118 | How to Set (and Stick To) Your Coaching Prices Without Second Guessing Yourself

Speaker: 00:00:01

If you've ever lowered your coaching

price mid-sentence or added in

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extra sessions just to make it more

valuable or avoided saying your fee

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altogether, you are not the only one.

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But let's talk about why.

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Today's episode 1 1 8 is about pricing

and not just what to charge, but

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how to say it with utter confidence.

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Stand behind it know the value that

you are providing is worth more

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than the money you are charging.

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I'm Jo Lott and this is Women in the

Coaching Arena, the podcast for qualified

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coaches who want to build an honest,

not hype business that actually works.

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Let's start by thinking about

why pricing feels so hard.

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So if you've ever looked at your services

page wondering, can I really charge that?

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I hear you.

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And here is why pricing feels

so loaded for many of us.

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Most of us weren't taught how to

talk about money, especially not in a

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service-based business like coaching.

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Coaching qualifications focus on

being great at the craft, but not

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on building a sustainable business.

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And some might even say that there

is that kind of dirty element

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of charging for your coaching.

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I think there are a lot of academics out

there that are maybe teaching coaching,

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but very few people are talking about

how to get clients, how much charge,

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how to market your business, how to

have a discovery call, aka sales call.

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I've also noticed in talking to

many coach training organizations

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recently, that they say to me.

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Oh, no way would I want to teach

the business side of coaching.

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It makes me think, gosh,

yeah, I really see why.

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Because it's really hard

to build a business.

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Whereas when people are going

for a qualification, it's like

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you can put the work in, get your

qualification, and that's job done,

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whereas a business never ends.

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So for example, this week I'm holding

a case study call with someone who's

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agreed to a case study call, which

I'm super grateful for, and she, in my

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eyes, did absolutely amazing considering

she had just left her job probably the

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day before signing up to my course.

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And within six to nine months

has built her brand, has built

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her lead magnets website.

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She has gained paying clients

and currently has three to four

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paying clients any one time.

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She's currently filling a group

program for launch in May.

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She has got the confidence to try new

things, understand what really is needed

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to be done in building a business.

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She's collaborated on two

webinars, two podcasts.

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Started posting six times a week,

A far cry from when she started.

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Has a weekly newsletter

with 800 subscribers.

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Launched the website, moved halfway across

the world, started an Instagram account,

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got ICF certified, and she felt like

she hadn't done very well in my program.

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In all honesty, she wanted to be so

much further along than she was because

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I think especially when you've worked

so hard in an organization and you

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are earning super good money in your

organization, perhaps at a really

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senior level, that then it can feel

like a long way to fall when you start

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your business and you aren't bringing

in anywhere near what you were before.

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And the problem is there is never

a end point of business like there

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is for your coaching qualification.

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You have your shiny certificate

in hand, you are qualified.

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They did their job, the coach training

organization, and it's so much easier

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than the ongoing onslaught of having a

business where there is no end point.

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I can't not show up tomorrow

should I not feel like it.

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If I don't do the work,

I will not get clients.

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So it is ongoing and I think there is

that real tricky thing that there isn't

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a simple roadmap to get to a hundred

K in six months and then it's set up

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and then you can relax on a beach and

have a couple of coaching calls a week,

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and we just have really unrealistic

expectations in that early stage, which

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is the hardest stage of your business

when you are building from zero.

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That is why pricing is hard, and that

is why many people do not want to go

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into business coaching, even though

I know it may seem like the glamorous

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end and you think it could be easy to

earn money through business coaching.

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I can assure you it's just the same as

any other niche, and it requires a lot

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of hard work and a lot of showing up.

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The third reason why pricing feels

so hard is quietly sitting in the

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background are your own money stories.

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Usually shaped by childhood, your

environment, or even past roles.

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This isn't about you being bad at

business, this is about learning

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to claim your value in a different

way, which takes learning.

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It takes feeling into, They say

our money stories are ingrained

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by about the age of seven.

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So there is often a lot of work

to be done, in order to charge a

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professional rate for your coaching.

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So let's create a simple reframe

for your pricing right now.

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When I work with coaches on

this, I always start here.

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What do you actually need to earn?

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Not what you think others would pay, not

what you think someone else is charging.

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What do you personally need?

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And this can feel really nerve wracking

for coaches because they want the

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one right answer as to what to put in

their proposal, but often prices vary.

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As you will know, if you've been in

the game for a while, some people will

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charge zero or next to nothing for their

coaching and others may charge tens of

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thousands an hour for their coaching.

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So there really isn't one right answer.

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Even within organizations, there are

often huge variables, and what we would

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want to look to is the transformation

that you are going to provide.

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So we are not thinking about the hours,

we are thinking about the outcomes,

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we are thinking about the difference

it's gonna make in their life

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and what that is worth to them.

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Whether that is confidence, clarity,

decision making power, emotional

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resilience, a new job, more income,

more clients, stronger boundaries,

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a better life, all of that is

super valuable and we need to work

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together to put a price on that.

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I use Maslow's hierarchy of needs for

this in my program where we aim to

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find needs across the entire hierarchy.

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So what we can do as coaches, which

can be a mistake, is focus on the top

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of the Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs

pyramid, which is self-actualization.

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Us essentially fulfilling our potential.

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But the problem is most of us live

towards the bottom, maybe the middle.

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It depends who your ideal client is.

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So we often have those basic needs,

which might be to get more money to

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pay the mortgage, to get a better

job so I can actually pay the bills.

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So there are other layers in there

rather than having an amazing

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life, which clearly we all want.

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So the idea is to scatter through

different layers to ensure that you

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are tapping into their big dream, which

might be that fulfilling their potential

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part, but also meeting their unmet needs

right now, which can be as baseline as

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having great friends and feeling at home.

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I know many of my masterminders, for

example, place huge value on that.

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One of them completed the midpoint

feedback recently and said, by

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completing this form, I realized

I've never really fitted in.

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I was promoted really young, so I

didn't fit in with the crowd that I

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was promoted to, but I also didn't

fit in with the younger crowd who

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weren't as senior as me, so I never

really found a place to call home.

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And I have found my place.

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So this is why often communities

like I run are really valuable.

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'cause I think we all feel that way.

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I certainly do.

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I don't feel like I ever found

my home in a group program.

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So I am genuinely jealous of

my own clients for the amazing,

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longstanding relationships they

build with each other in my programs.

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And I think that often

that's why we do this work.

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We create what we so desperately

wish we had ourselves.

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So all of this is valuable,

all of these different layers.

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So I want you to price for that.

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Okay.

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Now for the important part of

what you do, when you panic

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after you have said your price.

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One of my clients used to say her price

and then immediately say, I know it's

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really expensive, and we did a practice

session once where I invited people

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to do a role play and just try and

be silent after you say that number.

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So say your price, pause.

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Let the silence breathe.

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It's not rejection, it's space.

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They need to consider this,

and that can't be done in 0.5

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of a second, so hold your

ground, smile if you are on a

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zoom call, take a sip of water.

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Remember, people who are

meant for you won't flinch.

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And if they do, that's

information not failure.

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There are loads of things you

can do and consider on this.

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For example, I started to publish my

price when I realized I was dreading the

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end of a discovery call when I would have

to share exactly what I was offering.

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And now I love the fact

that that isn't a surprise.

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People before they have a call with me

already know generally what my offer is.

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So it's more of a right fit

call rather than a, oh my gosh,

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how much is this gonna cost me?

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Type of call.

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If that's with an organization, I

know it's a absolute second guessing

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game of you maybe asking their budget,

them asking you how much it is.

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So it can be really tricky.

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And back to how much do you

need to earn and whereabouts are

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you in your business journey?

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So let's talk about now the role of

discounts, beta offers, free clients

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because these do have their place if

they are part of a strategy, so are

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you doing a test to try out a new

offer, gather testimonials, build

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confidence, then that is strategic,

that you are offering lower pricing.

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Are you doing it because you believe

people won't pay you otherwise?

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Then that is fear talking.

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So make any decisions to discount

intentionally, not emotionally.

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Ensure that you spell out what you need.

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If it is a beta offer, ensure that you say

in return for a case study or testimonial,

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I'm offering however much off.

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So ensure you get what you

need out of the equation.

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So pricing is a muscle, it

gets stronger with practice.

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It's okay if it feels

hard and tender at first.

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I know I have come a really

long way with a really terrible

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money mindset from childhood.

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Of no one will ever pay that,

which is literally what my

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family say to me to this day.

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And I've just done it really slowly.

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It also needs to feel safe in

your body and a price that you

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actually want the client for.

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And I always increase my price, whether

this is logical or not, based on what

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it feels like in my body when I get

to the place where I think this is too

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cheap and a lot more expertise as well.

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As you grow, as you gain case

studies, you can increase your price

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because your trust and value in the

marketplace massively increases.

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It is a bit like if you were to ask the

guy who wrote Atomic Habits right now

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to have a one-on-one with you, you would

know that that's gonna be expensive

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because he has a super established brand.

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But before that book came out, he was

probably charging hardly anything for

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his advice on how to build great habits.

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So again, your pricing

will build with you.

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Don't feel disappointed that you

have offered a low price to someone.

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Feel excited that that gives

you an opportunity to learn,

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an opportunity to ace it.

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Get a great case study, build

lifelong friends, build referrals.

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There are so many benefits to pricing

where you feel able to say those words out

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of your mouth right now, in this moment.

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I hope this episode gave you

something to think about.

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Come and message me on LinkedIn as Joanna

Lott or Instagram as @joannalottcoaching.

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I would love to hear what your current

price is and how it feels when you say it.

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And if you want to get in before my own

next price rise, then the next intake to

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the business of coaching is on Tuesday,

the 3rd of June, and it will be at the

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current price of £2997 plus VAT and

after that date it will be increasing.

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So if you know you want in, this

is your sign that now is the time.

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And like I say at the end of every

episode, trust yourself, believe in

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yourself, and be the wise gardener

who keeps on watering the seeds.

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Microphone (Samson Q2U Microphone):

Thank you so much for listening to this

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episode of Women in the Coaching Arena.

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I have a mess of free resources on

my website joannalottcoaching.com.

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That's Joanna with an A

and Lott with two T's.

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joannalottcoaching.com.

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And I'll also put links in the show notes.

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Let me know if you found

this episode useful.

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Share it with a friend and

leave me a review, and I will

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personally thank you for that.

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Remember to trust yourself, believe

in yourself and be the wise Gardner

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who keeps on watering the seed.

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Get into the arena dare, greatly and try.