Business And Life Coaching Fees

Deciding what level you set your business and life coaching fees at is one of the most common dilemmas when you set up your coaching business. Fees vary enormously across the profession, ranging from as little as $20/ session right through to over a thousand dollars/month.

There are some great coaches who charge far less than other poor coaches and this is down to how much coaches value themselves and the services they provide. But what does actually determine how much you can charge, what is a fair price? Moreover how and when can you increase it?

How Good Are You?

If you are a great coach your services will be in demand, you will get business through referral and you will be able to charge more for your services. The more you invest in your own development as a coach, the more skilled you will become and therefore you will be ale to place a higher value on what you do. Remember that your life coaching fees do not just represent the time you spend coaching but also the time and money you have invested in becoming the professional coach you are.

Your Target Market

Different clients can afford different amounts. For example an unemployed youngster is likely to be able to afford far less than a multi-millionaire business owner. Fees are usually far higher for corporate clients than for personal clients, one reason being that larger organisations have budgets for personal development and they can offset the costs against the business.

Another way of looking at it is ‘what is your coaching worth to your client?’ Coaching may result in one client finding a job worth $100K dollars, for another person it could help them save their marriage.

Some coaches who coach a broad spectrum of clients offer a flexible pricing policy depending on what their clients can afford.

Operating in a specialist or niche area

Coaches who operate in specialist or niche areas often command higher business or life coaching fees. If you have invested more money and time into your own personal development to be the best in this field then you have more reason to value your services more highly. Also if you market yourself in a particular niche area you will be perceived as an expert (and therefore the best) their area and therefore you can charge more.

Your Own Needs And Costs

You may want to give great value to your clients however most coaches have to make a living from coaching, or at the very least not make a loss. You must assess all of your costs in running your business and understand how much income you want to take out after tax.

Telephone Versus Face To Face Coaching

One hour of telephone coaching will take up one hour of your time (excluding preparation and follow up emails). One hour of face to face coaching will also incur costs of traveling – both time and fuel, unless of course they comes to you. You need to consider these extra costs and so may need to differentiate between your prices.

Your Own Premises Versus Coaching At Your Clients’ Premises

Having your own premises will incur further costs and so these need to be taken into account. But the other way to look at it is to consider the perceived added value of your services by providing a dedicated consulting room?

Packaging Up Your Services

Many successful coaches package up their services into 3 or 6 month programmes and market their services as an amount/month which includes not just the sessions themselves but support for the duration.

Grants

Sometimes you might find that government grants are available for your coaching which reduces the cost to your client but means you can charge more. Helping your client access grants is a great way of helping to secure business.

Boosting Your Business & Life Coaching Fees

Working out the appropriate business and life coaching fees that you can charge is essential if you are to make a success of your business. That said, once you have decided on your base costing there are a number of things that you can do to help you increase your life coaching fees and develop other revenue streams.

Do Your Research

Find out what other successful coaches are charging. Pay particular attention to their target markets, pricing models, their qualifications, how they package up their services how they market themselves.

Invest In Your Development As A Coach

If you are excellent at what you do then you will get business through referrals, you will be in more demand so you will be able to charge more.

Ensure Your Clients Can Pay Enough

It can be very tempting to coach people who you think most need it but be sure that you can earn an income from it. For example personal clients with no income are less likely to earn you good money than corporate clients with a large budget for developing their employees. You may want to coach clients who can offer you higher earning potential to cover the costs of clients which satisfy a need to help society.

Create Coaching Packages

By packaging up your coaching effectively you have the potential to increase your business or life coaching fees. For example instead of charging ‘per session,’ charge ‘per month’ or for a programme over say 3 or 6 months. For the duration you are their coach to whom they can turn for support and accountability and may include follow up emails, texts and telephone support. Think also how you can add value in this time – perhaps you can send them useful articles to read, introduce them to useful contacts or invite them to events you attend.

Sell The Benefits

Do you help people lose weight, get more sales, increase motivation, reduce stress, save money or improve relationships? The key to maximising your life coaching fees is being able to really clearly define and then effectively sell the benefits of what you do. The higher the value you can place on your services the higher the fees you can charge.

Sell Additional Personal Development Literature

The time between multiple coaching sessions may involve the coachee doing research and additional reading. At the right time your coachee is ready and willing to continue to invest it their personal development and may like to read one of your e-books for example to further enhance their experience.

There are many opportunities to offer your own ebooks or self help courses through affiliate websites.

Access Grants

Sometimes grants are made available to help certain sectors of society whether it is owners of start up businesses, the unemployed or women in business.