Navigating Difficult Conversations With Team Members // When Do You Need a Non Compete?

Next up in my “Are YOU a Savvy CEO?” series >> Navigating difficult conversations with team members, when do you need a non compete? I am going to be putting you in the shoes of the CEO’s that have to make decisions on these real life situations. This is a hypothetical fact pattern based on real events that have happened to people I know. These are as based on real events as possible without being someone’s real life event. The goal is to get you to think about what you would do BEFORE it happens to you so you can make responsible, objective business decisions on how to invest your time, energy, money and NOT have to react emotionally. And there’s a special secret bonus inside this blog post so keep reading. 

If you try to avoid conflict, avoid confrontation, and you don’t assert your boundaries then these decisions may seem easy to make on the surface…. BUT I am going to give you options including >> the most passive route, indifferent route, and the more objective route. It will shine light on the approach you can take when you make decisions in your business.

This scenario is all about working with someone on your team. There are many coaches in my audience and they have programs that are scaling beyond belief. In this situation they might hire assistant coaches. While reading, keep in mind there are different players in this example: coaches, assistant coaches, people that they coach which are also training to be coaches.

The Scenario >>

Your signature coaching program is selling out *YAY* and you’re expanding from 1:1 coaching to group containers. You are hiring an assistant coach to help you serve your clients better. You invite past clients to apply to be assistant coaches because after all they learned from the best, am I right? So you find a perfect match and bring the assistant coach onto your team. Their responsibilities surround >> additional support, accountability, and clarity. You want them to help clarify the resources, the frameworks, and the tools that you teach rather than teaching their own. After you hire theM, you learn that one of your students in your program (who is part of the assistants cohort) is asking to work 1:1 with the assistant coach once the program is done….

What do YOU do?!

1. What do you care? You do nothing
   
   
2. You get PISSED! That bitch is stealing MY clients and she’s probably teaching MY framework outside of this with her own clients. And how do I know she’s not teaching HER framework to my clients to try and poach them to join her program after this is done AND take their money without letting them finish my program. I told the assistant coach that she was fired.
   
   
3. I allow it only after a certain time has passed so my client could fully integrate the information from my program and make sure they aren’t feeling pressured to make more investments after my program is done. And when they do work together I collect a referral fee because they met through me. 

Sidenote: This one got interesting feedback on instagram (you can check that out HERE). A lot of people didn’t really care and said they would do nothing. They would be grateful that their community was filled with people that all connected with each other. But the thing here is when people are meeting through your opportunities and it might impact your brand reputation. Maybe the client wasn’t feeling fulfilled with your program because the assistant coach was pressuring them to work with them 1:1 after it ended so they felt like they wasted money inside of your program. Or the coach might be stealing your material and upselling them into their own 1:1 program.

Use your intuition in these kinds of situations but keep in mind that there are things you can do to prevent this situation in a contract. You don’t know what someone’s intentions are upfront. And you can ALWAYS be nicer than what your contract says. If your contract says they can’t work together before a certain time period has passed and you can still give them the go ahead. 

Here is what a SAVVY CEO would do to PREVENT the problem: 

1. Use a strong & clear contract for the COACHING PROGRAM. When you have clients, your IP section should be clear. Although you are teaching your framework to your clients to help teach xyz results (to become a business coach in this case) you AREN’T teaching them to teach your framework to other people. They can’t create a course that’s your course. They can use it for their business but not as their business.
   
   
2. Use a strong & clear contract for HIRING the ASSISTANT COACH. This is a separate contract later on when you hire an assistant coach. You want someone who went through your program so they know what your framework is but you also don’t want someone who is going to teach their own framework or take your framework as their own. You want someone who helps support your information. This might sound like a gray area but that’s where you have to use your discretion when you are choosing someone to hire. You should have a non compete section that clearly outlines the circumstances under which a client in your program can work with the assistant coach outside of your program. Maybe it’s >> after 3 months, after the program ended, upon written permission for 2 weeks notice, or even some kind of affiliate relationship. 
   
   
3. Use an affiliate contract with your assistant coaches. So if they meet leads through your container and the client wants to join that network it is fine but you can get a referral fee because they learned of each other through you. Finders fees are pretty common among businesses. In the lobbying firm I worked at, if one of the workers at the firm brought in a client we would get a percentage of it. It’s an incentive to bring on word of mouth recommendations. You would hope that they are better, stronger relationships than crazies you find on the streets. That’s why you don’t mind paying someone for referring people to you because they are doing the marketing for you and they are getting some of the heavy lifting off of your shoulders. You know that that connection has been vetted already. That’s why it’s a win/win when you have referral fee’s (which we call affiliate relationships) and you would need a separate contract for this.

These are the contracts a SAVVY CEO would use >> client contract for the original coaching program. For the assistant coach you might use a 1:1 client contract, group coaching contract, or the digital product terms and conditions. Then you would have an independent contractor agreement because you would be hiring the assistant coach. THEN you would have an affiliate contract to outline the referral relationship between you and the assistant coach.


ALL of these are included in my scale your business bundle! SPECIAL CODE: SAVVYCEO and you can get $250 off of the Scale Your Business Bundle! That is my special gift for you guys. This coupon does not expire. This has every template in my shop that is all relevant for different types of client situations, podcast release for guests, profit sharing, affiliate, hiring a team member. You name it, it’s in there.

I hope this shined light on the different types of situations that you might get into that might require contracts down the line. There are A LOT of moving parts that might be needed before you build out a framework or structure. Think of these things in advance. Don’t make a contract be an afterthought. Share with me what you would do on this post (the giveaway might be over but I still love hearing the answers!) And make sure you are being a SAVVYCEO and use a contract to protect your energy!

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