Module 3: Packaging Your Offer
Sessions vs programs, pricing from math instead of fear, and everything that goes inside the package. This is where coaching becomes a business instead of a hobby.
Why programs beat single sessions
Selling single sessions is selling the hardest product in coaching. Every session is a new sales conversation, the client has no commitment so they drift, and you're forever filling next week's calendar. A program — say, twelve weeks with a clear arc — flips all of it: one sale, committed client, and a container long enough for real change to happen.
Programs also produce better outcomes, which is the honest reason to prefer them. Nobody transforms in a single hour. Change needs repetition, accountability between sessions, and time for new patterns to stick. When you sell a program, you're selling the conditions for the result — and you can charge for the result, not the hour.
Structure a starter program simply: 8 or 12 weekly sessions, 60 minutes each, with a clear promise tied to your niche ("by week 12 you'll have X"). Add between-session support — a messaging channel where clients can reach you — and one resource per phase. That's a complete package. You can elaborate later; launch with this.
Sessions vs programs
Build brief
Programs or single sessions — which will you sell first, and why? Write your honest reasoning in three sentences.
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Pricing from math, not fear
Here's the math, and it takes thirty seconds. Annual income goal, divided by working weeks (say 46), divided by clients you can genuinely serve at once (start with 8–10). That's your per-client program price. $80,000 ÷ 46 ÷ 10 = roughly $1,740 per client for a 12-week program. That's not a guess — it's arithmetic. Write your numbers down before you read another word.
New coaches typically land between $1,500 and $3,000 for a first program, or $100–$200 per single session if they insist on sessions. Those are starting ranges, not ceilings — coaches with demand and proof raise steadily from there. The only wrong price is one chosen from insecurity: too low and you resent the work, attract bargain-hunters, and burn out serving too many people.
Your first five clients get a founding rate — say 30% off your math price — in exchange for testimonials and honest feedback. That's not discounting from fear; it's a deliberate trade. After five, the training wheels come off: full price, and you raise it every time your calendar fills. Price follows demand, not the other way around.
Arithmetic, not insecurity
Pricing from math
Build brief
Do the price math right now: your income goal, working weeks, clients at once. What per-client price does the math give you?
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What's inside the package
Write the package down like a menu, because clarity sells. Sessions: how many, how long, how often. Support: what happens between sessions — a messaging channel with a stated response time ("within one business day"), not 24/7 access to your brain. Resources: worksheets, templates, or recordings matched to each phase. Policies: payment terms, the missed-session rule, and how pauses work. Every ambiguity you leave becomes a difficult conversation later.
Two policies deserve special attention. The missed-session rule: sessions cancelled with less than 24 hours' notice are forfeited, not rescheduled — this single line eliminates 90% of flakiness. And the messaging boundary: clients get thoughtful async support, not instant chat. You're their coach, not their on-call employee. State both in writing before money changes hands.
Finally, the guarantee question. Don't promise outcomes you can't control ("I'll get you promoted"). Do promise process you can control ("if you do the work and don't feel it's working by session four, I'll refund the remainder"). That kind of guarantee converts skeptics without betting your rent on someone else's effort.
Clarity sells
Promise process, not outcomes
| Policy | Don't promise | Do promise |
|---|---|---|
| Guarantee | “I'll get you promoted” | Refund the remainder by session four if it is not working |
| Missed sessions | Reschedule endlessly | Under 24 hours' notice: forfeited |
| Messaging | Instant chat access | Thoughtful async, one business day |
Build brief
List everything in your package: session count and length, between-session support, resources, and your two key policies.
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Two new coaches set prices. Dana picks $497 because "it feels safe and nobody will say no." Priya does the income math and lands on $1,800 for a 12-week program. Who's set up better, and why?
Your turn: Offer builder: program length and session count, your price math (goal ÷ weeks ÷ clients), everything in the package, your missed-session policy, and your guarantee wording.
Saved.
Your next 24 hours
Do your price math on paper today: income goal, working weeks, clients at once. Write the resulting per-client price somewhere you'll see it daily until it stops feeling scary.
Steal this template
MY PROGRAM PACKAGE
Program: ___ weeks, ___ sessions x ___ min
Price: $___ (math: $___ goal / ___ wks / ___ clients)
Between sessions: ___ (response within ___).
Missed sessions: ___
Guarantee: ___
Module 3 cheat sheet
- One clear program outsells a confusing menu every time.
- Price math: income goal ÷ working weeks ÷ clients at once = per-client price.
- Starter ranges: $1,500–$3,000 per program, or $100–$200 per session.
- First five clients get a founding rate in exchange for testimonials.
- Missed-session rule in writing: under 24h notice = forfeited.
- Guarantee the process, never the outcome.