EP 367 - The Biggest Pricing Mistake New Coaches Make

MarketingCoaching Lifestyle
Written By Debbie Shadid
 

Let's talk about how to price your coaching. If you're stuck on what to charge for your coaching, unsure of how to price your offer, there's a good chance you're not selling any coaching yet, and almost nobody lands on the right price out of the gate. So don't feel bad if this has you frozen. Let's fix it.

If you're new to my channel, my name is Debbie Shadid. I'm a Business Growth and Life Coach and the founder of the Business Building Boutique. For over two decades, I've helped women learn how to become coaches, get clients, grow their businesses, and create meaningful income doing work they love.

Pricing feels like the problem, but it usually isn't. The real problem is not having enough people in your world. So let's get you a price you feel good about, and get you selling.

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Transcript

Let's talk about how to price your coaching. Here's the thing, if you've got questions about what to charge, there's probably a really good chance that you're not selling any coaching yet. And I can tell you from helping thousands of coaches, almost nobody lands on the right price to begin with. some people overcharge, some people undercharge. Hardly anyone nails it right out of the gate. So don't feel bad if you're stuck on this. In this episode, I'm gonna walk through strategies for how to price your coaching so you can land on a number that feels good and you can start selling. I'm Debbie Shadid. I help women over 50 build beautiful boutique-style coaching businesses without paid ads or complicated tech. If that is you, hit subscribe so you don't miss a thing. In this episode, I'm gonna be answering a question that came from a survey that we did. Somebody wrote in and asked, "How do I price my coaching when I am just starting out?" So that's exactly what we're gonna talk about today. I'm gonna give you three things that'll help you price your coaching as a new coach, where to actually start, and the coach math that so many people are doing, I'm gonna talk about that. Then I'm gonna share with you about CEO pricing that you can move to once you're ready, and then at the end, I'm gonna share the biggest mistake that I see nearly everybody making, and I want to make sure that you don't make that mistake as well. So let's get started. Number one, the very first thing I want you to know. This is gonna sound too simple, and you're gonna be like, " No, I came here for a pricing strategy," and this is the strategy that will work. In the beginning, I do not want you chasing this perfect number, like trying to figure out exactly what the price is. I remember myself working on my pricing. I'm gonna do air quotes, like working on my pricing for days trying to figure out what the right price was. And by the way, let me just tell you, pricing generally isn't the problem. What the real problem is people. you don't have enough people in your world. I spent all this time thinking about my price instead of marketing my business. So I've been there too, if that's you. So let me backtrack. You're looking for that perfect number in the beginning, and I want you to just make your first $100. I want you to become a paid coach. That's it. That is where I want you to start. I remember years ago when a dollar was worth more than what it's worth today, that a restaurant would tape it either on the counter or they would frame it and they would put it on the wall. Do you remember that? That dollar bill represented the success, That's the same idea that I want for you. What I know for sure is that when you go from not having a paying client to now having a paid client, you are a different person. This changes everything, including the way that you talk to people, the way that you show up in your marketing. It just changes how you feel about your business. So this is my first goal. I want you to become a paid coach. Now, how do you do that? Well, you sell a one-off session. I know that's not what you want to do either, but remember, all I'm trying to do is get you paid so that you can say, "I have a coaching business where I make money." You're gonna get paid. Maybe it's $100 for one session. You're gonna decide. I can't decide that for you. This is another really core principle that I have. Nobody should decide your price except for you. I can do all the advising and give you instructions on how to do it, and I'm gonna do that today, but really, you have to decide on the price, the price that feels right to you. Because if you don't have the right price, you will not sell it. I'm just telling you. You won't even make offers. If you're not making offers, it's'cause you don't love your price. So one session, it might be$100, but maybe you're gonna sell three sessions for $100. And again, I'm not gonna give you the exact number, but I just want you to get paid. So when you pick that price, make it that price that is so irresistible, somebody's gonna be like, "There's no way that I wouldn't do this." And you will show up to have a conversation with that energy like, "You better be buying this 'cause this is the best deal ever." That's what I want for you. That price where you are so excited about it and the person who is buying it from you is also like, "Wow, this is an incredible deal." So here's why this matters. That price that you're gonna sell at, I want you to feel comfortable when you sell it. Because what I know for sure is that when you feel comfortable with a price, the person who is buying feels comfortable. when you are on a call with somebody and you're tense and they're tense, it doesn't work. So I want you to help get somebody interested and then actually make the sale so both of you can be satisfied. Now let me tell you why I don't want you overcharging on your pricing from the start. When you charge a big number, whatever that's gonna be for you, before you have done lots of coaching, and let me tell you, paid coaching versus free coaching, paid coaching to somebody you don't know versus coaching to a friend, all of that's completely different. When you charge this big number and when you collect it, Here's what I know. Something happens in your head when you charge a lot of money and you're just getting started, and you start to think, "Am I really giving the value that they paid for? They paid me a lot of money. Was it worth it?" It's like this quiet whisper that goes on while you're trying to coach, while you're trying to, exist in your business. You have in your mind,"Wow, I charged them a whole bunch. I better show up and give them the best coaching." And what happens is that you are over-coaching. You're giving more sessions than they paid for, and you are worrying and spinning out about, like, are they getting it? Are they happy? You're trying to figure out how to make sure that what they paid for, they actually get. And listen, you know how I feel about coaching. There is never a question in my mind that coaching is not worth it. It is of high value. I have zero doubt about that, but there are mindset things that you go through that you don't even know are gonna happen. I'm just telling you from experience, I know this is what happens to, I'll just say 99.9% of the coaches. So here's what most people get wrong about imposter syndrome. This is another interesting thing. most people are thinking like, "I want to make sure that I can coach on everything," and if they can't coach on everything, they start having this idea of, like, imposter syndrome."Somebody's gonna ask me," or,"Somebody's gonna find out." But I'll tell you where it also shows up, is when you charged a lot of money, because you're sitting there wondering, "Uh, am I really that good of a coach?" It is the same feeling that was just triggered by something different. So you could either have it triggered because you think that you're not good enough, or you can have it triggered because somebody paid you a lot of money and that triggers it for you. So the good news is, there is a way to control imposter syndrome when it comes to pricing. So price in a way that feels good so your confidence can grow, and that little voice will get quieter. Start where you're comfortable and Honestly, you will gradually raise your prices Once you coach somebody and then somebody else, you'll be like, "Wait, I'm gonna charge a little bit more," and you will have the confidence that matches the price. So it's like your confidence increases, your price increases. your confidence increases again, and your price increases. That's the way you stair step up comfortably. Now, I also want to talk about a guarantee, because some of you guys might be thinking, "Well, I'm gonna guarantee my coaching." And look, that is fantastic, and let me just explain how that could look for you if you want to use that as a strategy as well. You could say, "Okay, "I have three spots open. Sessions are $100 and they're guaranteed that you get a result, that you will walk away with something awesome. If you think you didn't get that value, I'll give you your money back." So it's like for a $100 session, I am guaranteeing that you are gonna get a result or money back, and there's really no risk for you or for them. We're talking about $100 that you set aside for a couple of days, hold onto, don't spend it, and then if you need to give it back to them, give it back to them. But here's my honest opinion about that. I don't guarantee anything. You know why? Because I'm a good coach, and I don't say that from ego. I'm not bragging. I'm saying if I said to you "I have 100% guarantee," in my mind, that raises the question of like, why does she have to guarantee her services? Is she not that good? or maybe people have been asking for refunds, To me, it raises a question. I think my coaching is good enough. I know if they come work with me, they do the work, they're gonna get the results. So you can decide how you want to do that. you don't have to guarantee it, but if that feels like a comfortable strategy for you to use in the beginning, then use it You get to decide how this is gonna be. I'm just making suggestions for what might help you move the needle and get paid. All right, the second thing that I wanna talk about is what most coaches get completely wrong, and I'm gonna call it coach math. Coach math is when you say, "Well, okay, I'm gonna charge $3,000." And people will tell me this. I meet some new coach on a consultation or at a, one of my workshops, and they're like, "Debbie, do you like my price? It's $3,000." And I'm like, "Okay. I don't know. Do you like your price?" The pricing is up to you. And they're like,"Well, here's how it's gonna work. I'm gonna charge $3,000, and it's gonna be for six months, and I'm gonna have 10 clients. I'm gonna make $30,000, and then I'll do that twice. six months and six months is one full year, and I'm gonna make 60 grand. And I'm gonna only work 10 hours a week." And I'm like, "Okay." That is really interesting coach math because it doesn't work out that way. So if you find yourself with a little calculator in your brain, and I've done this too, calculating over and over about how many people I have to work with at this price and to figure out the best scenario, I'm just gonna tell you the price that you have doesn't work out that way. So here's the truth. Nobody is paying for a number of weeks or months. They are paying for a transformation. When somebody comes work with me, they're like, "I need to know how to get clients." That is the transformation. Leave here knowing how to get clients and having clients. So what is your transformation that you are getting somebody to pay for? It's not $3,000 or 12 weeks. It's whatever the value of that thing is. Okay? So there's details to your offer. We're gonna meet on Tuesdays at 10 o'clock on Zoom and this many weeks. Those are details, right? Those are what you share with somebody, but what you're really giving somebody is a transformation. So if it's $3,000, you're paying $3,000 to lose, your last 50 pounds, let's say. Something like that. That's what they're paying for. So coach math, doesn't really work, and I just want to encourage you, when the calculator in your brain starts going, just stop it. Let's work on finding a price that really feels right to you. The other thing I just want to mention about coach math is you're not gonna have 10 people start on the same day. while you're figuring all this out and calculating in your head, while you're figuring this out and using your calculator, It is possible, I guess, but probably not probable, that 10 people are gonna start all in one day. So even that, that, that doesn't really work out because businesses ebb and flow. If you think about the scenario that I always talk about, which is your boutique, the boutique down the street, you know that when dresses come in, they don't all sell in one day, Some days you have a great day, sell out a bunch of clothes. Some days nobody comes in. Sometimes there's a whole week where nobody comes in, That's really how business works. in your coaching business, it's gonna be the same thing. that's why coach math will not work. Just get your calculator and turn it off every time it turns on. You're gonna have a business that will work when you do the marketing and when you price right. this is the third thing I want to share with you. Once you get lots of coaching experience, You are ready to price like a CEO and there is a formula. I'm gonna share that with you. Once you figure out how much money you actually need to make, like how much is that? A lot of people just come up with a number I need to make $100,000. And what I wanna know is how much do you actually need in your life? what are your business expenses? the software, maybe you're working with a coach. In fact, I recommend that you always work with a coach. I'm gonna be quite honest with you because it is hard to do this thing alone and this pricing episode is one exact example why it would be helpful for you to be working with somebody because you want to be able to discuss the pricing with somebody instead of just guessing. And you need to discuss it with a professional, not your spouse or your girlfriend who is like,"Yeah, that's a good price." No, that's not who you discuss it with. So when you think about your income, you have to cover your expenses, a coach maybe, and then all your personal expenses plus taxes. So how much money do you actually need to make? You're not actually gonna live off $100,000. You're gonna pay taxes and you have expenses, what is the net gonna be? That's one thing and we won't go into that right now, but that's one thing you wanna consider. the CEO is actually looking at that to see how much money do we really need. When you think about your coaching and you're like, I'm gonna work 30 hours a week, I'm gonna have 30 clients." Okay, here's the thing. You're not gonna have 30 clients in 30 hours because it is not possible to have 30 clients if you work 30 hours because your business requires other things besides coaching hours. You have to have consultation calls. You have to do your Instagram posts. You have to write your emails, go to networking events. there is a business that has to be run and none of it is hard. It's just for you to understand oh yeah, that makes sense. I do have to work on my business, right? I have to work on it and then the working in your business is where you're delivering the coaching. what I typically say is if you work 30 hours, maybe 10 hours is coaching and 20 hours is working on your business. And if you think about what you're doing right now, that's probably more accurate. You're actually only being paid, like earning revenue, on 10 of those hours. let me bring some clarity around this just to tie this together so you really understand. I talked about $100,000, 10 hours a week times 52 equals 520 hours. When you do the math on that, $192 and some change. So let's round it up to $193 an hour for your coaching. Can you see how that changes the perspective? So let me do the math on 12 weeks. If your hourly rate is $193, when you take that times 12, now we know that you need to charge $2,300 for your 12 weeks of coaching. Can you see how different that would be? Because you would be thinking like, I'm gonna make $100,000 in my business. That is the number that I'm shooting for. I know I've got 10 hours that I need to keep fully booked, 10 clients every single week, and they're gonna pay this much," and that's how it actually works out. So we're not just guessing. When you have a consultation call with somebody and you know, "No, my hourly price has to be this because I need to make this much money to reach my goal," it's completely different. The confidence that you have over your pricing changes. The way that you show up about your price changes. You won't be like,"Well, you know," right? You'll be like, "No, it's $2,300 for 12 weeks. That's what it is," right? that is the third way of pricing. I know that was more complex. happy to answer any questions in the comments. Now I wanna talk to you about the biggest mistake that coaches are making. New coaches are doing this, and so here it is. You are pricing your coaching based on somebody else's number. Have you done it? So often we hear people talking online, they're talking about making a half million dollars, and you're like, okay, how did they do that? And you start calculating and you're like, okay, I'm gonna charge that for mine, too. No, you can't do that. You don't actually know how long that person has been in business to get to that price. How long did they need to be working? how many years? And for a lot of people, it's like 10 years. You didn't know about it. They, they were not an overnight success that now charges five or $10,000. They've been at it a long time. So please do not get stuck in that trap. In fact, just take the tips that I gave you today and decide to implement those. The last thing that I want to talk about is pricing is so personal. Please, please figure out what price you want to charge. Don't ask anyone else, "What do you think of my pricing?" Because the pricing has to be the right price for you. If you want to charge $1,000 for 12 weeks of coaching and you absolutely are so excited about that price and you love it and you can't wait to work with people, or if you want to charge $500 for 12 weeks of coaching, I don't care. The point is you have to be aligned with the price. Remember I was talking about the $100 price? You have to be aligned with the price. So maybe yours is four sessions for $100. that is up to you to decide. Happy to answer any questions in the comments So my goal today was to get you from I'm not sure about my price to getting you paid. That's step number one. And then step number two is to find that price that feels comfortable and then we'll do that ladder where we increase it just a little bit, a little bit, a little bit until you get the price where you feel like you're being paid what you really feel an integrity with, where the client's getting the result that you promised them and everybody's happy. So there you go. Now you understand pricing. If you still have questions about your niche and about your offer and about where to market and about Instagram or whatever it might be, let's have a conversation about all the ways that I support coaches, debbieshadid.com/schedule. I'll leave the link in the comments as well. That's it. Have a beautiful week. I cannot wait to hear that you become a paid coach starting now. We'll see you later. Bye-bye.

Debbie Shadid https://www.DebbieShadid.com
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