{"podcast":{"title":"A Podcast for Coaches","slug":"a-podcast-for-coaches-5728616","podcast_index_feed_id":5728616,"rss_url":"https://feeds.transistor.fm/a-podcast-for-coaches","website_url":"https://beautifulbusiness.transistor.fm/","image_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/kgzBR3oBidoN9214wl57DsLmY_6gyI4ldI5g3j0yOjw/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:1400/h:1400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzM1MTUzLzE3MDY3/NjU1NTQtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.jpg","author":"Mark Butler","episode_count":53,"summary":"A Podcast for Coaches shines a light on one of the most elegant, underrated business models in the world: one-on-one coaching. Mark Butler hosts the show, and he's been a coach and advisor to every kind of online business you can think of, having helped businesses earning everything from $0 to $25,000,000+. Although Mark believes every online business model has merit, he worries one-on-one coaching is viewed as a stepping-stone business for people who aren't ready or able to scale. But it's not true, and A Podcast for Coaches sets out to show people--through clear teaching and rich, current stories of successful coaches who love their business--that one-on-one coaching is one of the most gratifying and lowest \"hassle-per-dollar\" businesses in the world.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-14T08:20:35.234038+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-podcast-for-coaches-5728616"},"episode":{"title":"A Reasonable Refund Policy","slug":"a-reasonable-refund-policy","published_at":"2026-07-06T18:00:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-podcast-for-coaches-5728616/a-reasonable-refund-policy","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-podcast-for-coaches-5728616","url":"https://share.transistor.fm/s/7c32d662","audio_url":"https://media.transistor.fm/7c32d662/4ba1797d.mp3","summary":"A sensible refund policy benefits sellers as much as it benefits buyers. A new view of refunds in the coaching industry would solve some of our biggest image problems, protect the brands of coaches doing good work, and allow more people to engage more enthusiastically with the training and support they need. Timestamps [00:00:00] Introduction and thesis A no-refund policy is widely accepted in high-ticket coaching, often framed as a benefit to both seller and buyer Today's argument: a sensible refund policy benefits sellers as much as buyers Background: inside dozens of coaching businesses since 2014, including several that exceeded a million dollars in annual revenue—this is an insider perspective, not opinion from the outside [00:03:16] The asymmetry of information problem The seller knows what the program is actually like; the buyer has only the sales page, the testimonials, and the price Sellers often filter applicants by income or client count—well-intentioned, but imperfect; how much someone has made is a good but incomplete signal of fit Even with filters in place, some people who cross the threshold are not a great fit—the seller knows this; a refund policy is the honest acknowledgment of that fact A no-refund policy leaves no room for either party to have made a mistake: \"A refund policy becomes the insurance against the imperfection of the sales experience and the imperfection of the fit between buyer and seller\" [00:07:03] Six psychological principles stacking the deck against the buyer [00:07:10] 1. Parasocial relationship — Buyers often spend months or years in a seller's content orbit, forming a one-sided relationship in which the seller becomes associated with their own aspirations; the shorthand is \"I want to be her\"—and that lean makes it harder to eva…","meta_description":"A sensible refund policy benefits sellers as much as it benefits buyers. A new view of refunds in the coaching industry would solve some of our biggest im…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":2003,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/a-podcast-for-coaches-5728616/episodes/a-reasonable-refund-policy/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/a-podcast-for-coaches-5728616/a-reasonable-refund-policy.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}