When I was growing up in the 1950s, Imperial Margarine ran a catchy commercial that dismissed butter as “the high-priced spread.” The phrase resonated. Folks of my generation definitely remember that commercial.
Today, you can get four ounces of Le Beurre Bordier Buckwheat Butter for a mere $25. That $100 per pound. Their black truffle butter is twice that at $200 per pound. A pound of ordinary butter is about $5 per pound and margarine is about $2 per pound.
Or take art. You can purchase an old master portrait at several million dollars—da Vinci’s Salvator Mundi sold for a mere $450,000,000—or a contemporary portrait for thousands. Is the one “worth” 450,000 time more than the other?
There is something about the pricing of things that rubs us the wrong way. Yes, it is lovely that you are tall and can shoot a basketball. But is that “worth” $55,000,000 annually, which is what Stephen Curry makes? And, yes, Lionel Messi is a breathtaking footballer, but $20,000,000 worth?
And what about the salaries of CEOs? My gosh.
I bring this up because coaches typically become uncomfortably perplexed and addled when they try to price their services. The matter of pricing can even stop them altogether from hanging out their shingle. It is that vexing a matter.
There are coaches reputed to charge $50,000 annually per client. Some claim to charge $100,000, even $150,000. For one client! That is addling and unhinging. The average coach, statistics say, charges between $75 and $200 a session. Is the $150,000 coach a hundred times better than the $100 coach? Or is he or she just a much better capitalist?
This is all by way of saying, make peace with your prices. If you are someone who intends to charge $75 a session, charge $75 a session and be easy. If you are someone who intends to charge $225 a session, charge $225 a session and be easy. If you want to position yourself as the luxury brand, as the high-priced spread, as someone who comes with an annual price tag of $50,000, well, what can I say? Capitalism is our religion.
How, though, will you actually choose your price? There are certainly some rational factors. You might investigate what your target audience can pay. You might decide if your specialty commands a higher price than “ordinary” coaching. You might look at what comparable coaches in your niche are charging. You might factor in your time and your expenses. You might aim for a profit margin that allows you to live. And so on. This is all eminently rational. But at the end of the day.
At the end of the day, I think we do something rather more intuitive and in keeping with our character and personality. For the majority of coaches, that means setting the bar too low. Some combination of lack of confidence, imposter syndrome, fear of pushback, and a distaste for excess causes many coaches, especially those starting, to announce a per-session price that is very low—so low as to be actually unattractive.
The following isn’t an answer, just a suggestion: charge a fair price that isn’t outrageous but that also isn’t too low, one that allows you to live and that positions you as an accomplished professional. However hard it may be to arrive at your price, you really must get there. And once there, embrace your decision and be easy.
Check out Eric Maisel’s transformative courses in collaboration with Noble Manhattan—designed to elevate your coaching journey.
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