I was having dinner with a former work colleague of mine when she shared that she had recently invested in a life coach and was making decidedly steady progress to improving her wheel of life: She was losing weight, had started seeing someone, bought a new car (that was long overdue) and was planning a great vacation.
She then shared that the only part of her life that wasn’t up-to-par was her job. She felt she was undervalued and micro-managed, even though she had been working in her department for years and seemed to know more than her boss.
She explained that even though she finished additional certifications in order to get a raise and promotion, both had yet to come through.
She commented how unfair it was that other people got hired for positions that she should have.
I empathized with her (we’ve all been there at some point), but realized that she was taking on the victim role that would not serve her in any way.
I gave her an example of another previous work colleague who was in a similar situation — talented but undervalued because he was always looking for external validation for his worth and accomplishments.
I also pointed out that “Unfortunately for him, he didn’t realize that if he didn’t recognize and OWN his worth, no one else is going to recognize it for him. And his salary and benefits will always match what he believes.”
She paused for a moment to let that sink in, and then commented, “It’s so hard being the OTHER person who sees all that you having going for you, but you don’t recognize it yourself.”
And that, my friends, is the crux of it: It IS so hard being the other person who KNOWS how amazing you are!
We frequently forget how incredible and talented we are because our skills come so naturally to us, but other people (and clients) can see when you don’t recognize your own worth (don’t think you have much to offer? I beg to differ — check out my article How to Stand Out As the Expert When You’re A New Coach).
The same goes if you are low-balling your coaching packages. When you’re selling your coaching at the bottom price, we erroneously think that this will attract more buyers.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
Offering your coaching packages at a low price may feel more comfortable for you at the time (especially if you’re a new coach or haven’t signed on many clients as yet), but here’s the truth of what happens:
- You charge a price for your coaching package that you feel is “comfortable” and “fair”, something that you would pay for your awesome service
- You pitch your services to as many people you can
- You generate a few sales calls
- You pour your heart and energy into each call, only to be told that they can’t “afford” your price
- You feel dejected and shake your head — you knew you should have lowered your price more!
- Then a few days later, you see that same prospect sign up with a coach that is triple your price
- Facepalm
Repeat the cycle ad-infinitum as you pitch your services.
Pricing your packages too low is exhausting, demoralizing and toxic for you, both professionally and personally. You start questioning if you are actually a good coach or if you should pack it in and get a regular 9–5.
While pricing your packages really low may feel like a good idea, it never attracts the right clients nor does it build confidence in your coaching skills.
Did you ever look at another coach’s site and feel like though you’re offering something very similar, how is she charging more than double your rates — AND getting clients?
It’s because she believes in the services that she offers and knows that when she shows up 100% for her perfect clients, massive transformations happen. So she’s not afraid to charge what she knows she needs to to attract the right clients who will take her coaching seriously and get life-changing results.
One of the biggest challenges with transitioning to entrepreneurship is that we’ve spent so much of our lives having other people decide our worth — to tell us whether we are good enough or not — that it has become second nature.
Take the following examples:
✔️ We have to make good grades in school to be recognized as an A+ student.
✔️ We have to ask our boss for a raise to make more money.
✔️ We have to try out for the sports team to become accepted as a player.
In all of these cases, we rely on external validation to prove that we are worthy. But becoming an entrepreneur is the first time that YOU must decide what you’re worth.
And sometimes that can be really scary.
Because what if we are NOT worth what we think we are?
What if someone tells us we aren’t worth it?
So we price our packages too low.
We undervalue what we are selling.
We show up with timid confidence because we don’t want to offend someone with our prices, or worse yet, get laughed at.
And the truth of the whole matter is:
Only YOU decide what your services are worth
So if you’re finally done with underselling yourself and are ready to step into the big league of getting uncomfortable, charging premium prices and signing on perfect clients, here’s how you do it:
1. Choose a price that will allow you to feel good showing up for your clients AND that you can actually make a living from.
Let’s break both these points down.
- Choose a price that will allow you to feel good showing up for your clients.
If you feel like you are working like a horse but not getting reimbursed fairly for your time, you will start to resent your online business, drive clients away and wonder why you’re not making enough money. Setting a price that makes you feel excited to sign on a client will shift the energy in your business and in your sales calls — remember, those who are vibrating at a higher frequency are the ones that close sales.
- Choose a price that you can actually make a living from your coaching.
Sometimes we think that in charging higher prices we are conning someone out of their money or that it is very selfish.
If you are undercharging for your services, you probably have a full-time job to keep the bills paid. And it probably means that you are trying to juggle your home life, work life and new business all the while trying to keep sane.
We all went through this transition at some point, but undercharging for your services means that it will take that much longer to be able to get your coaching business off the ground and finally hand in that resignation letter.
It also means that your clients are getting a tired coach who spends her days multi-tasking — not a coach who is zoned in, energized and fully present during her coaching sessions.
So here’s a reframe to help you past this very common limiting belief:
NOT charging a price that you can make a living from is a disservice to both yourself and your clients.
Your clients have paid money to work with you because they believe in the transformation that could happen with your dazzling coaching. One of the worst things that you could do is under-deliver by not giving yourself the time and space to show up 100% for your clients while you continue to grow as a coach. And not much growth and up-leveling is going to happen if you’re exhausted, run off your feet and scrambling for money all.the.time.
2. The human brain has a built-in bias when it comes to pricing — use it to your advantage.
Think about the last time you bought something: Perfume, toothpaste, headphones… you likely compared the different brands and price-points.
Here’s a marketing secret: Neurologically speaking, the human brain has a built-in bias where it subconsciously assumes that the higher-priced product must be superior to its competitors.
Whether the higher-priced product is actually superior is debatable (and nothing a little research can’t answer). However, subconsciously that bias remains no matter the amount of research and reviews that are present.
The same goes for your coaching package. Pricing your package too low will only attract clients who are not ready to show up and play a bigger game. Humans like to be right — so with enough skin in the game, people naturally take bigger action to prove that their investment was the right one.
As a recent example from a few weeks ago, a client of mine had been trying for months to sell her 1-on-1 coaching for $69 per session. She was only able to sign on one client, and that client wasn’t able to pay up front so she offered her a payment plan. Half-way through her program, that client was a no-show and stopped paying.
After spending plenty of time and energy chasing her, that client advised that she could no longer afford the coaching and would not like to continue.
After breaking down what happened, I started working with my client in up-leveling her mindset, confidence and re-pricing her online coaching so that it was more aligned with her business goals and results that her clients would achieve.
Soon after, she re-launched her program at almost double her original price. She was able to land three ideal clients with that launch, and then felt ready to raise her prices again! Within a week of raising her prices a second time, she got another new pay-in-full client.
You may be asking yourself — what was different with her launch (and second launch) compared with how she was running her business before? Why was she signing on great clients all of a sudden?
Her coaching style didn’t change. Her marketing didn’t change. Her coaching package didn’t change significantly. Actually, she decreased the number of sessions in her coaching package. So from the outside, it looks like the only thing that changed was her price.
But in reality, she grew as a coach, leader and business owner during our time working together — she did the inner work so that success, including premium prices and better clients, reflected outwardly.
3. Get super confident in yourself, your coaching skills and the services that you offer.
I’ve covered this before in my article The Most Important Personality Trait to Land Coaching Clients, but it is absolutely worth mentioning here again because having genuine inner confidence is the ultimate foundation for building a successful business.
The other two steps will be useless if you don’t master this first.
If you’re not confident in yourself as a coach — and I mean that beautiful inner confidence that shines through when you share your business and coaching — you will struggle to grow your tribe, sign on clients and create your freedom lifestyle.
Your business will prosper and clients will be attracted to you when you are your authentic, confident, charismatic self.
So over to you! Have you ever struggled with pricing your coaching packages? How did it feel when you raised your prices? Comment below and let me know!
Join Me?
Do you want a free workbook to instantly unlock your beautiful inner confidence and land clients? Grab it here.
I’d love for you to come hang out and meet me in my Facebook group, The Freedom Lifestyle Coach: A community dedicated to the coach who is looking to build her online business without pressure, effortlessly attract clients and create her freedom lifestyle, whether that means travelling the globe or taking 3-day weekends to spend with loved ones.
Kalila Bodden is a medical doctor and business coach for ambitious, introverted women. Supporting them in going from self-doubt to beautiful confidence is her specialty! Helping her clients create an online coaching business that makes 4- and 5-figure months so they can live their dream life of freedom, wellness and travel is what she’s all about.
Originally published at medium.com