From 2012-2014, I had been raising my coaching fees over and over again without changing the coaching program I was providing. One day I got curious about what the equivalent ‘hourly rate’ of the coaches whose fees I aspired to came out to – fees like $50K, $100K, $150K and more.
Upon doing the math, it surprised me that despite the fees being quite different in sizes, the rates all came out at around $1500/hour.
I genuinely had no idea what my equivalent ‘rate’ was because I hadn’t thought about my coaching that way in years. Doing the math…
Well, my most recent client then had paid me $25K for six months. His coaching program included eighteen hours of coaching. $25,000 divided by 18… Damn, that’s about $1400!
How is my ‘rate’ nearly the same as the coaches whose fees is so much larger than mine?
The answer was obvious – they provided more coaching hours.
The real insight though came from the feeling I got when I considered providing 36 hours, 50 hours, 100 hours or more in a coaching program.
‘Geeze…that’s a big commitment’, I thought.
I felt my gut sink.
The other coaches were committing more to their clients – both in the length of the coaching programs and the quantity of coaching hours – than I had ever been willing to commit to my own clients. And just considering making a commitment that big made me nervous!
It became immediately clear that the edge for me to lean into in creating higher fee clients was for ME to make bigger and bolder commitments.
At that moment, I decided I would STOP raising my coaching ‘rate’ and instead raise my fee by providing my clients with more coaching time and longer coaching programs.
I’m not saying I’ll never raise my rate again. I’m saying that for right now, my fees are going up because my commitment to serving my clients is going up. And this feels really, really good.
QUESTIONS TO ASK YOURSELF
- How many hours of coaching do I provide in my coaching programs?
- Even if I don’t charge by the hour, what is my equivalent coaching ‘rate’?
- If I want to raise my fees – is it time for me to raise my rate or the time commitment to my clients?
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