart or direct to your bank account.) I love that Paperbell gives you get a clear overview of revenue per client, and revenue per package, so you can make decisions about which packages to offer in the future!

Your client feels empowered and in control of her coaching experience – because all the details are easily available.

When your client logs into Paperbell, she has access to scheduling, payments, upcoming appointments, and digital downloads – everything in one place and adjusted to her timezone. Plus it’s an easy and professional experience – it gives confidence that you are on top of things in your coaching business – even if you’re just starting out and it’s your first client! Instead of doing admin, you can focus on delivering the transformation through your coaching sessions.

Cons of Paperbell Coaching Software

You can’t deliver online courses through Paperbell.

Paperbell is not a tool for delivering in-depth online courses. While you can deliver digital downloads they are just that: downloads. There’s no functionality for building or delivering video courses. So if you offer your clients access to one of your existing online courses, you’ll still need another tool for that.

It’s not suitable for managing in-person coaching sessions.

Paperbell is not for in-person coaching. It’s specifically geared towards online coaching practices – it assumes you are working online, and it does not have functionality for indicating appointment meeting locations.

Scheduling is focused on Google Calendar integration

If you use a different online calendar such as Outlook or iCal, you’ll first have to connect them to Google Calendar, and then sync with Paperbell.

Paperbell: Our Verdict

Having been “in the trenches” for years, using multiple systems to manage my coaching practice, I see the huge benefit of using an all-in-one coaching system like Paperbell.

If you sell coaching or consulting as part of your business, it makes sense to try a solution like Paperbell to eliminate the admin and tech headache associated with that type of business. I think it’s worthwhile even if you only have a handful of clients at one time. If you have a full coaching practice, it’s a no-brainer.

Instead of a limited-time free trial, Paperbell lets you try your first client for free! I love this model, because it gives you as much time as you need to get setup, enroll a client and work through their program – all for free! Established coaches will be able to do this quickly, but for new coaches, it means you don’t have to pay until you have your second client! Really clever freemium model that gives users a chance to really try out the product in your own coaching practice.

Sign up here for a free Paperbell account, and you can experience the simplicity of the system yourself on your first client!