What happens when you go to price your programming with horses?
Do you have thoughts like:
- I wonder what the equine facility down the road is charging?
- What if the clients don't achieve the outcomes...can I really deliver that?
- Am I charging too much, will people be able to afford this?
- Am I not charging enough?
- What in sam hill do I charge!?
So you call a buddy to see what they charge and throw out a number to just get going.
Pricing is a money dynamic in your business as are sales conversations. Pricing is the most common conunudrum I hear from equine assisted practitioners hands down.
Here's the thing - I know how it feels to be concerned about pricing programs and services with horses. When I went from conventional coaching and counseling to equine assisted coaching and counseling - I had to think about it, add in other factors. When I was in this conundrum "back in the day" there wasn't a whole lot of information out there, if any, about building and growing an equine assisted business. I did a lot of trial and error, test marketing and just plain blind guessing. Some worked out well and some not so well.
There are a lot of pricing mistakes that I made. Mistakes like:
- Allowing a client to "negotiate" the investment to work with me and the horses.
- Not having a simple agreement for the client to sign and commit to the work on themselves.
- Deciding that the people I really wanted to work with couldn't afford to work with me and the horses, so I said little to nothing to them.
- Calling my buddy that had been doing the work with horses longer than me and asking what they were charging.
- Putting out a really low price to the "yes."
- Basing my prices on the time I was with the clients (trading time for dollars.)
After quite a bit of time in over-delivery and under-charging, I was tired and feeling burnt out. I was afraid to increase my pricing because the fear that people wouldn't pay it was greater than the truth. I didn't know what I know today. I felt like I was blindfolded and guessing my way through a labyrinth. There were so many aspects to my equine assisted business that I was not considering, most of which were not tangible and therefore, not valuable...or so I thought.
There are so many "starving" equine assisted practitioners out there and bored to death horses ready and waiting to work because the money dynamics of business provokes so much fear and uncertainty.
TRUTH BOMB - You ideal clients are willing, more than willing, to invest in themselves through your offers with the horses.
Here are some tips to help you in the pricing department:
Stop trading time for dollars and establish the value proposition you and the horses are bringing to the arena of your work.
Consider that placing your prices on your website may not be the best idea.
Evaluate what goes into bringing your programming to the market...it all counts.
This is exactly what we will be covering (and so much more) in the upcoming Soleful Pricing Master Class.
Get a formula in hand that paves the way for you to confidently price your equine assisted services.
Substantiate your fees easily.
Solve the mystery of pricing your equine assisted services EASILY.
What would having all of this do for your equine assisted business?