The Pitfalls of the Hourly Coaching Model

Charging by the hour can feel safe and simple, but for executive functioning coaching, it often creates more problems than it solves. Here’s why many successful coaching businesses move beyond this model:

• Income Cap: There are only so many hours in the day. Your earning potential becomes directly tied to the time you spend, not the expertise you bring or the results you help achieve.
• Client Focus on Time: Hourly rates train clients to think about the cost per minute rather than the outcome. This can lead to anxiety about exceeding time, rushing sessions, or underestimating the total investment required for meaningful change.
• Undermining Value: Coaching provides lasting skills and transformations – improved grades, better organizational habits, reduced stress. An hourly rate reduces this significant value proposition to a simple time-for-money exchange.
• Difficult Sales Conversations: Presenting an hourly rate can feel transactional. Clients might ask for discounts on time or struggle to budget when the total cost is uncertain, making the sales process less confident and professional.
• Administrative Burden: Tracking time meticulously for every client adds unnecessary administrative overhead.

Defining Value in Executive Functioning Coaching

Moving from hourly vs value pricing coaching requires clearly defining the value you provide. Value isn’t just the time spent; it’s the transformation, the results, and the long-term impact you have on a student’s academic and personal life. What specific outcomes do you deliver?

Think about the tangible and intangible benefits:

• Tangible: Improved grades, successful completion of long-term projects (e.g., college applications, research papers), better test scores, organized binders/digital files, reduced missed assignments.
• Intangible: Increased confidence, reduced anxiety around schoolwork, improved time management skills, stronger executive functioning skills (planning, prioritizing, task initiation, organization, self-monitoring), greater independence in learning.

Value-based pricing starts by quantifying these results and structuring your offerings around achieving specific milestones or transformations, rather than simply selling blocks of your time.

Designing Your Coaching Packages

Packaging your executive functioning coaching services allows you to align your price with the value delivered and provide clients with clarity on the scope and investment. Consider structuring packages around common client needs, specific timeframes (like a semester or school year), or defined outcomes.

Common packaging strategies include:

• Tiered Packages: Offer 2-4 levels (e.g., ‘Foundation’, ‘Progress’, ‘Mastery’) with increasing levels of support, session frequency, or included resources (e.g., parent check-ins, communication with school staff, specific digital tools).
  • Example: A ‘Foundation’ package might include an initial assessment + 8 weekly sessions + 1 parent consultation. A ‘Progress’ package might include assessment + 16 bi-weekly sessions + regular parent/school communication.
• Outcome-Based Packages: Focus on achieving a specific goal within a set timeframe. While coaching guarantees are complex, you can package the process designed to achieve a common outcome.
  • Example: A ‘College Application Executive Functioning Bootcamp’ package including a set number of sessions and deliverables focused specifically on planning, organizing, and executing the application process.
• Bundling: Combine individual coaching sessions with other valuable components like resources, workshops, or access to software.

Clearly define what is included in each package. This makes it easier for clients to choose and reduces questions or scope creep later.

Calculating Costs and Setting Package Prices

Setting package prices isn’t just multiplying your old hourly rate by the number of hours you think it will take. It requires understanding your costs and the value you provide.

1. Calculate Your Business Costs: Itemize all your operating expenses (software subscriptions, marketing, insurance, rent, etc.). Determine your total monthly or annual costs.
2. Determine Your Desired Profit Margin: What profit do you need your business to generate after covering costs?
3. Estimate Time Investment Per Package: While you’re moving away from selling time, you still need to know roughly how much time you will invest in delivering each package (sessions, preparation, communication, admin).
4. Research Market Rates: Understand what similar executive functioning coaching services in your area or niche are charging for comparable value or outcomes.
5. Assess Perceived Value: How much is the outcome of your coaching truly worth to a family? What problem are you solving? (e.g., The stress of failing grades, the potential for college scholarships, future career success).
6. Price for Profit and Value: Your price should cover your costs, contribute to profit, and reflect the significant value delivered. Don’t be afraid to price confidently based on the transformation you enable. A ‘Semester Support’ package might be priced at $3,000 - $6,000+, depending on frequency, duration, and included services, far exceeding the sum of hourly rates.

Testing different price points and packages is crucial. Pay attention to client feedback and acceptance rates.

Presenting Packages and Closing Deals

How you present your packages is as important as the packages themselves. Avoid sending static PDFs or spreadsheets that require back-and-forth emails to clarify options.

Consider using a modern, interactive method to showcase your tiered packages, optional add-ons (like extra parent sessions or specialized workshops), and payment plans. This is where tools specifically designed for presenting pricing shine.

While comprehensive CRM or proposal tools like HubSpot (https://www.hubspot.com), Salesforce (https://www.salesforce.com), PandaDoc (https://www.pandadoc.com), or Proposify (https://www.proposify.com) offer robust features including contracts and e-signatures, they can be complex and expensive if your primary need is a better pricing presentation.

If your focus is specifically on streamlining the pricing selection process for clients, a dedicated tool like PricingLink (https://pricinglink.com) offers a unique advantage. PricingLink allows you to create interactive, configurable pricing links (like ‘pricinglink.com/links/*’) that clients can explore. They can select packages, choose add-ons, and see the total investment update in real-time. This provides transparency, saves you time explaining options, and offers a professional, modern experience.

Using a tool that allows clients to easily see their options and make selections can significantly simplify the sales conversation and improve conversion rates when discussing your hourly vs value pricing coaching shift.