Negotiating fees with clients can be a challenging and delicate task for life coaches. You want to charge what you're worth, but you also don't want to scare away potential customers or damage your reputation. How can you approach this process with confidence and professionalism? Here are some tips to help you.
Before you set or discuss your fees, you need to know your value as a life coach. This means considering your experience, credentials, skills, results, niche, and unique selling proposition. What do you offer that others don't? How do you help your clients achieve their goals and overcome their challenges? How do you measure and communicate your impact? Knowing your value will help you justify your fees and communicate them clearly and confidently.
The price is the PRICE! Meaning you need to do the inner work so you know the value you bring. The transformation your clients receive is often double what they pay. It is a lifelong transformation that will keep bringing them value years after you’ve finished working with them. I think spending time building your confidence, beta testing your methods & carrying out market research will put you in a place where negotiating your price is not an option. If someone cannot afford to work with you they can start by using your free content like posts, podcasts, free downloads etc which can help with their transformation. Prada doesn’t negotiate neither should you!!!
First and foremost, Know your worth and be confident in presenting it to your clients. This will give you leverage in the negotiation process. Do your research on the client and industry to understand their budget and needs & tailor your fee proposal accordingly. Next, be open to compromise. Negotiation is a give and take process, so be prepared to make some concessions. Always have a bottom line and do not settle for less than your worth. It's important to clearly communicate your fees and the services you provide. This will avoid any misunderstandings or misinterpretations. Lastly, be professional and maintain a positive attitude throughout the negotiation. Remember, the goal is to reach a mutually beneficial agreement.
Another factor to consider when negotiating fees is the market rate for life coaching services. You can do some research online, by looking at websites, directories, or platforms that list life coaches and their fees. You can also network with other life coaches in your niche or area and ask them about their pricing strategies and challenges. You don't have to match the market rate exactly, but you should have a range that reflects the average and the outliers.
While it's important to have a standard fee structure that reflects your value and the market, you also need to be flexible and creative when negotiating with clients. Different clients may have different needs, budgets, preferences, and expectations. You can offer them options and alternatives that suit their situation and still benefit you. For example, you can offer discounts for referrals, testimonials, or packages. You can also offer payment plans, sliding scales, or bartering arrangements. You can also adjust your services, such as the length, frequency, or mode of your sessions.
As a life coach it is important to develop transparent fee structures. Create different coaching packages or service tiers with clearly defined deliverables, duration, and pricing. This way, clients can easily understand the value they will receive at each price point. Transparent fee structures help build trust and professionalism in your coaching practice.
When you negotiate fees with clients, you may encounter some objections or resistance. This is normal and not a sign of rejection or failure. You need to handle these objections gracefully and respectfully, without getting defensive or desperate. You can use techniques such as empathizing, clarifying, reframing, or validating to address the concerns of your clients and show them the value of your services. You can also use stories, testimonials, or examples to illustrate your points and build trust.
When it's a specific objection, dive as deep as you can since the majority of the time there's a much deeper fear for them. With patience, address each objection one at a time and check in with them to see if they've been resolved. If your offer simply isn't accepted (even AFTER handling objections) remember it's not a personal rejection, that just means you're not a good fit for them.
The final step in negotiating fees with clients is asking for the sale. This means making a clear and direct request for the client to commit to your services and pay your fees. You can do this by summarizing the benefits of working with you, highlighting the urgency or scarcity of the opportunity, and suggesting a specific action or next step. You can also use a trial close, such as asking for their opinion or feedback, to gauge their readiness and interest. Don't be afraid to ask for the sale, as this shows your confidence and professionalism.
Give yourself grace if you're not comfortable selling yourself! This is a skill and mindset the majority of us were not taught in school, so we need to be patient and understanding that it takes time getting comfortable asking a potential client to sign up. Practice really makes perfect here and you'll learn the right and wrong ways (especially for you, personally) to ask for those sales.