A friend of mine, an executive coach, had an enquiry from a big law firm. Would he be interested in coaching some of their senior people? Of course he would, but then came the question we all dread: what is your hourly rate?

Normally, we want to avoid hourly rates at all costs, but lawyers are so wedded to the concept of the billable hour in their own work that it would be a lost cause to try anything different. 

Instead, I suggested these words:

“My hourly rate for coaching is the same as the hourly rate of the lawyer I’m coaching”

This seems so reasonable that it would be perverse for anyone to disagree, but the result was that my friend started coaching senior lawyers for £500 per hour while another coach we know, just as good, struggles to get beyond £200 per hour because he works with industrial companies whose executives don’t have hourly rates. Imagine what a difference that made my friend’s practice, and what it would make to yours.

But, you may say, “this is a great little trick for coaching for lawyers, but I don’t do coaching, or don’t work with lawyers, so how does it help me?”

It helps you because it contains a principle which can be extended to the pricing of any form of professional service. And is rooted in human basic psychology.

To find out more, download the How To Make Any Price Seem Reasonable Action Guide from here.