Simply put your career coaching fees depend entirely on the career coaching you deliver. Here are three coaching models that can take you from ramen noodles to filet mignon. As always your income is driven by the results that you deliver for your client. Understand your client, their dreams, desires and talents. Then be an active agent in their achieving them, and you will be dinning on the best, and have superstars lining up to be your clients!
When Is Being a Career Coach Like Being a High School Guidance Councilor?
The answer is “most of the time”. That is when you listen to your client, what they enjoy doing and what they loath. And then consult the stars and give them pat-answers reinforced by the latest report on employment trends published by the government. Simple career coaching. Minimal career coaching fees. Ramen noodles.
Career Coaching that Takes the Measure of the Candidate
The next step up in career coaching fees comes from a look down into your client. Begin with in-depth interviews and then plumb the depths with a battery of assessments that identify the DISC personality style, value profile and natural strengths and talents of your client. Match these results with the professions where your client’s results match those of superstars. Now step back and see where your client’s visions of themselves match their heroes – probably developed from youthful recollections, books and the movies. Resolve these and assessment profiles with the “yes, I can see myself doing that” reflections. Now you, as the career coach, can make recommendations rich in meaning and possibility.
To Earn the Highest Career Coaching Fees, You must also Help to Make It Happen
That’s right high career coaching fees don’t come from just giving a little advice. You have to help make it happen. You have to help your client work out career strategies and then implement them. When your client comes up short, you have to identify disempowering beliefs and emotional blocks. You must use strategy coaching to get them past these and accountability coaching to keep them on track. And if you do, you can ask for career coaching fees that parallel the fees earned by career headhunters, which is to say, a significant percentage of your client’s executive salary. And now you are eating steak.
To learn more about how to generate an endless wave of high paying coaching clients, get your FREE Instant Access to our “Life Coaching Business Blueprint” video toolkit when you go HERE.
Dave Iuppa
JTS Advisors Strategy and Accountability Coach
Hi Jeffrey,
Life Coaching was something I looked into before it was popular.
I tend to think that you are paid what you are worth. Starting out, it is OK to do it for free, except that those who don’t pay often don’t listen to advice either.
Once you get results people will pay more, until you are forced to charge a lot of money so you can handle the clients!
My view is that what you are paid is relative to results.
Hello Jeffrey,
Sadie here in France. I have to say my views in fact echo those of John above. Coaches are naturally viewed on the results they deliver this means as a coach of any description one has to chose one’s clients carefully. After all if the client takes no action the coach has no results!
Whilst the student will always be keen to choose a good coach a coach should not agree to work with just any Louis, Jacques or Jean that comes along. Starting out many people find this concept hard to digest but after being in business a little longer people understand the concept a little better.
You see clients who are not a good fit for our businesses take up more of our time, they are often not so enjoyable to work with and ultimately result in less profit than a customer who is a good fit … so why take them on in the first place?!
As for free… the concept of free is an excellent one when done right…. but that’s a whole other topic for which I recommend the book by Chris Anderson … ‘Free the past and future of a radical price’ 🙂
Really listening to your client is what is often missing, yet it is what will pay you in the end. As with any relationship, if you don’t listen, you can’t really know what will help your client–because one size does not fit all.
Willena Flewelling
Life coaching to me is like the saying when the student is ready the teacher will appear. Having a good fit between you and a coach is so important. You have to have a good student who is open to listening to your advice. I agree with Willena that a coach should not just take anyone one as a coaching client. Better to be selective and know that you can help the person your coaching.
Jeffrey,
You are so right that in order to receive the high fees we want, we have to produce results. If a client does not achieve what they want to achieve, then why would they choose to pay a coach. Results are the key. (Just a note – check the spelling. (e.g., Counselor)
Warmly,
Dr. Erica
You make some great distinctions about coaching in this post. I have experienced all 3 in my life and by far the third is the desired choice. It costs you more but the benefits are well worth it!
Kevin