Before we talk numbers, one observation: the price you put on your coaching isn't just a number. It's a strategic decision that defines who you attract, the caliber of client you work with, and how much you can invest in your own professional growth.

And yet most coaches decide it in five minutes, looking at what others charge on Instagram, and picking a price that "feels comfortable."

That comfortable price is exactly the problem.

Why you're undercharging (and it's not what you think)

The most common reasons I hear when I work with coaches who want to raise their prices:

They all sound reasonable. None of them is real.

The real reason, almost always, is a single one: you haven't internalized the value you create.

When a client comes out of a coaching process with you and lands a job that pays $15,000 more per year for the next five years, you've created $75,000 of value for them. Is charging $1,500 for that process expensive? It's a bargain.

The problem is that you're measuring your work in hours. Your client is measuring it in consequences.

The 3 most common pricing strategies (and which one is right for you)

1. By the hour (the worst way to start)

$50/hour, $80/hour, $120/hour.

Pros: simple, easy to understand, low friction for clients who just want a single session.

Cons: it punishes you for being efficient. If you solve a problem in one session that would take another coach five, you earn less. And clients start counting minutes.

When to use it: one-off sessions, quick resume reviews, orientation calls. Not for full programs.

2. By fixed package (the sweet spot)

E.g., "8-week program: $1,200" or "Resume + LinkedIn + 3 sessions: $600"

Pros: you align your price with the outcome, not the time. Your client buys a transformation, not an hour. It lets you improve your efficiency without a penalty.

Cons: it requires you to be clear about what you deliver and in what timeframe. If you drag it out, you lose margin.

When to use it: processes of 4+ sessions, career transformations, deep changes. This is where most coaches should be.

3. By outcome or success fee

E.g., "I charge $2,000 + 5% of the new salary in the first year if you land a job within 90 days"

Pros: the client pays only if it works. It builds high trust. It sets you apart from the competition.

Cons: it requires experience to predict outcomes. It only works if you're working with clients who are actively searching and have competitive profiles. Tricky to manage from a tax and accounting standpoint.

When to use it: once you already have 50+ clients of track record and can screen well who enters the program.

The formula for setting your price

Forget about looking at the competition. Start with yourself:

Step 1: Define your monthly income goal. Let's say $4,000/month (after taxes, in your pocket).

Step 2: Subtract your costs. Platform, tools, training, marketing, accounting. Let's say $800/month.

Gross target: $4,800/month.

Step 3: Decide how many hours you want to work. Not "how many you can." How many you want to. If you want 20 hours of effective coaching a week (which is already a ton, believe me), that's 80 hours/month.

Step 4: Divide. $4,800 / 80h = $60/hour minimum.

But careful: that $60/hour only holds if every one of your hours is billable. The reality: for every hour of session, there are 30-45 minutes of prep, notes, follow-up, and messages. Your real hour is 1.5 hours.

Realistic minimum price per 60-minute session: $90.

And that's the floor, not the ceiling. If your positioning is premium or your niche pays well (executives, tech seniors, international), the price should be $150-300/session or the equivalent in a package.

The 3 most common mistakes when raising prices

1. Raising 20% gradually

It doesn't work. People who paid $50 aren't going to pay $60 because "it feels the same." Either you move to a genuinely different price ($50 → $120) or you're not changing anything.

2. Raising prices without changing your positioning

If your LinkedIn says "Career Coach passionate about human development" and your package costs $1,500, there's dissonance. Premium prices need positioning that justifies them: a clear niche, visible success stories, authority in your content.

3. Justifying the price

When someone asks your price and you answer with a paragraph explaining everything it includes, you've already lost. The response of a coach with a firm price:

"The program costs $1,500. It includes 8 sessions, a resume and LinkedIn review, and support by message between sessions. Want to see whether it makes sense for your situation?"

Statement. Period. Question. You don't justify. You don't apologize. You don't hand out discounts before anyone asks for them.

How to communicate a price increase to existing clients

If you already have clients paying a low price and you want to raise it:

  1. Give advance notice (at least 30 days)
  2. Be direct, no apologies: "Starting [date], the program price becomes X. For current clients, I'll keep the previous price until [date]."
  3. Don't lower the price if they push back. The client who negotiates your price is rarely the one who values your work.
  4. Accept that you'll lose a few. It's part of the process. The ones who leave are the ones who didn't fit the new version of your business.

The uncomfortable truth

The price you charge is the most honest mirror of your professional self-worth.

It has nothing to do with how much you're worth as a coach — we already know that. It has to do with how much you've allowed yourself to internalize that value. How many times you've said "what I charge is fair" without mentally apologizing.

Raising prices is inner work before it's outer work. And almost always, the day you dare to charge what you're worth, the clients who show up are different. Better. More committed. Easier.

Not because the price filters them. Because the price changes you first.

P.S.: If one of your clients asks how much to request in their next interview, you can share the Pathway salary calculator with them.