To: coaches running their own practice
Subject: Getting clients · 3 min read
The cheapest lead is often the most expensive client
Meta ads look cheapest at $30 a lead. Converted to the same unit as every other channel, they are not.
Published acquisition costs for coaching are quoted in three different units and compared as though they were one. Meta ads at $30 to $80 are per lead. Google ads at $65 to $150 are per booked call. Paid directories at $200 to $600 are per client.
A $30 lead that books at 10% and closes at 16% costs roughly $1,875 per client. A $600 directory client costs $600. The ordering reverses entirely once the unit is fixed.
Why the error persists
Platforms report the metric they optimise. Meta reports leads because Meta optimises for leads. Nothing is being hidden, but the number that appears in your dashboard is not the number that determines whether the channel works.
The correction requires knowing your own booking and close rates, which many coaches do not track by source.
The one thing to measure
Close rate by source, separately. A coach closing 15% from cold traffic is performing normally. A coach closing 15% from warm referrals has a problem on the call itself. The blended number cannot distinguish those two situations, and they need opposite fixes.
Most coaches who conclude they are bad at sales are taking calls from people who were never going to buy.
Estimated · Coaching community data and practitioner reports
Cite as: The Coaching Tribune, dispatch 005, 19 Sept 2026. coachingtribune.com