Renewals and referrals
Updated 2026-09-19
Most coaching practices lose revenue at the end of a program, not the start: the renewal conversation happens late, and the referral is never asked for at all. On HighLevel both are a date field and a short workflow, built once and running for every client after that.
The renewal date
A custom field on the contact record, set the moment a client is onboarded, holds the date their program is due to end or renew. Without that field set at the start, the workflow below has nothing to count down from, which is the single most common reason this loop never gets built: nobody set the date on day one.
The reminder workflow
A workflow keyed to that date, firing at two points ahead of it, does two things: creates a task for the coach so the renewal conversation is on their list rather than a surprise, and sends a message to the client so the conversation is not the first they hear of their program ending. Whether you set that at 30 and 14 days out or on your own schedule, the point is that it fires from the date field rather than from memory.
The referral ask
A tag applied by the coach after a documented result, a testimonial, a milestone, a finished program, triggers a short message asking for a referral. The principle worth keeping: ask at the moment of the result, in the same message as any testimonial ask, not weeks later in a broadcast to the whole list. A referral asked for in the moment a client is pleased converts at a different rate than one asked for as a general request months later.
Where this fits with onboarding
Setting the renewal date belongs inside the same workflow covered in client onboarding, so it happens automatically rather than as a separate task someone has to remember. The renewal and referral workflows described here are the last of the five loops covered in running a coaching business on HighLevel.
Usage at this stage
Both workflows send at low volume, a handful of messages per client rather than a broadcast, so the cost sits close to the plan floor: roughly $0.675 per 1,000 emails and $0.00747 per US SMS segment, as at September 2026.
Questions people ask
How do I remind clients to renew?
With a custom field holding the renewal date, set at onboarding, and a workflow that fires ahead of that date with a task for you and a message to the client.
Can HighLevel ask for referrals for me?
It can send the message on a trigger you set, such as a tag applied after a result. The wording and the timing are yours to decide; the workflow just makes sure it goes out.
When should I ask for a testimonial?
At the moment a client tells you something positive and specific, in the same message as the referral ask, not deferred to a later email.
Can it track who referred whom?
Yes, by tagging the referring client's record and the new contact's source field, so both show up in reporting together.
How do I know when a client's program ends?
From the renewal date field on their contact record, which is what the reminder workflow above counts down against.
This page is part of the coaches hub. A renewal is, in effect, a new sale re-entering the pipeline described in running a sales pipeline on HighLevel. If you have not decided on HighLevel yet, start here.