There are 3 steps to consider when pricing any group program, course or training – follow them, and you will have your perfect sweet spot price, that makes you you and your customers happy.
Pricing is such a tricky business and there is element of fine art to it – especially for coaches, who are thriving on providing value.
The problem starts when providing ‘value’ – keeps you broke.
STEP 1: Get rid of ‘being broke’ mentality
How to charge like a PRO you are.
There is this misconception that it’s somehow unethical to charge a decent amount for your services.
It feels weird to command higher prices for something you love doing.
Is it ethical to charge for work that is so much fun? I’ve seen this question asked many times in blog comments and Facebook groups.
Well, of course it is, but our money stories are often getting in the way of pricing.
That’s why instead of looking at how much money you think you ‘should’ charge you need a price that feels right.
Any shoulds are usually poisonous to our well-being and don’t make business sense in a long run.
When I ask my clients why they didn’t raise their prices yet, it’s usually because they think no one would pay that much. When we delve deeper it comes out THEY wouldn’t pay themselves that much.
Well, obviously, you are an expert in your stuff, you know how to do it.
So if you are too thinking, you cannot possibly charge more, please do this quick exercise:
Please answer: How much money do you want to make – now add your business expenses, taxes and your living wage.
That got you thinking, right? We often forget a good 20-30% of any income goes for taxes and insurance, than probably around 10-20% on miscellaneous business expenses. That makes that goal slightly bigger number now, but also more realistic.
STEP 2: Do your research
Market research is 2 fold – you need to know what YOUR audience is willing to pay and also what else is on the market.
Exercise: Ask how much your audience is ready to pay and name at least 3 price points of well known programms of similar type.
It gives you a range of what people are ready to pay – and a difference between charging $197 and $497 for a small course literally could mean doubling your profit without doing anything else. Where do you think your course price sit comfortably, lower or higher end?
If you have audience that is ready to pay a certain amount of money, let’s say the are used to paying under $497, consider what can you provide to make it worth both your and their time?
How to convince yourself your program is worth it? That one is tricky. Ultimately, we are not our own customers, so getting rid of our money story is crucial to get that price point right. At the same time, if you feel extremely uncomfortable charging anyone at $1000 per hour – don’t do it. But set a price point that is slightly stretching your comfort zone.
STEP 3: Focus on value you provide
You don’t need a huge audience to make decent money, but you need a targeted audience of proven buyers.
Freebie seekers are very rarely converting well. They also are not that committed as clients and tend to blame you for their lack of action.
That’s why higher priced courses often produce better results, even though material covered is seemingly the same as in a $10 ebook.
Commitment and taking action is paramount for success, so if you provide any type of accountability and support it makes massive difference and is highly valuable.
Exercise: list everything you provide throughout the program and add a price value to it.
You don’t need to share it with anyone, but it does a good job convincing you of the tremendous value you give.
Pricing isn’t easy, but by following those 3 easy steps you will get a pretty good starting point.
You can always test it out at different price points, increasing your prices with each launch until you hit your sweet spot – the price people are happy to pay, your programs sell out and you make a profit.
Always focus on the value – it’s not the features but the results your clients will get. So value is not 4 hours of your time but accelerated learning curve for your client, meaning they will reach goals sooner.
Ridiculously law prices are often a deterrent instead of incentive – people wonder if it’s really that good, why it’s so cheap?
If you price based on value, you are always going to be pricing it right.