Shepherding
Set up your profile and availability, handle requests and grow your impact.
Getting set up
- Becoming a shepherdSign up as a shepherd, tell us about your work and skills, and what happens while we review your profile.
- While your profile is being reviewedWhat you can do while we review your shepherd profile, and how you'll know when you're approved.
- Your Home page and setup checklistWhat's on your shepherd Home page, and the few setup steps that help talents find and book you.
- Editing your shepherd profileUpdate your role, company, meeting link and the topics you can help with, plus your LinkedIn, banner, experience and education.
- Editing your About sectionWrite the short introduction talents read first, and choose where it shows.
- Your public booking page and linkShare one link that lets anyone book you, choose what visitors see, and customise the address.
Availability
- Setting your availabilityChoose how long your chats are, set your weekly hours, change them for particular dates, and choose how many chats you take and whether they're confirmed straight away.
- Taking a breakPause new bookings while you're away, and what happens to chats already booked.
- Meeting links and instant callsMeet someone outside your weekly hours: start an instant call now, or share a one-off time. Whoever opens the link first and confirms gets it.
Requests and chats
- Accepting or declining a requestRead a request and what the talent shared, then accept, decline or ask a question first.
- Searching and sorting your chatsFind any request or chat by name, company or date, and sort each tab the way you like.
- Preparing for and hosting a chatGet ready with everything the talent shared, join on time and wrap up well.
- Hosting an audio call on KoffeeChat (pilot)In the audio call pilot you host confirmed chats as audio calls inside KoffeeChat. Here's what you and the talent see, and when.
- Logging the outcome, and changing it laterMark a chat as completed or missed, and how long you have to change it.
- Keeping private notes on a chatJot down what you talked about, during the call or after it, with headings, bullets and checkboxes. Your notes are private to you.
- Rating the talents you meetRate each chat in about 30 seconds. It's anonymous, and it helps talents see how they come across.
Growing your impact
- Finding talents to helpBrowse talents who've chosen to be found, see what they're aiming for and invite them to a chat.
- Your Network and peer coffee chatsMeet fellow shepherds and book a peer chat to compare notes.
- Grow for shepherdsPlan your own next steps with the same career ladder, paths and plans talents use.
- Pro on us: free Pro for 3 chats a monthComplete 3 coffee chats in a month and Pro is free for the next month. How chats are counted, when it starts and ends, and what happens if you already pay.
- Share card and Refer & earnShare your impact as an image, and invite talents or fellow shepherds with your own link.
- Your shepherd settingsWhat you can change in Settings: your details, availability, messages, KoffeePoints and your plan.
- Pioneer 100: your own koffeechat.com pageOur first 100 verified shepherds can claim a page at koffeechat.com/yourname that shows their profile, where anyone can book a coffee chat with them.
Frequently asked questions
Why don't I see who follows my company?
Only shepherds the organisation verified see its followers: it invites you at your work email and you accept, so your shepherd profile is linked to it. Typing the company's name on your profile isn't enough, a profile waiting for approval sees them once it's approved, and the card only shows for a company page the organisation has claimed.
How do I become a shepherd?
Create an account and choose I'm a Shepherd under How will you use KoffeeChat?. Tell us your name and we set up your shepherd profile. Our team reviews every new profile, and we email you and let you know in the app as soon as you're approved. Adding your LinkedIn on Your profile speeds up the review.
Why can't talents book me yet?
New shepherd profiles are reviewed before they're listed, so talents can't book you until you're approved. Already approved? Check you haven't paused your bookings (look for On a break in your header) and that you have open times on Profile → Availability (weekly hours, or date-specific hours), within your booking window and weekly cap.
How do talents see my free times?
From your weekly hours on Profile → Availability, and any date-specific hours (which replace a date's weekly hours), shown in each talent's own time zone. Slots start after your minimum notice (12 hours unless you change it), stop at the end of your booking window (4 weeks) and stop for the week once you reach your weekly cap (2 chats). With no hours of your own, talents see suggested hours: Monday to Friday, 18:00 to 20:00.
How do I take a break?
Choose Pause availability in your account menu, or press Pause on the Pause bookings card on Profile → Availability, where you can also set a Back on date. For a single day off, give that date no hours under Date-specific hours instead. Talents can't send new requests while you're away. Chats you've already accepted stay booked.
Can I decline a request?
Yes. Press Decline on the request under Chats → Requests and we'll let the talent know by email, so they can book another time or another shepherd. Not sure yet? Press Message or Ask for CV / plan / ladder first.
I logged the wrong outcome. Can I fix it?
Yes, for 30 days after the chat started. Press Change outcome on the chat under Chats → Past to switch between Completed and No-show. Once your rating of a completed chat has been shared, it stays completed.
Do I get anything for my coffee chats?
Yes: Pro on us. Complete 3 coffee chats in a month and get Pro free for the next month. Keep doing 3 a month to keep it. Chats count once you log them as completed, in Lagos-time months. If you already pay for a plan, it stays as it is.
Why am I back on Free?
Pro on us runs until the end of the month after the one you completed 3 chats in. If the next month had fewer than 3, it ends after its last day. Complete 3 in a month and it's back straight away.
How do I see a talent's CV before a chat?
If they included it in their request, open it from the request or from Prep. If they didn't, press Ask for CV / plan / ladder and they can share it in one tap. A CV opens through a link that expires after a few minutes. Please keep what talents share with you confidential.
Read more: Asking for and sharing a CV, growth plan, career ladder or LinkedIn
Where do I add or change my meeting link?
Open Edit profile from your account menu or Your profile, and paste your Google Meet, Zoom or Calendly link into Meeting link. Talents get it by email when you accept their request, so add it before you accept. It stays private: it isn't on your public page, and only people with a confirmed chat with you get it.
Can I meet someone outside my weekly hours, or right now?
Yes. Meeting links, on Home and on Profile → Availability, has Start an instant call (a call now) and New one-off meeting (one time you pick). Share the link: the first person to open it and confirm gets it.
What is the Pioneer 100?
Our first 100 verified shepherds can claim their own page at koffeechat.com/yourname. It shows your profile with Book a coffee chat, and carries your Pioneer number. Claim yours on Pioneer 100.