If there’s one question I get from almost every coach I coach, it’s this: how do I know what to charge? That’s why we’ve dedicated 🎧 this episode to a topic that resonates with so many of us in the coaching, training, and speaking industries: pricing your services.
In this episode, we explore various pricing strategies and how they can impact your business. Of course, we also discuss the importance of aligning your pricing with your personal values and strengths. We also talk about the value of adding more to your offers instead of slashing prices, and how to scope down services to meet client budgets. Plus, we sprinkle in some fun anecdotes and practical tips to help you navigate your pricing journey.
So, whether you're just starting out, or are looking to adjust your rates, this episode is packed with valuable nuggets to help you price with confidence!
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Understand Your Pricing Strategy: There are things to consider basing your pricing strategy on, including cost, the market, client value, and more. Each has its pros and cons, so it's essential to find the one that aligns with your business goals and personal values.
Add Value Instead of Discounting: Instead of offering discounts, consider adding more value to your services. This could be in the form of additional sessions, resources, or exclusive content that enhances the client's experience and justifies your pricing.
Experiment and Adapt: Pricing isn't set in stone. It's okay to experiment with your rates and adjust them based on market feedback and your evolving business needs. Remember, you can always change the numbers on your website or pricing documents as you learn what works best.
Align Pricing with Your Strengths: Your unique talents and strengths should inform your pricing strategy. Whether you prioritize accessibility, customization, or maximizing impact, ensure your pricing reflects what you can sustainably deliver while keeping you fulfilled.
Offer Multiple Options: Presenting clients with different pricing tiers or packages can help them see the value in your services and choose what fits their budget. This approach not only anticipates budget constraints but also opens the door for future collaborations.
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Market-Based Pricing: Conduct Market Research
Spend time researching what competitors in your niche/industry are charging for similar services. Create a list of at least three competitors and note their pricing strategies to help you position your own services effectively.Values-Based Pricing: Define Your Value Proposition
Write down the unique value you bring to your clients. Consider how your services can lead to specific results for them. Use this information to inform your values-based pricing strategy.Create a Pricing Experiment: Set a timeline (ex. 3 months) to test a new pricing strategy. Track client responses and sales. Be prepared to adjust your prices based on the feedback and results you gather.
Develop Value-Added Offers: Identify at least two ways to add value to your services without discounting. For example, consider offering a free follow-up session for clients who book a package, or providing additional resources like e-books or webinars when the client pays for the package in full up front.
Draft Three Different Pricing Packages: Create three different versions of your Signature Service (essentially the same service, but scoped up or down to hit different price points). For instance, if your Signature Offer is a Half-Day Workshop, maybe your lowest price point could include a basic virtual package, your “mid” price point includes the standard in-person package, and your top-tier price includes the in-person workshop, plus a few extras. Present these options to potential clients to give them choices that fit their budget and needs.
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Lisa: I'm Lisa.
Brea: I'm Brea.
Lisa: And today's topic, I'm going to introduce by asking you a question, Brea.
Brea: Okay, hang on. Oh, I'm stretching. Okay.
Lisa: Okay, I'm ready. Ready. Ready. Get ready. You're at the supermarket. Okay. You're in the meat section and you find some chicken and it has a big red tag on it and it says 70% off.
Brea: Hell no. Sorry. Run the other way.
Lisa: Okay, so today's topic is pricing. Pricing your services. Okay, what's the difference? And I am bringing this up because some people's pricing strategy when they get into a coaching, training, speaking business is just, I don't know what else to do, so I'm going to come in low so that it's comfortable for everyone.
But sometimes they come in and they feel like the 70% off chicken package. But they don't realize that's how they're coming off to clients, so I'm just bringing this up to frame the idea of pricing your services.
There are a lot of ways to go about pricing your services. It is a number one question that comes up, especially at the beginning of a coaching, training, speaking business, but also along the way. Should I raise my prices? Where's the right price? getting enough business because I'm at the wrong place in my price for my market.
So we're going to explore all kinds of things around pricing, some related to mindset, some related to strengths, and some just basic pricing strategy kind of thoughts to get you grounded in different ways you could go about pricing.
Brea: This is gold. Chef's kiss, like, I don't know if I've ever talked to another coach or another business owner who hasn't had this question. How do I price my services? What do I charge, right? I mean, everyone is asking this question. I see it in the Facebook groups, online, all the time. I mean, yes. Okay, let's go.
Lisa: So I remember when I was working on my MBA, we were talking about all kinds of businesses, not just service businesses and not just small businesses. What are some pricing strategies? And the ones I remember having really good discussions around, let me just kind of rattle off the things I can remember.
One is, you could position yourself as a low-cost leader. Think about this, this is the coach who probably is like, I want my prices to be accessible for all, I want to never lose a deal because I'm charging too much, those kind of things.
Brea: Yep.
Lisa: We have market based price. This is the one that I've chosen. And that is you find the market based on what customers expect and are used to what your competitors charge. There's a finding of the market that can be a challenge, but I would say that market based pricing, just trying to kind of fit in somewhere in the middle of the market.
Brea: Yep.
Lisa: There's premium pricing. hey, I'm going to be viewed as luxury, top tier, only the best can afford this, and only the best service is going to get delivered. There's a cost plus kind of version, and yeah. No. Like, OK, let's think about all the input costs it takes to run a business. If you had a physical product, this would be a lot more obvious because people would be like, oh, I see. If I'm going to build a house and I find a cost plus builder, they're going to take all the materials, all the labor, and then they're going to put their builder fee on top, right? That's really simple when it's a product, even though that's a service. But there are tangible parts to that product. So for coaches and trainers and speakers, that's really interesting because you're like, what are my input costs? Well, it's my labor when I'm solo, but what if I know I want to grow my business into the future with a robust team behind me? Now I have to project what are my costs. I have software costs. I have office costs. I have hardware costs. And then we typically have a higher margin business, so the plus part of cost plus is usually higher for a service business. But another element I would like to layer on to this cost plus is, are you pricing thinking for the future? Because if you price yourself today as an absolute solo practitioner, like freelance style, and then three years from now or two years from now, you decide you're going to bring on three team members and you're going to go move into an office, your costs are going to skyrocket and your margins are going to tank if you don't raise your prices. So can you think of your pricing from the future building out how you project your team to be? Because those are the kind of clients you're going to need to attract who can afford the service you offer as a bigger team.
Brea: Yep. Yeah, and I would add values based pricing. What value do you bring? Not what is the cost of goods or what is the cost of your time or whatever, but what what value does your customer see in that? This is something that I think a lot of people struggle to do if they see a big divide between, you know, like the value is a lot higher than what than what the service provider feels it actually costs them to deliver. So yeah, but I love Values Based Pricing.
Lisa: I was just talking to a sales speaker the other day. He's so good at all of this. And he was saying, he's like in the $50,000 range for a speech. And the customer was like, oh my gosh, for an hour of your time. And he's like, would you like it to take a lot longer for me to help you get the results? So there's always that. And then when you said values, I wasn't actually, my brain didn't go to results. It went to values like our personal values. And I think that's another layer that would be worth adding on because I think you could separate that out from low cost leader. Like some people are, have a loss leader product or service. Like I definitely do this with low ticket offers and have specific products or services offered that get people in the door. And some people have that low cost leader just as a, what they do. And that's a strategy. But other people from a personal values level will say, I want to be accessible because I want every person to have access to this thing. And it, it comes from their personal values and That is a whole pricing strategy as well. And I just want to add on, if you're going to use that pricing strategy, it's fine, especially if those are your personal values. Great if your pricing strategy aligns with your personal values. And be sure you do the math. You're going to have to serve more customers if you offer the super low price and you're accessible to no one if you go out of business. So just do the math to make sure you can make that viable. I love it.
Brea: Yeah, I think all of these are really good for people to consider. And they're really, I don't know, I think maybe in some situations there might be a right answer, but most of the time the right answer is with the one that's right for you, right? So how many times can I say right in the same sentence? Okay.
Lisa: But the point hits home. Yes. Because it is true. There isn't a right pricing strategy. So I'm just going to double down on it and say it more. There isn't a right way. And I think that's what makes it hard. People say, I'm in this. I have no idea what the price is. How would I even find the market? Where do I find the right price? You're going to probably have to have an experiment and or a lot of research to try to find your spot. And it's fine if you don't land it on day one. I mean, if you're making a price list on your website or a PDF, all you have to do is go change some digits with your keyboard and you can change the price to update it. It's an experiment. Yeah.
Brea: Yeah, that's good. That's a good reminder. Other things to consider. Consider your talents. Consider your strengths. If you are a person who needs consistency, who needs to know that you've got some mailbox money coming in, OK, then price accordingly. If your talents need some kind of recurring revenue, whether that's a membership fee or some kind of recurring revenue is what I'm talking about, then do that. Follow your talents and price accordingly.
Lisa: Well, do tell us about your talents. How have you followed your talents and how have they shown up in your pricing strategy?
Brea: So I resonate with the, I want something that's accessible to everyone. It's something that I feel really passionate about. Personal and professional development should be available to all. It's not something that should be a luxury for some. And yeah, so there's some of those relational talent themes that really leads that for me. And at the same time, I want maximum impact, right? So I have a lot of influencing talent. So I'm not satisfied filling my calendar with like one-on-one coaching conversations because I'm not able to reach as many people and I'm not able to make as big of an impact. So for me, that means having different offers and pricing in a way that the majority of my revenue comes in from bigger ticket items. And I build in some pro bono work. I have a certain amount of sessions, you know, or maybe, maybe one offer is priced as a BOGO where I've done this successfully before. And it feels so good to me to go to a corporate client and say, Hey, When you purchase a workshop for your team, also you get to choose from this list of nonprofits in your area or charities in your area, and I'll go do a workshop for them at no cost or at low cost or whatever. So it's like a pay it forward type of thing. I've done applications where people who are in a job search or a life transition or just find themselves in a place where money is tight, but they really want the coaching and they want the tools, great. So they can fill out an application to put some skin into the game. And there's a certain number of those sessions, those hours that I've budgeted for that month, and that's available. So I think we can price in a way that that makes it possible to make me feel fulfilled, you know, and also still put food on the table, you know, and money in the bank.
Lisa: Mm-hmm. Oh, I'm totally feeling your includer and connectedness there, that ripple effect. Yeah. Beautiful. Yeah, what about you? Okay, let's pick Strategic certainly shows up. It's my number one and it is always looking ahead, trying to make clean, clear decisions. And so it definitely guided my process of being in the squarely in the market pricing type of strategy. I would say on the pricing side, one that gets in my way is individualization. because I love customizing.
Brea: Yeah, we both are in the doghouse for this like all the time.
Lisa: Kind of forget at times to charge tailoring fees, which people totally expect if you're like, oh, it's a premium bespoke version. It's customized, it's tailored. they totally expect to pay for that. But sometimes I get just ahead of myself with the excitement about customizing. So if that happens, the way I make up for it and the way my strengths come in to say, all right, now, how do I redeem myself to myself? Because to the client, it's amazing to myself. Then I pull out Maximizer and I'm like, OK, if I'm creating this alternate version or the specialty down this one path or rabbit hole that they wanted to go down, I will now create a digital product in that area or a whole thing that now I can offer on the menu of services, so to speak, so that other people can get the benefit out of it and I can resell the work that I did for that one client to someone else and make something out of that tailoring time because I could lose myself. for eight hours tailoring and not charged for that. So I think that those would be a tours of how my strengths show up in pricing, maximizer, individualization, and strategic showing up the most.
Brea: I hear that. I still hear that. And something that you're really great at is scaling. I think your brain just naturally thinks that way. We've talked several times on the podcast about adding a zero or taking away a zero. So that's what I'm talking about is thinking strategically, thinking about how to scale. And I wonder if sometimes for me, if I'm thinking that way, I can make things too complex. The individualization or the strategic, the ideation will come in and say, we could do this. Or if you prefer, we could do this. Or we could set it up like this. And we could start here and then we could get here and then we could do this. And then in five years, we'll be here. And all the client hears is like, wait, what? Do you ever find that or is that just me?
Lisa: Well, okay. Focus comes right in, number six. futuristic right behind it. And so the way those two come together, because you dream into the future. And if you add an ideation, the way you just described it can sound like all the ideas and mine comes in like, okay, here's where we're going into the future. what are we going to choose? And it, it's this constraint thing that comes through. And luckily, I have that one Executing talent in my Top 14. And I would say Strategic very much is a prioritizer as well. So between Strategic and Focus, it's like, I have a million ideas, and I would like to create a dozen products that would be really fun and that is not the most productive use of my time because i could easily go out of business just creating stuff that i never get up on the website never sell never create messaging or marketing for And I do think I'm not the only one like that. I think there are so many coaches and trainers and speakers who are, we're into the craft, we're into the thing that we came here to deliver. And it's really fun to create resources and create products and create things and have these new ideas. And The easy thing to forget is if it doesn't have a price tag attached, if it isn't getting sold, it's just getting created, it's not keeping us in the state of a viable business. So I'm really fortunate for the strength of focus and strategic to be my prioritizers and say, no matter how fun that is, can it be priced? Can it be marketed? Can it be sold? Can it be put into an efficient system? And if not, I'm just going to table it until a client's ready to pay for it.
Brea: I love it. So this is reminding me at the top of our conversation, I was thinking, we started talking about discounts. Okay. Can we just go there? I just want to talk about this.
Lisa: I think we probably should. I mean, we started off talking about 70% off chicken and everybody likes to talk about discounts when pricing comes up.
Brea: So here's the thing. I learned this in high school when I started selling Mary Kay. That's a whole nother podcast episode. But instead of offering it a discount, if you feel like you need to or you want to, you're insecure that you don't think the market's going to bear the price, whatever your reason is. consider, instead of offering a discount, consider adding more value. So instead of saying, I'll take this percent off or I'll take this amount off, say, look, this is the price, but if you buy four sessions, right, or my favorite is if you pay in full upfront, figure out what your ask is, right? Then, if you do this for me, then I will give you this extra thing, an extra session, or maybe you offer a discount then, but only offer a discount if they have given you something that's valuable. It's so easy for me to offer a small percentage discount if they pay in full up front for their workshop. You know, that means I don't have to chase them down. That means I have all of the money that I need to go buy all the supplies. I mean, it's just so much easier. It's worth a little bit of a discount for me. But my favorite thing is instead of discounting, add more value.
Lisa: I love this topic so much. Okay. You can add more, add more value. Here's another example of add more value. I work with associations sometimes to deliver a speech and they're usually a little more formulaic. They know what they pay for speakers. Yeah. And if you don't fit the market rate, they'll be like, Oh, you're over market on this thing. And so there's a whole deal there. And the way that I've overcome that almost every time is offering webinar to the audience. And so, like, for example, I'm going to do an in-person speech somewhere and my rate is higher than the market rate they were hoping for. Now I'm offering a one-hour webinar. It could be a pre-event. It can be a post-event. And look what's so beautiful about this is that so many times they'll be like, oh, can we offer this to our greater audience, all of our association members, instead of that one state?
Brea: Can you give me free marketing? Sure.
Lisa: Yeah. Yes. You just nailed it, Brea. And that's what I'm doing to add more value because they need to justify to somebody else internally that this person is worth more worth. I'm putting in quotes more financially than this other person because they're offering this other stuff. So be thinking of what are these add ons you could bring. And sometimes it's also the line item. Like if we pay for A book, or a souvenir-y thing, or an e-book, or you have a video, or you do a pre-something or other. Just think of all the things you could do to add value. It's a huge category. The opposite, I have a whole other category to bring up. Tell me if you've done this. Nope. No matter what, I've been given this budget. It can't go over this amount. I only have this to work with. It doesn't matter how much you sweeten it up. Now, of course, they wouldn't say it like that to you.
Brea: I mean, you know, yeah, okay.
Lisa: We work with so many good clients, but they would just be like, sorry, Charlie, this is what I got. Then can you scope it down? So if they're saying, let's do an in-person and you priced it at $7,500 and they don't have that, they say, I'm sorry, I love you so much. You are my favorite of the three people we're talking to, but I only have $3,500. to work with? What if you then scope it down? What if it becomes virtual training? What if you have a version, if let's say you are a CliftonStrengths trainer, and now you do a version without assessments instead of with assessments, and you kick off the concept of a strengths-based focus? There are so many small things you can do to scale down, to scope down, And then you're getting the price that you like your price instead of the other. So there's another option as well. How can you scope down to meet their budget?
Brea: I love it. And I've done both. And yes, yes, yes. I think also what's coming to mind is in the proposal offering multiple options at the same time. So I'm curious, Lisa, if you do this or not. I always offer three different price points so that It kind of is anticipating this conversation, right? And it's literally a side-by-side comparison so they can see, look, here's the outcome that you're looking for. Here's three different ways that we can deliver it. One is virtual. One is in person, right? Let's just do two for the ease of conversation today. they can see side-by-side the price difference for that and they understand why they're going to pay more for me to come in person or, you know, the scope down is, like, they can understand why that's less, right? And maybe one is the top tier includes all the yummy swag, just different things that someone may or may not want to include in their bottom line. I think having different options from the beginning allows them to see what is possible and decide where they want to spend their money. That's what I do. Do you do something similar or do you always start with one thing and then go up or down depending on what they say?
Lisa: I love the approach. I absolutely do it. I love having options. I love having options that paint a future vision so that they can see ways you can work together in the future. They can see where you go from here. And even if it's aspirational to start, often they do come back a year later and say, okay, now we see that grander thing and we're ready for it. So I love it strategically and also just to give them choices because a lot of times they don't realize they have the choices.
Brea: Yeah, and I think I agree. And this is something that I need to work on because we've already talked about this. I see way far into the future. I want to have an impact. And so it's hard for me to just be like, sure, I'll come do a little one-off event for you. I try to sell them the big, full, major impact. But I'm talking about something different. I'm thinking about like, the same thing, not different offers, not like a five-year contract versus a one-off event. I'm talking about a one-off event at three different price points.
Lisa: Mm-hmm.
Brea: Yeah.
Lisa: Okay. Sure. Yeah. And I don't do that as much as I do, though, for sure, having one grand division included in there. And I wouldn't want to get too crazy and give them five versions so I could accomplish it all. So it would depend on the needs assessment call and what comes up. Yeah, totally. If it feels like, hey, we are going to move forward. We're doing this kickoff event. And it's like, is this virtual? Is this in-person? And does it include coaching? Or is it only group? Like something really simple, just those versions.
Brea: Yeah. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, I love this. So I keep thinking about how the different talent themes, the different domains of talent even affects how we price. I wonder if the relationship builders out there, relater, developer, maybe includer, are these themes looking for longer term clients that they can grow with over time? Are you looking for pricing structures that that are maybe lower client volume, less people, and higher retention, right? So that you can kind of stay with them. What pricing structure makes sense to honor your desire to work with a client in that way?
Lisa: I bet your theory is really strong for people with relationship themes. It's not necessarily how I think about the original contract, but I do think it brings the people back for referrals. It brings them back for repeat business later. So I do think it proves the theory in a little different way for me.
Brea: Something else that comes to mind for me, I really, really like having flexible pricing, flexible offers. You know, there's that individualization, maybe that includer, maybe that empathy. You know, if I can tell that someone really doesn't have the money, there are lots of ways to pull on my heartstrings, you know? So I like customizing and like having flexibility, knowing that I can charge one thing today and And I can change my mind and charge more or less later. Right. And I think that that comes from a lot of my flexible talent themes, whereas the talents that I don't have might want some more structured, stable, you know, pricing structures.
Lisa: Yeah, I love that you're bringing up the domains and that you raise the idea of each of our individual strengths and where they would come in, tendencies and how we think about pricing, tendencies and how we lean toward one of these pricing strategies or another and just being free to honor what feels great to us, what feels really aligned with us in our natural talents. And I don't think that's a conversation that would usually come up with pricing. And if I gave closing thoughts, I just feel like the beauty is what feels right to you. You have to start somewhere. And sometimes it is the swag. And excuse my French, but sometimes it is strategic, wild-ass guess. And that is where you start, because you don't know where the market is. And then you layer in that. where do my strengths, where do they want to be, what feels aligned with me, what feels an integrity with me as a person and the business I want to build. And then, you know, if it's something that you're talking to me about, Lisa, I'm going to be saying, do the math. Now, check it against the math. Does this work to create a viable business? Because it is easy to overlook that part and then get way into it and realize, oh my gosh, I'm working like mad and I work so many hours and now I'm in an 80 hour a week job and I'm not making ends meet and that's just because you didn't do the math of the strategy. So math it out at the beginning, make sure it'll work and all those pieces come together beautifully and the experiments turn into what is a beautiful aligned business.
Brea: I love it and also I don't work like that. You know, when I hear you and I'm like, yes, that sounds so smart. And I also hear, but how will I know? The numbers change all the time. What the market can bear changes. So I don't do market based pricing because I expect it to change and I don't think I can count on it. And for me, my priority is charging what my strengths can sustain. the market may or may not sustain that price. You know, they may or may not be able to bear that price, but what can I continue to deliver? What can I continue to sustain as far as what I'm offering and what prices, you know, what do I need to charge to sustain me, my energy, my happiness and my business, you know, my profit?
Lisa: Yeah. And that is the beauty of this show. Right? We don't agree. And it's so awesome. You don't run your business like I run my business. You don't have the same brain that I have. And we both have had long-term businesses. And we're giving people what, yeah, here's the reality. Here's what she's done. Here's what I've done. And we do it differently. And both of them work. And that is so inspiring because you have choices.
Brea: It's amazing. I mean, it brings us full circle to the beginning of the conversation, right? There's no right way to price except what's right for you. So really, it sounds cheesy, you know, but it really is true. So be honest with yourself and figure out what works for you. Go for it.
Lisa: Is there a tagline for that game show, The Price is Right? It feels like we should do something cheesy. What's the… That's hilarious. Okay. Now I remember that sound from my grandparents' house.
Brea: Yes.
Lisa: Always watched it.
Brea: I used to watch Prices Right as a kid. It was like my favorite thing when I was sick and had to stay at home. Prices Right, 10 o'clock a.m., boom, on the couch, I am there, you know? I auditioned for, I don't think I did the Prices Right, but I did audition for Wheel of Fortune once, and that was super fun.
Lisa: You did, ooh. I mean, communication, words, sounds right. Yeah, yeah. And did it happen? What was it like?
Brea: No, I didn't make it, but it was really fun. I would love to be a game show host. This is like my true dream life would be to host a game show.
Lisa: I could see it. I could absolutely see it. Yeah. Yeah.
Brea: Or talk show that has a game show portion. Oh my gosh, let's go.
Lisa: Well, then, I mean, you could get some practice. We have a podcast, which is kind of like a talk show, and if you added a game show element, which you'll have to noodle on, we could do it.
Brea: Oh, my gosh. Okay, people, come to the podcast meetup. We're having a game show. I'm doing it. I'm doing it. We're going to figure it out. Come on. BreaRoper.com to get the invite. Boom.
“Remember, hard work doesn’t have to feel hard. Aligned with your strengths, it actually feels easy, energizing, and fun!”
MEET YOUR CO-HOSTS
BREA ROPER
Communication | Woo | Activator | Futuristic | Connectedness
If you need a Strengths Hype Girl, for yourself or your team, connect with Brea at brearoper.com. She’s ready to deliver an inspirational keynote, empowering training, or transformational workshop. If you’re looking for an expert guide to support your internal Strengths efforts, reach out today!
LISA CUMMINGS
Strategic | Maximizer | Positivity | Individualization | Woo
To work with Lisa, check out her resources for independent coaches, trainers, and speakers. Get business tools and strategy support with her Tools for Coaches membership.
The Fine Print: This podcast is not sanctioned or endorsed by Gallup in any way. Opinions, views and interpretations of CliftonStrengths© are solely the beliefs of Lisa Cummings and Brea Roper.