UK coaches, the 5 matching layer in this industry is broken. Building something to fix it, want it shaped by coaches first.
Something we keep coming back to in our conversations with UK coaches is that the market has no real triage layer. Clients arrive at coaches the same way they'd arrive at a plumber, through a search bar and a filter, with no structured sense of whether coaching is even the right intervention for what they're carrying, let alone which coach.
The downstream cost lands on the coach. Around 10 enquiries a month, 7 to 10 unpaid hours absorbing the consequences of that missing layer, roughly £615/month in foregone billing. But the deeper problem isn't the unpaid time. It's that the wrong people are reaching you, the right people aren't, and there's no infrastructure between "I think I need coaching" and "here's the coach for me" doing any of the sorting.
The current options reinforce this. Directories are search engines with a coaching skin. Enterprise platforms only work if HR is buying. Practice tools activate after the client is already yours. Nobody is doing the triage and matching work itself.
What we're exploring: clients complete a structured assessment that does three things. First, it triages, distinguishing presentations appropriate for coaching from those that need clinical pathways (BACP/UKCP/NHS), and signposts the latter properly rather than bouncing them. Second, it builds a meaningful intake, the kind of context you'd normally have to extract over a discovery call. Third, it matches them to a small curated coach shortlist based on that intake, not on keyword overlap. Coaches subscribe monthly and choose which matched profiles to pursue. No commission on your sessions.
We've been talking to UK coaches for a few weeks and the most engaged ones haven't wanted to wait until launch to weigh in. So we're keeping a small group of founding coaches close to the build. Not a marketing list. People whose answers move what ships. The survey is where it starts. The last couple of questions ask if you'd want a short follow-up. From there it's a simple non-binding letter confirming you're interested in being part of that group. No payment, no obligation, no lock-in.
5-min survey: https://forms.gle/5jKqNE6CEAnKBttV7
Genuinely want to hear in the comments:
What's the worst mismatch you've had walk through your door, and how did they find you?
What would the matching logic need to weigh, beyond topic, to actually send you the right people?
Be honest, what's the part of this idea that makes you wince?
The wince question is the one we care about most.
Cheers either way.