Don’t be a commodity when setting your rates

Are you having trouble setting your fees? For some of my clients it’s not easy to set a proper fee. You might hear yourself wondering things like, “Who do I think I am charging that much?”

Let me share something that has really worked for me. This strategy changed my life when I started noticing how much I did not want to become a commodity. This is such an important stance to take about your fees and your business, I want you to say this out loud right now. “I do not want to become a commodity!”

Particularly in the field of coaching, potential clients may talk to several coaches and ask how much they charge per hour. They are trying to compare pricing, thinking each coach is the same, but what you offer can be very different. So that is not how you want to be seen!

The solution for me was to create packages and programs instead of the “by the session” kind of fee structure. The idea is to blur the lines so prospects can’t really tell what you charge per hour. This shift was miraculous for me.

Years ago I was charging a fee for a certain number of coaching hours per month. But my dream was to have fewer clients and be able to spend more time with them. To make my dream possible, I needed to double my fee. That triggered all my issues. “Who am I to do this? Will I really give them that much value that they’ll pay me this amount?” You get the idea of what floated through my head.

I decided I didn’t want the people who were price shopping. That’s when the idea popped into my head to create a program instead of my hourly fee to blur the lines. So clients would get a fixed amount of phone time, but they also got email access, the home study system, five minute check-ins by phone, a three hour in-person meeting at my office and other materials!

Blurring the lines helped people see incredible value with all the materials and access so they couldn’t tell how much I charged by the hour. When you do this too, you can make more money and prevent people from comparing your rates.

Your Client Attraction Assignmentr
If you are still charging by the hour, I recommend you shift to packages. The only way out of the hourly rate trap is by creating more value in how people work with you. Spend time this week thinking about all the different ways you can work with people and add value so you can avoid the commodity pricing mindset prospects can have.