Put 'Em Up!

If you're still unsure as to whether you should let people know the pricing of your coaching services up front, I'll present some conclusive evidence for you so you can make an informed decision.

Well, in the words of the Cowardly Lion in the Wizard of Oz (played by Bert Lahr in the original 1939 film) it's clear:

Put 'em up. Put 'em up!

Please understand that I don't necessarily mean to increase the amount - just display the figure - though you can do both if you deliver more in return ;-)

I conducted a survey of subscribers to this newsletter to hear your views on how and when to display pricing. 49 subscribers have responded so far (thank you if you took part) and the input has been both enlightening and change inducing for my practice.

Here is a summary of the results obtained to date:

Over 81% of respondents said they prefer to know prices up front.

Over 77% said that they would be more likely to enquire about coaching services if pricing was clearly displayed up front.

I've been in practice for over 5 years and have always left pricing until the last minute. (I'm also the king of procrastinators so that's not so surprising!).

Some of the comments made literally shocked me. For example:

"I never contact people who refuse to display their prices."

"I did go to your website, considering using you but the lack of prices made me uncertain what to budget, so I backed off."

"If I don't know the figure, I just switch off."

Note that I've not been intentionally trying to push people away from enquiring about my services but that's precisely what's been happening in some cases. That's how it's been perceived by the only people who count - the target market.

Do you want more or less people being willing to enquire about using your coaching services? More right? Then you know what to do!

So, I've decided to display prices clearly up front and give people the information they are looking for when they are looking for it. They can then have the information to decide if they want to investigate things further.

To see an example of how I now deal with pricing in my practice, you can have a look at:

http://www.authenticpractice.com/practicestarter.htm

So what can you learn from this?

Whenever deliberating on making a significant change in your coaching practice, ask your prospects and clients what they think. Their input will be invaluable as they are ultimately the people who respond to any changes you make. So ask them!

Also, don't get too attached to your own beliefs about how things should be done in your practice. Remember that the customer is always right!

By the way, here's a useful tool that allows you to send out questionnaires to ask prospects and clients for their input. Provided you have less than 100 respondents to your questionnaire, it won't cost you a bean either:

http://www.surveymonkey.com

So, are you going to put 'em up?

With very best wishes,

Shaun

Authentic Practice
helping coaches to get more clients
45 Capitol Court
Old Coach Road
Wollaton
Nottingham
NG8 1GX

Website: http://www.authenticpractice.com

Tel.: (0115) 928 3070 or (0845) 123 5105
Mobile: (07811) 262 111

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I work with coaches who have a strong desire to help others but are currently struggling to get clients. I help them to attract more clients and create a stable coaching practice to make a difference in the world.

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