Why Is Coaching so expensive?

AND Is Coaching actually a MLM scheme?

Per the internet, MLM is an individual selling a product to another individual by direct sales or word of mouth. The end goal is to promote the maximum number of distributors and maximize the sales force and the product getting out.

As a female, I can think of countless beauty products, essential oils and clothing lines (Netflix: LuLaRoe) where a few people get very rich, selling to other people, to get them to sell to the consumer (or to other people to get them to sell, etc. etc. etc.).

Right now, I’m seeing a whole lot of programs out there of coaches selling to coaches, who then sell to coaches…. (coaches can be interchangeable with whatever your entrepreneur journey is).

Why Is Coaching so Expensive?

Honestly. Because it’s worth it. It’s one of the only ways to truly change your beliefs and patterns. It’s very difficult to recognize your patterning and your potential, on your own and then take the action to change, what is so engrained and familiar in you.

And the snarky response? I partially blame Jen Sincero’s, You Are a Badass Book. In this #1 best-seller, she claims she was down and out, could barely make rent and met this coach who would teach her all the tricks if she paid, borrowed, or begged to get the $15,000 price tag to work with her. 

Which she did all the above. 

Because of this (plus, I’m guessing a lot of action she took) her business, her brand, her book, sky rocketed from there.

And YES! it was all true! It worked! 

(ps. I’m working off of memory from reading this book years ago, so don’t quote me on the price point or what other potentially valuable information is in the book that my brain did not retain).

But, does this set up a poor belief system for the rest of us?

I have heard of many who site this book when they took a huge financial leap to work with somebody, that unfortunately, did not end so well. 

Yes, I’m guessing they definitely jumped, got new contracts, tried something new, got out of their comfort zone. 

I’m curious, was it worth the price tag?  

I don’t know.  You don’t know.  I guess the only person who does is the one who took the course and, unless it’s a glowing testimonial/review, we probably aren’t hearing from the other side.  

As an Executive Coach, I know that it ain’t cheap to work with me. 

You need some skin in the game to create change. In order to have someone in your corner, holding you accountable and helping you to discriminate between what is important to you and what isn’t. 

Just like a therapist or a lawyer, or your services, you are going to pay for our time — and depending on the person the fees can vary widely.

I just came off of a (paid) 3-day workshop last week where A LOT of really great information was shared. 

And during an hour long session, 5 current members of the program came online all happy and enforcing that without taking the year-long program we are about to be sold to, they would not be where they are today (4 of the 5 were in a form of a coaching business, just different flavors for it) nor would they have made the 6-figures that they do today.

So, I took up the main lady’s offer of 15-min to discuss the group program she is selling for twelve-thousand dollars. 

Now with full transparency — I really like this lady. She offered some great information and I love how she mixes pragmatic with spiritual practices, which I do as well.

I’m fully aware that $12k is a LOT of money to some and not so much to others — I’ve heard of MUCH more expensive programs, which is also what prompted this article.

And I was considering it.

Jen Sincero was in my head — do I take the leap? 

Will THIS be the thing that sky-rockets my business and get me to those elusive financially lucrative months?!

But before I get on the phone with her, on the final day — she shared her story.

Where she signed up for a $40k annual program. 

Where she lied to her husband on how much she spent, saying it was only $20k. 

Where she ate an entire cake in fear and horror at what she had done, opening 3 credit cards in order to pay for it (this doesn’t entirely add up, in that she said there was a down-payment of $4,000 — so I’m guessing she had to open those credit cards to continue making payments for the program and therefore not realizing the quick returns she is (not) promising of making your investment back in the first three months). 

And HERE she is! Earning a multiple 7-figure income ever since.

Oh, and that first coach she hired? Now BFF’s with her husband (not sure how that happened either, I’m not best friends with ANY of my clients spouses — but maybe that’s an added bonus of charging $40k)

So, I get on my 15 minute call and share that I am currently a 6-figure leadership coach who has never done any advertising, and that I want to maximize my reach in order to help more people, and I have some questions…

Q: how many people are in this program? A: 40–50 (it’s making some sense now how she gets to that 7-figure space)

Q: How many people usually show up on the calls. A: approx 20. (aka 20–30 are NOT showing up to the calls even though they are paying $1,000 a month for the pleasure to do so).

Q: Is it a program that has a start and end date or rolling? A: rolling. You can join at any time. “But if I pay the $1,000 down payment today it will lock in my spot of saving $1000 on the program and it’ll only be $11,000 for me and I can start when it’s most convenient for me!”

Q: Does the programming shift, say if I start in June or August? Would I miss out on the “sales funnel” conversation and have to wait another 12 months? A: No, there is no formula (I’m still confused by this answer, how do I benefit and build my business if I’m missing some of these integral workshops that I am potentially missing or waiting a year for?).

A without a Q: Those “other” business coaches don’t have the success I do, they are telling you what to do and then when people don’t get success they want, they are then coming to me to do it the right way.

Q: But aren’t you telling people what to do in order for them to succeed? A: Well, yes. But I have 13 years experience, corporate experience and an MBA. I know how you can get success.* (Mind you she started out as a Health Coach, selling to regular people — and then switched to being a Revenue Coach, which I’m starting to see, means selling to other coaches.)

Q: Who doesn’t succeed in your groups? A: the people who just want to pay and don’t do the work or show up.**

The entire premise of coaching vs. mentoring/consulting is: 

• As an Executive Coach, I don’t know the answers to your success, but by asking you questions and what action would light you up, then that is the direction that you take action in while being held accountable. And sharing back what worked and didn’t work, therefore shifting your future actions.

• Vs. a mentor is telling you if you do these exact steps that brought them success, then you will find success. Variability matters here — how long ago was their success? How is the world different? Are they a thought partner or tied to their way?

This program does offer 12, 1:1 sessions with a coach (not the main woman mind you — that would require you to buy 1:1 sessions with her which are MUCH MUCH more expensive than the group program — but with one of 2 coaches that have been trained by her), but I can’t confirm or deny if they are truly coaching.

** Classic blaming the person for not doing the work or taking it seriously enough. I guarantee if I talked to those people who didn’t find success in the program, some of them have done ALLLLLL the steps, but were the ones it just didn’t work for and now they are blaming themselves that they spent all that money and they are just stupid, not good enough, not worthy, insert your flavor of not-enoughness here.  

While we are at it, we also need to define what “success” is?  

I know that I’ve taken plenty of deeply transformative courses that I fully back and didn’t equate to an uptick in earning an equivalent dollar amount, so I don’t want to imply that’s the only measure of success.  Though in this course, that is the “success definition” she is offering/dangling.

Last year, I did another of these workshops (I know, I know I have a bit of a pattern) and that one turned into an offer for a $20,000 program and again, they are mostly selling to coaches in the room — who god love us, are learners. 

We want to help our clients — so if we can learn some new tricks, some new language, anything in order to help our clients achieve their goals of why they came to us in the first place, then we are in.

But that’s not what these are all about — it’s about how to sell ourselves to our clients in order to get more clients. 

Which we have to do. 

If you want visibility, you’ve got to sell yourself. Period. 

But HOW do you want to sell yourself? Do you want to feel icky, or do you want to feel like you are pushing yourself out of your comfort zone? 

I know that I, distinctly, prefer the latter.

You aren’t going to attract anyone by sitting on your couch waiting for the email to ping without putting yourself out there. 

Or if you are in the corporate world, you may not be maximizing your leadership journey if you keep doing the exact same thing you are doing today. 

You need to be doing the internal work — and coaches, entrepreneurs and those who have an affinity for their personal growth want to dive into allllll the things. We understand accountability and the need for it. We are there for the right reason and these people have figured out we are a vulnerable population to sell to, so they do.

Coaches need coaches too. We  need help getting out of our own heads, finding a new path and being held accountable. To dive deep into what’s holding us/you back or why it is you want to do the thing. Then help to insure you are doing the thing. 

That’s why coaching is impactful.

One more thing about the above woman/course, when asked about the 5 most successful steps to creating your business, it was noted that social media wasn’t on there — she said, others may teach differently, but that isn’t the way to create business, that’s only the way to create exposure. 

Now me and a bunch of other people sighed a big sigh of relief, because YES, I DON’T NEED TO DO SOCIAL MEDIA!! SHE JUST CONFIRMED THAT!!! 

But I guarantee there are many, many people who would say that is where their main growth of their business is — so if that is someones natural tendency or flavor to show up in social media and they are being told it doesn’t work — some may really be missing out in where their growth is and what their visibility edge is.

I guess my point of this is just, trust yourself. Know that it’s a business.

I don’t want to be a nay-sayer and blame anyone for making a buck. And if I was making 7-figures, I probably wouldn’t want to be in a group who had to pay $12k, I’d want to be in the $45k group or the $100k annual mastermind - as I would want to surround myself with like minded people.

This whole thing isn’t actually about how much she’s selling the course for - it could be $150 and I’d still not like the tactics being used. 

Like I said above, there were 5 people who came on line and said that joining the above was the absolute best thing they could have done for themselves and their business, that is huge in itself and what we want for our clients.

I know coaches who charge $1,000 p/hour and they are amazing. I know coaches who charge $100 an hour and they are amazing. 

Also, coaches really shouldn’t be looked at as a “hourly rate” but more about the total transformation that you are helping your client achieve. If you work with me for 6 months and your entire life changed and how you felt about your work and your career trajectory — I’m guessing the number on that worth could not be equated back to an hourly rate but actually the entire experience.

It’s the wild wild west out here. 

I just invite your due diligence, make sure they are certified, are ethical and trust your gut.

My beat it to death point here is, there are many, many, many amazing coaches out there, it’s one of the fastest growing fields right now and my belief is it’s necessary because we need the support in an ever changing landscape.

When I started as a Leadership Coach, I felt like I had to explain what I do and I was given some strange looks — now I can go to a dinner party and 3 out of 5 will tell me what they love about their coach. 

I even had one guy at a party who pulled out his assessment from his coach and we geeked out on the feedback and process.

Just know that you can work with someone who you can afford. Do your work, interview coaches, find the right one for you. 

We’re like real estate, you’ll know it when you find the right one. Promise.

And if they tell you to take out a loan, use your credit card, or that you have to say “yes” within the next 15 minutes or the offer is going away. Then run. 

Run very fast and very far away.

In all transparency, I’m sure people have paid for me with credit cards — I know it in fact — but the difference is I wasn’t the one to tell them to do it.

I don’t know about other coaches (well, I actually do know many that will agree with me) — we are in the business of helping people transform their lives. 

That could happen if you start in 15 minutes or if you start in 8 weeks or 8 years. I’ve talked to people that took years to start working with me. It doesn’t matter to me at all, YOU know when you are ready to start the work, only thing is you just might have to wait when you decide if your coach can’t fit you in.

Me forcing you to start now is, actually, discounting your intuition.

I want to start out the relationship from a place of we are equals and partners, not that I know better than you, but that I will partner with you.

Coaching is all about getting you to listen to your intuition and act upon it.

If a coach is starting out the relationship, deciding what is best for you, or bullying you into making a decision based on fear tactics or YOLO that is not going to empower you to trust your intuition in much bigger decisions as the coaching progresses. Again, RUN.

But for those of you who may have signed up for something and you're not getting what you want out of it, talk to your coach. Re-design the work and they working relationship. Ask for what you need.

If they are a good coach they should know how to pivot. 

And if they can’t, trust me, it’s not you. It’s them.

I hope you enjoyed the article, and if you’d like to hear more from me, subscribe to my monthly musings to hear about my thoughts about Leadership and navigating the unknown via tapping into your knowledge and intuition. 

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