The Playbook | Issue No. 3
CoachNow was growing fast, but its CX wasn’t keeping up. I built a scalable support engine for over 10 million users across more than 60 sports.
The result? Fewer tickets, happier coaches, stronger retention. This behind-the-scenes playbook helps startups turn customer chaos into long-term loyalty and scale.
You don’t hit 10 million users by accident, but you lose them fast without world-class CX. Here’s how we built the engine that kept them coming back.
The Playbook | Editor’s Note
How We Scaled to 10M Users
A behind-the-scenes look at how I helped CoachNow build a customer experience engine for global growth and what you can steal for your startup.
When CoachNow first called me, they were riding a rocket ship, with 1 M+ users across 10+ countries, and there were no signs of slowing down.
But success had a sneaky downside: the user base was exploding faster than the support infrastructure could handle. Coaches were becoming frustrated, and athletes were growing increasingly confused. Internally, the team still operated like a scrappy family app, rather than a SaaS leader.
I stepped in as Head of Customer Experience to build a scalable CX machine from scratch. One that could support everyone from elite golf coaches to 13-year-old baseball players.
The results? Fewer tickets. Higher retention. Happier users. Here’s how we pulled it off (and how you can, too).
The Challenge
CoachNow had nailed product-market fit. They hadn’t nailed scaling the experience side of the business.
Support tickets piled up. Feature requests overwhelmed the roadmap. And onboarding? Pretty much, “good luck and Godspeed.”
If we hadn’t fixed the user journey quickly, we risked losing customers and damaging the brand’s reputation in golf, baseball, and junior athletics.
The Approach
Here’s the playbook I ran:
Built Playbooks + Processes
Mapped support workflows and onboarding journeys to our core user personas: Golf Coaches, Baseball Trainers, and Sports Parents. So help was never more than two clicks away.
Launched Community-Driven Support
Created the “Coach Council,” an inner circle of power users who gave us high-signal feedback, beta-tested new features, and sparked stronger word-of-mouth growth.
Rebuilt the Knowledge Base
Overhauled the Help Center with a search-first UI, fresh FAQs, and video tutorials. Ticket volume dropped by 35% within the first quarter after launch.
Automated Onboarding
Set up drip campaigns and in-app nudges tailored to each user's type and stage in the journey. New coach retention increased by 22% over the six months.
Trigger automations via API or no-code builder
Auto-assign tasks or send notifications based on events
Integrate with your stack (Slack, Email, Webhooks, and more)
Log everything for complete visibility and debugging
Lessons Learned
Adoption = Experience. Even the best golf tech needs world-class onboarding to stick.
Community is your superpower. Build with your users, not just for them.
Simple wins scale fastest. The fanciest UX doesn’t matter if it’s not clear.
Feedback loops aren’t optional. Listen early, often, and with open ears.
The Exit
In 2024, Golf Genius acquired CoachNow, solidifying its position as the premier platform for connected coaching. What started as a scrappy startup with a bold vision has become the connective tissue for coaches and athletes in over 60 sports and 140 countries.
The exit wasn’t a fluke. It was the byproduct of years of intentional customer experience work, a relentless focus on retention, and the kind of community-led growth most SaaS companies dream about.
What’s Next?
Today, CoachNow is the global leader in digital coaching. They’re expanding into new sports, launching Gen 2 features, and dominating international markets, all built on the CX foundation we established.
And yep, we still jam on new ideas from time to time. Good partnerships don’t end; they evolve.
Running a golf tech startup or building a coaching product?
Let’s talk. I help founders build a sticky customer strategy that scales.
The Playbook | In Case You Missed It
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YouTube creators are redefining golf media, with the PGA and LIV engaging with advisory councils, Creator Classics, and an audience under 50 years old. (more)
The Playbook | Free Stuff
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