Solo Revolution

When I first started out as a coach and consultant, I had no idea what to charge. On my very first strategic retreat, I charged $2,500 – and today I wouldn’t do something like that for less than $25,000.

If you were to graph the fees coaches and consultants charge vs. their expertise and true value, you wouldn’t get a straight line. You’d get more of a scatter plot.

Why? The answer is that many coaches and consultants have “low pricing self-esteem.” They don’t know what they are worth, and they don’t know how to ask for what they are worth.

There are certain things that those of us making in the high six- and seven figures every year know how to do that others do not.

Here are just a few examples of our best practices:

-        We know how to ask deep questions to understand how much the prospect’s pain is really costing them, their boss, their employees, their unit, and their company – and then charging based on those costs.

-        We only take on clients where we know we can provide a 5-10 times return on investment on our fees.

-        We refuse to quote, or charge, based on an hourly rate.

-        We focus on outcomes, not on the number of hours required to do the job.

-        We never lower our prices. We might negotiate terms or reduce scope, but we don’t lower our prices.

-        We are comfortable getting a “no.” In fact, we don’t want to win 100% of the engagements we pursue, because that means we are charging too low.

-        We regularly raise our rates as we bring more value and expertise to what we do.

-        We have no problem looking a prospect in the eye and quoting a high price.

How is your pricing self-esteem? One thing we work on with Solo Revolution is how to charge what you are worth, and not be afraid to ask for it.