Why Discovery Calls Are Essential for Value-Based Pricing

Moving beyond simple hourly billing in 2025 is key for many online coaching businesses. Value-based pricing, which ties your fee to the results you help clients achieve, is often far more profitable and sustainable.

But you can’t determine the value you’ll provide without understanding the client’s current situation, goals, challenges, and motivations. A structured discovery call provides this crucial insight. It allows you to:

• Uncover the client’s specific problems and pain points (e.g., lack of consistency, specific health conditions, performance plateaus).
• Quantify their desired outcomes (e.g., lose 20 lbs, run a marathon, build sustainable habits, increase energy levels).
• Understand their past experiences and what hasn’t worked.
• Assess their readiness to commit time, effort, and resources.
• Build rapport and establish trust as a knowledgeable guide.

Without this deep dive, you’re guessing at the client’s needs and the value of solving them, making it nearly impossible to set a price that feels fair to both parties and maximizes your revenue.

Key Information to Gather During Your Discovery Call

To effectively use the discovery call set online coaching price approach, your questions must be strategic. Focus on open-ended questions that encourage the prospect to share openly. Here are critical areas to explore:

1. Current Situation: What are they doing now regarding their fitness or coaching goals? What does a typical day or week look like? What challenges are they currently facing?
2. Desired Future State: What specific, measurable outcomes are they hoping to achieve? What does success look and feel like to them? By when do they want to achieve this?
3. Motivation & Urgency: Why now? What happens if they don’t address this problem? What’s their motivation level?
4. Past Experiences: What have they tried before (diets, gyms, other coaches)? What worked, and what didn’t? Why did it fail?
5. Resources & Constraints: What time commitment can they realistically make? What’s their budget range? (Approach budget sensitively, often later in the call after establishing value).
6. Decision-Making Process: Who else is involved in the decision? What is their timeline for starting?

Actively listen and take detailed notes. The language they use to describe their problems and desires can often be mirrored back to them when presenting your solution and pricing.

Connecting Insights to Service Packaging and Value

Once you’ve gathered information, the next step is to connect their specific needs and goals to the solutions you offer. This is where you tailor your service packages.

• Identify the Core Problem: Based on the call, what is the single biggest challenge the client faces?
• Map to Your Solution: Which of your services, methods, or program components directly address this core problem and their desired outcome?
• Quantify Value: Help the client see the value of achieving their goal. This isn’t just about weight loss; it could be increased confidence, more energy for family, reduced health risks, improved athletic performance, etc. Use their own words from the discovery call.
• Build a Recommended Package: Structure your offer based on what you believe is necessary to get them from their current state to their desired state. This might include a specific number of coaching sessions, a tailored plan, access to resources, accountability check-ins, etc.
• Create Tiers or Options: Often, the discovery call reveals varying levels of need or budget. Structure your services into tiered packages (e.g., ‘Foundation’ for basic support, ‘Transformation’ for comprehensive coaching, ‘Elite’ for high-touch). This uses pricing psychology (anchoring and choice architecture) and allows clients to self-select based on their commitment level and budget. Adding optional ‘add-ons’ (like extra sessions, specialized assessments) can also increase average deal value.

Avoid presenting a generic list of services. Instead, present a recommended path forward, explaining why this specific package or tier is the best fit for them based on what you discussed in the discovery call. This reinforces the value and personalization.

Presenting Your Pricing After the Discovery Call

While some coaches discuss a general pricing range during the call, it’s often more effective to present your tailored solution and specific price after the call. This allows you time to synthesize the information, build the optimal package, and present it clearly without the pressure of being on the spot.

Here’s how you can approach presenting pricing:

• Follow Up Promptly: Send a summary of your understanding of their needs and a tailored proposal/pricing options within 24 hours.
• Reiterate Value: Start the presentation by briefly restating their problem and desired outcome, demonstrating you listened.
• Present the Solution: Clearly outline the recommended package, explaining what they get and why it’s designed to help them achieve their goals.
• Introduce Pricing Clearly: Present the investment required. If offering tiers, show the options side-by-side, highlighting the differences and the value increases at higher tiers. Use clear, easy-to-understand language.
• Break Down the Value, Not Just the Cost: Frame the price in terms of the transformation or outcome. Instead of saying ‘$1500 for 12 weeks’, say ‘An investment of $1500 for 12 weeks to achieve [Desired Outcome], which breaks down to just $125 per week for dedicated support and a proven plan.’ This uses framing to make the price feel less daunting.

For presenting these tailored, potentially complex pricing options (like tiers, one-time setup fees, recurring payments, or optional add-ons), traditional static documents (PDFs, emails) can be confusing. A tool designed for interactive pricing can be highly effective. PricingLink (https://pricinglink.com) allows you to create shareable links where clients can see different tiers, select options, and see the total price update instantly. This provides transparency and a modern, professional experience. While PricingLink doesn’t handle the full proposal or e-signature process (for that, you might look at comprehensive tools like PandaDoc (https://www.pandadoc.com) or Proposify (https://www.proposify.com)), its laser focus on the pricing presentation piece makes it excellent for clear, configurable quotes that filter leads and can increase average deal value.

Structuring Your Pricing After Discovery

Based on the discovery call, you might structure your online coaching pricing using these models:

• Tiered Packages: Offer 2-4 distinct packages based on access level, frequency of check-ins, program depth, or communication channels (e.g., Bronze, Silver, Gold; Basic, Premium, VIP). The discovery call helps you recommend the most appropriate tier.
• Program-Based Pricing: Create fixed-price programs for specific durations or outcomes (e.g., ‘12-Week Fat Loss Accelerator’ for $X, ‘Marathon Prep Coaching - 16 Weeks’ for $Y). This aligns well with value-based pricing.
• Hybrid Models: Combine a base retainer fee with optional add-ons for extra support, specialized assessments, or one-off calls. This allows clients to customize their investment.
• Initial Assessment Fee: Charge a separate, one-time fee for the initial assessment or deep-dive strategy session ($150-$300 example). This respects your time and filters out non-serious inquiries.

Remember to calculate your costs (time, software, education) and desired profit margin when setting prices. Your discovery call insights help you determine the market’s willingness to pay based on the perceived value of the outcome you help them achieve.