To charge more as a coach, decide the life you want, including how many clients and hours a week, and set the price that pays for it. Then raise that price in steps as your first clients go well. Your worth never enters the sum.
I didn't always see it this way. When my mentor first named the prices I could charge, my whole business turned into a question about my worth. This is how I got past it, and how you can set and raise your own prices.
Why isn't charging more about your worth?
A price is about what the buyer wants for their own life. How you feel about yourself on a given morning doesn't change what they get. I learned that slowly.
I started out driving a forklift at a Sainsbury's warehouse. I was the only part-time driver there, because I'd written to the managers asking for three long shifts a week. The other four days went into my business.
My first online course sold for a few dollars, and it didn't come close to paying my bills. Then I got coaching and put my prices up. I made my first $2,500 in two weeks, the most money I'd ever made.
Next I charged $500 for one-to-one coaching, all by email. People got videos each week for four weeks and emailed me their questions. I call that my first $20,000 month. To be completely accurate, it was around $18,000.
Then my mentor, Oliver, told me I could charge anywhere from $3,000 up to $25,000. Every old story came up at once. I'm too young. I need more experience first. I didn't do well in school. Nobody's going to pay me $3,000.
I'd never done a sales call in my life. I did them anyway, nerves and all, and started making $3,000 sales, then my first $25,000 sale. I had a bit more experience by then, but I was still the same Gavin from the forklift.
How do I work out what to charge?
Work back from your lifestyle. Decide how many clients you want each week and how many hours a day you want to work, then find the price that pays for that.
In the course I put it like this: "It has nothing to do with your worth. It has to do with your lifestyle." Say you want $10,000 a month. At $2,500, that's about four clients, roughly one a week.
That's only maths, and I'll be straight with you. You still have to talk to people and enrol them, and ads cost money, so it takes more work than the sum suggests.
Who you serve matters too. Business owners and people with good incomes say yes to $2,500 more easily, so your niche shapes your price. As I say in the course, "A Ferrari and a Toyota both drive. People still buy Ferraris."
The next thing people ask me is what one session should cost.
How much should a coach charge per session?
There's no one right number, because it depends on who you help and what you promise them. When someone asked me for a number in a live training, I said, "I can't give a price until I actually know your market and your actual offer."
My own offer was $1,500 for one session, usually 60 to 90 minutes. If we didn't get there in that session, I kept working with the person for free until we did. Some people needed more than one.
What I promised was an inner shift, like feeling ready to go after a goal with nothing holding them back. Outside results, like money, were up to them. Clients were "paying for a specific result," and they wanted it fast.
For a rough map, this is how I describe price levels in the course. Under $100 is low ticket. $297 to $997 is mid ticket. $997 to $3,000 is high ticket, and $3,000 to $25,000 is big ticket.
Be careful about going too cheap. Some buyers see $500 and assume it can't be any good, so a low price can turn the right people away.
Honesty matters more than any number. If I know I can't help someone, I don't enrol them. Anyone who needs more than coaching should be referred to a therapist or a licensed professional.
Raising your price later brings up its own feelings.
How do I raise my coaching prices?
Raise them in steps, and let your results carry you. Start where you can and collect testimonials from your first clients. Then put the price up. Jayden and I raise the price of The Complete Practitioner over time too.
When a member building a six-week programme for executives asked if $3,000 was too low, I said to start there and raise it once the first 5 to 10 clients go well.
It also helps to give people options. I lay out a few packages at different prices and ask, "Which one did you like the best?" Then the client picks.
The big numbers didn't feel good to me at first. As I said on one call, "I just did it and I gave them the choice and they chose, and now it's just normal for me to say those prices."
Price can also rise the closer people get to you, from a digital option at $3,000 up to meeting in person at $25,000.
Others have felt the same pull. Yashwant said, "Before, for me to say £3,000, my tongue would fall back on itself." He now quotes a thousand as his minimum.
Lisa started with four customers at $27. Then she signed a $4,000 client.
On one of our recorded group calls, a member felt uneasy about charging $3,000. I asked the most she'd be allowed to charge, and she said $15,000.
When she pictured buyers who already spend at that level, the price felt celebratory to her. Her unease dropped from 10 to about 2.5.
How The Complete Practitioner handles pricing
The Complete Practitioner works in this order: identity, then offer, then marketing. Pricing starts with identity, in a session called Wealth Identity Recalibration that members run on themselves first.
You rate how you feel about a goal, like charging more, and the coach helps ease what holds you back, such as doubt or a fear of being seen.
In the offer part, members pick a niche, build an offer around a clear result, write their sales page with the Complete Practitioner AI, and record content.
The recordings include our call on getting paid well and the hot seat I described above. CP is coaching and business training. It doesn't promise income, and it doesn't replace therapy.
Questions people ask
How much should a new coach charge per session?
It depends on your market and your offer. I charged $1,500 for one session and kept working for free if a client needed more. A low price can put buyers off, so start where you can deliver well and raise it as clients go well.
Doesn't charging more shut out people who can't afford it?
Some people can't pay your price today, and that's okay. You can't help everyone. People who are ready often save up, even if it takes years. I've borrowed money myself for help I wanted. Point everyone else to your free videos.
Why would someone pay more for one session than for a longer programme?
They're buying a result. A one-session offer works on one clear inner block, and the practitioner keeps going for free until it has eased. A longer programme can take on a different problem each session.
Do I need another certification before I can charge more?
No. In the course I say, "you don't need another certification, you don't need to become more skilled necessarily." Add tools because they're nice to have. Clients care most about one thing: "can you solve my problem?"