What Are High-End Coaching Fees and How Do You Determine Them?

Many coaches struggle with the question “How much should I charge for my services?”

Whether you’re a life or business coach, most will agree that the fees you charge are somehow related to the value you deliver.  The challenge most coaches have is how to measure this “value” and how to quantify their fees based on that value!

 As a professional coach, you do not pick your numbers out of mid-air. And you do not apply the lowest common denominator, which is the fee structure that your competition uses!

You are coaching for RESULTS and therefore you are entitled to charge high-end coaching fees!

In this article I will attempt to put some relevance behind the term “high-end coaching fees” and put it in the context of a Results Coach. And I’m going to give you a formula with which you can determine your fees!

The formula to determine your fees is essentially about three things:

1. The perceived Value to a client for achieving a Desired Outcome, expressed in real and measurable terms.
2. The perceived COST (or Loss of VALUE) to a client for not achieving a Desired Outcome, again expressed in real and measurable terms.
3. The relationship between these two components of a Desired Outcome that will determine your high-end coaching fees.

This is the formula that will establish your fees in a professional manner.  Your fees must be based on tangible and measurable determinants and not on whimsical suppositions. 

Your high-end coaching fees represent the monetary expression of value that you will receive as a professional coach, in recognition for the perceived value your client will receive from your coaching program. 

Remember that “It’s always about VALUE and never about Fees”.

Here are the five steps of the formula that will determine your high-end coaching fees!

STEP 1 - Your Signature Program

If you don’t already have one, you must create a unique and proprietary “Signature Program” on which your coaching services are based. Your “Signature Program” will allow you to claim your “Unique Coaching Proposition”!  Let’s start off by clarifying one very important distinction!  Your Signature Program is not the same as your Coaching Program.  Your Coaching Program is based on your Signature Program and your Signature Program is an integral part of your Coaching Program, but they’re not one and the same!  Your Signature Program expresses your uniqueness as a coach.  It identifies you as a Results Coach!  It is specifically designed and created for those who are in your coaching niche. 

It is your coaching “vehicle” but not your coaching path!  Your Signature Program creates the necessary changes that will allow your clients to achieve their Desired Outcome but only your Coaching Program facilitates the actual transition to a Desired Outcome.  Your Signature Program must be niche specific while your Coaching Program is client specific!

In determining the monetary value of your Signature Program, you must take into account the time it took to create it and the quality of its content.  But the best quantifier in terms of pricing your Signature Program is the perceived value it has to the client.  

Once you determine the price of your Signature Program, you can include that in the total price of your Coaching Program. 

STEP 2 – Your Coaching Program

Your Coaching Program compliments, but does not replace your Signature Program. It provides for the practical implementation of your Signature Program by making it client specific for one-on-one coaching, or group specific for group coaching.  

As a Results Coach you want to minimize the length and maximize the transformational impact of your Coaching Program.  Your clients will pay you high-end coaching fees for the results they achieve with your Coaching Program and not for your companionship!  Shorter Coaching Programs are easier to sell and deliver.  They are fast, focused and easy to finance!

In my practice, I seldom enter into a Coaching Agreement for more than 3 months.  When an interim goal is reached and the client is happy with the progress, I have no difficulty extending the term of the agreement over and over.  And always in three-month increments!

In determining the monetary value of your Coaching Program, you must consider:

1.    Length of the program

2.    Frequency of the Coaching Sessions

3.    Duration of the Coaching Sessions

4.    Additional support provided

As a coach, you charge by the program and not by the session.  Since most of your clients will want to achieve their goal or objective in the shortest possible time, you can charge premium fees for fast results!  Consistency is your key to delivering the results that will justify your high-end coaching fees and have your clients come back for more . . . . time and again!

The monetary value of your Coaching Program is therefore determined by a number of factors that can be measured in terms of time & output.  Depending on the size of your practice, I recommend a range of $250 - $500 per session for a small to medium size coaching business.  Once the demand for your coaching expertise exceeds your available supply of professional time, these rates will move upwards until a new equilibrium is found.

When it comes to high-end coaching fees . . . . the sky truly is the limit!

STEP 3 – Your Coaching Delivery

The way in which you deliver your coaching program factors heavily into the way in which your high-end coaching fees are tabulated.  Some of the options include:

•       One-on-One Coaching in person

•       One-on-One Coaching online or by phone/Skype

•       Group Coaching

•       V.I.P. Day Coaching

•       Hybrid Coaching (One-on-One + Group)

Each of these options will have its own influence on the high-end coaching fees that you will charge. 

STEP 4 – The Perceived Value of Achieving a Desired Outcome

The perception that your client has about the VALUE of achieving a Desired Outcome can greatly influence the high-end coaching fees that you will charge!  The greater the perceived VALUE, the higher your client’s expectations that you (as the Results Coach) will facilitate their Desired Outcome!  And the higher the client’s expectations, the greater your reward in terms of high-end coaching fees! 

STEP 5 – The Perceived Cost of NOT Achieving a Desired Outcome

The perception that your client has about the COST or Loss of VALUE of not achieving a Desired Outcome is often an even stronger determinant to pay your high-end coaching fees! If you have instilled the perception that you are the Results Coach who can stop the emotional or financial pain and suffering that the client is experiencing, you will have all the leverage you need to charge high-end coaching fees!  

Conclusion

Your high-end coaching fees are determined by the perception of VALUE that you create for your client.  The greater that perception . . . . the higher your fees!  Here is an example of how you might structure your high-end coaching fees for a typical Coaching Program that is based on your Signature Program: 

                      I.        VALUE of Signature Program                                       $2,000

                    II.        VALUE of Coaching Program

a.    3 Months = 15 Sessions

b.    $300 per session                                            $4,500

                   III.        Coaching Delivery

a.    By phone

b.    No additional expenses                                  $       0

                  IV.        VALUE of Desired Outcome

a.    Not relevant for this example                          $       0

                    V.        COST of Desired Outcome

a.    Not relevant for this example                          $       0

Total Coaching Fees                                                            $6,500 

      I.           

            This is how I determine my coaching fees in general terms. Of course there may be many variables that will skew the total fees in one direction or another. But if you follow this formula you will be able to determine your high-end coaching fees in a professional manner!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★

©        Allan N. Mulholland

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About Allan
Allan N. Mulholland is the founder and president of PersonaCoach (Int'l) LLC, which provides training and certification for life & business coaches. He is the author of “Change Your Perception, Change Yourself!” and writes on all aspects of coaching training and development.

To get Allan’s free Book “Clients Don’t Pay for Coaching. They Pay for RESULTS!” go to www.resultscoachmastery.com (Available January 14th, 2016)

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