Many coaches struggle with having enough clients to keep a full-time practice. When they do their job effectively, clients don’t need them anymore. Nothing feels better than to have a client walk away with the confidence to put what they learned into practice. But when a client leaves, there is now an opening that you must fill. With that in mind, I’m going to discuss some ways to package and price your coaching services that are beneficial to you and your clients.
1. Consider your services
How to effectively package and price your coaching services is highly dependent on the type of coaching you do and the services you provide. Here are some questions to ask yourself:
- For an optimal outcome, how many sessions would a client need to have with me to deal with a particular topic?
- What is the minimum number of sessions I’m willing to offer to an individual client to make it worth my time?
- Is one-on-one coaching the best format or would group coaching be an option?
Most seasoned coaches identify that for clients to truly benefit from coaching they need more than three sessions. Some coaches agonize over this decision because they were afraid by setting this boundary, they’d be turning away clients, which as a new coach can feel like a scary proposition. Coaching, like any professional service, is an investment. Do you sign up for just one physical therapy session and expect to be better? Don’t you feel more invested when you’ve paid a bit of money to get help? If you do group coaching, perhaps you have a one-day class that accomplishes a goal. You must figure out what works best in your individual case.
2. Design a coaching package
If what I said above resonated with you about offering a minimum amount of sessions, it’s time to figure out your package structure and pricing. Start with your lowest package first. What is the minimum amount of sessions you want to offer for that package? If you’ve decided it’s a higher number than makes you feel initially comfortable, ask yourself why. Ultimately the more confident you are in your decision, the more your clients will trust you have their best interest at heart. So if ten or even twenty sessions feels like the minimum, then start your minimum package there.
Next, consider how many other tiers you want to offer. Having at least one more package can give your clients the option of getting more sessions for less per session. A lot of times, clients will end up having more than those initial sessions but having the three as an option also allows them to try it out to see if you are a good fit. Some coaches offer individual sessions to any current or past clients after they’ve completed the package. Knowing that they don’t need to buy another package gives them the flexibility to come back easily.
3. Price your coaching services
Another important consideration is if you want to charge per session or for a specified amount of time. Some coaches have packages that can be used on a monthly basis. This can work but only if you spell out the terms. Consider if there is a maximum amount of times a client can work with you within that time period, what is included (emails, sessions, etc), and any other expectations around contact. Someone having unlimited access to you could be quite taxing!
There are several different approaches to take when you consider pricing. One is knowing what others will pay for your services. If you only coach local clients this can be straightforward. Then the question becomes, what are other coaches in your area charging for similar services? Do you want to be below, average, or above in the market? But what if you coach clients all over the country or even the world? Then you might consider averaging the amount that coaches make across this spectrum to find your price.
The next approach is to determine what you need to make for coaching to sustain you. Then figure out how many clients you’d need on a consistent basis for the math to work out properly. This can also help you figure out if you can do coaching part-time or full-time. Many successful coaches start out part-time and work into full-time as their practice grows. Other coaches with multiple passions, like me, purposely build a robust coaching practice for a set amount of their schedule and devote the rest of their work life to another career.
4. Publish the price of your coaching services on your website
Many of my coaching website clients struggle with this question. Should you be transparent and post your prices or engage in a conversation first with someone and explain your pricing? I think the answer highly depends on whether your services are straightforward or need further explanation. Test them out with people that you know. What is the general reaction that you get? If you get consistent and reliable feedback that your prices seem too high, you may want to consider not publishing them and discussing them with potential clients first. How do you react when a professional’s prices aren’t listed on their website? Personally, I will often move on to the next provider if I can’t see their pricing upfront. This is something to consider if your competition is publishing their prices.
