The coaches and consultants that succeed are those who you get pricing right. There are five key pricing strategies you can use: hourly billing, retainer agreements, productized services, value-based pricing, and pay for results. Hourly billing may make sense if you don’t know how long a project will take. But there are significant drawbacks to this approach, including intensive record keeping and the level of scrutiny it invites. A better arrangement, once you’ve built trust with a client, is a monthly retainer. In this situation, clients pay you a flat fee each month for access to your services. A third option is to develop a standard suite of products for sale (“productized services”). Or you can try value-based pricing which involves having a detailed conversation with the prospect to understand and agree upon the value the engagement, if successful, would have on the business and then determining a price. And finally, there’s pay for results. This model is only risky if you 1) don’t have a solid process and 2) don’t pick your clients well. If you do have a coaching or consulting process that you know works, a way to measure your client’s progress, and a willing and able client, your chances of success are high.
