Are you completely satisfied with your coaching prices? If so, congratulations!

If not, don’t worry. You’re not alone. Just the other day I spoke with three coaches, all at different places in their careers, who are struggling with pricing.

The first conversation was with a brand new coach. He said that because he’s just starting his coaching program, he has no clue what charge. When you’re starting out, it’s a perfectly natural question to ask.

The second coach I spoke to started his business three years ago. He’s already bringing in $15,000 each month in revenue. When we were talking about how he got there, he explained that it just sort of happened. Basically, someone needed something done, he quoted a number and they agreed to it. That number became his price. Even though it’s worked out well for him, there was no strategy involved with picking it so he can’t justify his price to new clients.

My third conversation was with one of the most successful coaches in Australia. He’s bringing in $80K each month in revenue. Even he was having some problems with pricing. He thought he might be charging too much and wasn’t convinced he was really worth the money he was getting from his clients.

This tells me that every coach has issues with their pricing. If a brand new coach and successful veteran coach are all struggling with it, then I know it’s an issue worth diving into.

As coaches, we want to feel confident in how we set prices. We want to know that the amount we charge is substantial and rewarding for us, but seems like pennies compared to the value we bring to our clients.

How do you do that?

Conviction First

First we need to understand something about pricing our coaching. Finding the right pricing isn’t about a number. And it’s not about the deliverables you’ll bring to your clients.

First and foremost, it’s about conviction.

Dan Kennedy said that the person who makes the most money is the one who can quote the highest fee and still keep a straight face. This is a head game and it starts with a strong mental conviction.

The way you sell your services as a coach begins with you feeling bulletproof about your own value. Only after you feel convicted that you can provide the highest value to your clients can you then move on to selecting the right price.

Conviction first, then price. Not the other way around.

It’s interesting to think about the ways coaches set their fees. It’s very different than setting prices for other businesses.

There are several Do’s and Don’ts about pricing coaching services that I believe every coach should be aware of.

The Don’ts of Pricing Your Consulting

Cost Plus.

In traditional brick-and-mortar businesses, this how prices are set.

If the cost of my time, materials, and overhead is $X, I’ll charge that plus a little bit more to make a profit.

Commodity

Sometimes businesses want to set an hourly rate for their services. They anticipate what their time costs and then divide it into hourly chunks.

Think of it like selling a book. How much did the book cost you to write and print it? Let’s say that cost is $30 per book. If your goal is to make a million dollars, selling $30 books is a very slow way to do it.

Cost Plus and Commodity pricing are both based on the cost of goods and time so it doesn’t translate well for coaching services. Not only are they difficult to scale, but the focus is on the cost to you, instead of the value you bring to clients.

Crowd

Third, you don’t want to set your prices based on what the crowd is charging. Just because another coach in your market is charging $1,000 per month doesn’t mean you should. It’s completely irrelevant.

When you compare your prices to others, you’ll lower your price to try to match. The thing is, you don’t want to be average, and you certainly don’t want to be cheap. Being cheap can cause clients not to choose you. They don’t want cheap, they want the best.

You want your prices to be premium, and you won’t get that by matching the market average.

The Do’s of Pricing Your Consulting

Stacking

You’ve probably seen this in a seminar or infomercial. The salesperson lists out everything in their package and tells you the price of each item. They then tell you the total – what it would cost if you bought each item individually. Then, they give you a ‘discounted price’ if you buy it all together. It’s also referred to as value stacking or bundling.

Apples-to-Oranges

An apples-to-oranges comparison is often used to related your program to something similar, but much more expensive.

To get an MBA at one of the world’s most prestigious universities would cost you $____, and you would just be learning theory. My coaching program is more than theory. When you work with me, we’ll be working on your actual business every week together and it only costs $____.

Stacking and Apples-to-Oranges comparisons work best when selling from stage or through a webinar. While they can work, there are two other pricing methods that are even better – especially when selling one-on-one.

Cost of Problem

To set prices with this method, you need to figure out how much it costs someone not to work with you.

For example, I know that if a coach is running a stable business bringing in between $10-20K per month in revenue, it’s costing them around $30K per month not to work with me in BlackBelt.

How do I know this? For starters, I’ve worked with enough people in BlackBelt and $30K per month is a number that we see our clients reach consistently.

I’m able to feel bulletproof about my BlackBelt prices because I know that not being in the program is costing prospects that much money.

I want you to have the same confidence. The way you do that is by figuring out what the cost is for the prospect if they do nothing and just stick with their current problems.

ROI

What’s the client’s return on investment? In other words, if they work with you, how much revenue will they get in return? This is similar to Cost of Problem, but focuses more on potential returns from using your program than costs of not using it.

Setting your fees based on time or expertise won’t reward you or bring your clients added value. If you want use a time model, sell using a retainer – a three-month, six-month, or one-year package – but don’t price your coaching based on hourly or session rate.

Remember, the right pricing isn’t based on the cost of your deliverables, but on the Value of your outcome.

Remember, the right pricing isn’t based on the cost of your deliverables, but on the Value of your outcome.

P.S. Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you grow your coaching business:

1. Grab a free copy of my book

It’s the roadmap to attracting prospects, signing clients, and scaling your coaching business. — Click Here

2. Join the Coach Dojo and connect with coaches who are scaling too

It’s our new Facebook community where smart coaches learn to get more income, impact, and independence. — Click Here

3. Join our Implementation Program and be a Case Study

I’m putting together a new coaching case study group at Black Belt this month… stay tuned for details. If you’d like to work with me on your client-getting and scale plans… just send me a message with the words “Case Study”. — Click Here

4. Work with me and my team privately

If you’d like to work directly with me and my team to take you from 6 to 7 figures… just send me a message with the word “Private”… tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details! — Click Here

Learn more here.