There are lots of conflicting ideas about pricing out there, it’s no wonder pricing mistakes as a coach are inevitable. Plus, setting prices is generally harder for women coming from a service background. 

Most coaches belief charging someone for life changing help is exploitative. Avoid these 5 pricing mistakes as a coach and charge your value.

The Health Coaching BizSHIFT Season 1 was a summit held from 01 March to 05 March 2021. Deb Boulanger, CEO at The Great Do-Over, gave us 5 pricing mistakes coaches make during the summit. She also touched on the best way to come up with prices.

Set high prices, and most people believe no one will want to work with you. Set lower prices, and be known as the $3 per hour guy. With so many conflicting ideas out there, it’s no wonder pricing mistakes are inevitable.

Setting prices is generally harder for women coming from a service background. Most coaches set up shop in order to help people deal with their issues. As a result, there is this belief charging someone for life changing help is exploitative.

According to Deb, these are the 5 most common pricing mistakes as a coach:

• Trying to match competition
• Assuming affordability
• Charging per hour
• Not leveraging an offer
• Under valuing their services

Coaches starting out might have the mindset they can’t charge more than what established coaches are asking for. This is based on a false belief that no one will pay top $ for a newbie.

The truth, however, is people will give you their money if they believe they’re getting comparable value.

Moreover, under charging is the worst idea for an upcoming business. As a new business, you’ll need large cash injections. The first few months of any venture are characterized by heavily investing in resources.

By under charging your clients, you are robbing yourself of revenue the company needs to operate.

Under charging also threatens to put you in a position no businesswoman should ever be in. Resenting your clients.

Clients have the right to expect outstanding service. When they demand this excellence despite paying peanuts, you’ll eventually resent them. The moment you start resenting customers, you’re not far from hating your job.

The second pricing mistake as a coach is assuming what the client can or can’t afford. 

This has become worse during the Covid-19 pandemic and the resulting global recession. Coaches are now in the habit of putting their heads in the client’s wallet.

One of the biggest issues here is you are not necessarily helping your clients by charging them less. On the contrary, you might be making things worse.

People are more inclined to put in more effort into things which they spend more money and time on. A client who realizes how much money they are putting into your coaching services is more likely to work harder to implement what you’re teaching them.

Charging clients by the hour sounds very tempting.

Some coaches believe their clients will be more comfortable paying for the actual time spent consulting. It is also one of the greatest pricing mistakes as a coach. Deb calls it the number 1 money mistake women entrepreneurs make. This pricing model misses a very important point. 

As a coach, the value you are providing cannot be measured in units of time. 

If coaches were actually willing to charge a premium hourly rate, this wouldn’t be an issue. 

Unfortunately, many people are appalled at the idea of charging huge sums for an hour. 

They think it’ll chase away clients. So, they end up creating substandard hourly rates.

These coaches will find themselves making less money. 

As a result, the only way to make a living would be to give clients mediocre service, to be able to slot in as many clients as possible.

A better strategy is to charge based on the outcomes you and your clients are working towards.

It is necessary to be able to have maximum impact in your business. 

Serving many people will always bring in more profits than servicing one, that’s a no brainer. 

That’s why you should be in a position to mass provide your offer.

Mass services, such as summits, retreats, books, etc are beneficial to both the coach and her clients. 

For the coach, the more participants / buyers the more profit. For clients, whatever they spend on a mass service will be less than if they were to pay for a one-on-one session.

This can be overwhelming. That’s why Deb recommends starting with one-on-one offers. 

When you start to recognize patterns common among your clients, when you realize you’re repeating yourself in sessions, develop a mass package.

Many people starting out as coaches have the habit of under valuing their services. As a result, they are more likely to under charge. 

This generally stems from the belief that their services are not as valuable because they are new.

What we don’t realize about business is any experience we’ve had, puts us in a better position to connect with people.

Have you struggled as a mom trying to raise kids while holding down a career? Were you retrenched and had to start over from zero because of Covid-19?

These are all experiences that have given you a unique way of solving problems. Moreover, some of your potential clients might be going through the same situation.

How new you are doesn’t matter. The value you provide is what people care about. Sometimes, your ability to empathize with a situation helps you provide premium value.

Coaches should always focus on the value they are bringing to the table. How is your service going to change the client’s life?

It is necessary to sit down with your client, ask them where they want to go, and paint them a picture of where they could be after using your service.

More often than not, you will find the value and change you bring to a client’s value is priceless.

Check out this article where Deb discusses return on advantage (ROA) in more detail.

Do you want to:

• Price your services based on the value you deliver?
• Build leverage into your business to earn more and work less?
• Get prospects to an easy “yes” when you quote your fees?
• Generate more profit while you make an impact?
• Replace (and grow) that six-figure salary?

Then grab Deb’s free expert’s calculator. Here’s what you’ll get:

• A pre-programmed spreadsheet to model your packaging and pricing scenarios
• Expert training in how to use the calculator to meet your revenue goal
• A detailed workbook with step by step instructions

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Speaker photo provided by the speaker