Photo courtesy of Rawen Balmaña and Flickr
Back in the 1980s (during an era of high unemployment in the UK), standup comedian Kevin Day told a joke that went like this:
Kevin went into the Job Centre and the bloke said, “What job would you like?” Kevin told him, “I want to be an astronaut.” The bloke looked at him and said, “Don’t take the piss” to which Kevin replied, “You started it!”
I feel like I might be opening myself to a similar response when I say, “You can earn as much as you like”, but it’s worth taking a few minutes to see what I mean.
I first talked about it this way on my “Keys to signing up a £50,000 coaching client” masterclass the other day, and it’s a really simple way to figure out how you’re going to make the salary you want to. It also illustrates quite neatly why the decks are stacked against you if you charge by the hour. Here goes:
A = How much you’d like to earn in a year (E.g. £50,000)
B = How much you charge for an hour (E.g. £50/hr)
C = The number of client-hours you require (E.g. 1000 hours)
So for example, if you want to earn £50,000 this year (A) and your hourly rate is £50 (B) then you need to find people who are willing to buy 1000 hours (C) from you to reach that goal.
Now let’s look at a different approach. People typically will only pay for 4 things:
– The results they want to experience
– The transformations they want to go through
– The way they want to feel
– The stories that align with their values
If you stop and think about it, most employees are getting paid to provide one or more of those things. But they’re getting paid for their time rather than for a result.
Now let’s look at this from an alternative perspective. For this example, I’ll use one of my clients who’s a coach, but it could just as easily apply to a building contractor, a personal trainer, a business consultant or an accountant. Basically, any role where you’re creating value for another person.
Christina Cooper recently took part in the Thriving Coaches Blueprint programme and transitioned from an hourly model to a package model. She’s enrolled a couple of clients on packages, the most recent one being for six months at £2,500. Let’s do the math using this model.
A = How much you’d like to earn in a year (E.g. £50,000)
B = How much you charge for an hour (E.g. £50/hr)
C = The number of client-hours you require (E.g. 1000 hours)
D = A package price based on results (E.g. £2500)
E = How many client-packages do you require? (E.g. 20)
So for example, if you want to earn £50,000 this year (A) and your package price is £2500 (D) then 20 clients would have to buy packages from you to reach that goal.
And there’s a world of difference between finding 20 people who are right for you to work with, VS finding hundreds of people who are willing to buy a few hours from you.
Not only that, but when a client signs up for a package, they’re *more* invested and committed to getting the results that matter to them.
Of course, this relies on you finding out what your clients truly value, and cultivating your ability to help them get, create or experience that.
Are you up for playing? You might be amazed at what becomes clear to you when you do this simple exercise.
A = How much would? like to earn in a year
B = How much you charge for an hour?
C = How many client hours would you require?
D = What’s a package price you’d like to charge at this point?
E = How many client-packages do you require?
I know this will require a tiny amount of maths, but I think you might be amazed when you take 5 minutes and play the game.
And here’s the thing. It can take some courage to look squarely at life and decide to take ownership of your ability to generate income, based on the difference you make to others. But once you’ve done it, you’ll be amazed at how empowering it can be.
By the way, we opened the doors for the Thriving Coaches Blueprint on Friday and the first 16 places have already gone. We expect it to be fully booked by the time the doors close this Friday April 13th so if you’d like to be considered for a place, here’s how you’ll know if you’re a good fit:
– You are a coach, therapist or change-worker (Eg. Sports coach, psychotherapist, hypnotherapist, business coach, bodyworker, consultant etc)
– You have some experience of working with clients (either paid, pro-bono or both)
– You want to use a “coaching package” model to increase your income
– You have room to work with at least one longer term contract client, starting in May 2018
– You want to take your practice to the next level in 2018, and are willing to put step out of your comfort zone if necessary, and
– You have a coachable spirit
If that’s you, then hit reply to this email and type “I’m interested in TCB” and a member of my team will reach out to you. If you want to find out more about it, you can get the details here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/thriving/
Big love
Jamie
Jamie Smart
Sunday Times Bestselling Author, Speaker and Executive Coach
PLUS: Whenever you’re ready… here are 4 ways I can help you get the clarity and results that matter to you:
1. Hire me to speak at your event
If you want an entertaining and impactful keynote speech or breakout session for your conference, offsite or town hall meeting, click here
2. Join the Profitable Coaches Group
Join the Profitable Coaches Professional Group and connect with the growing community of like-minded transformation professionals who are passionate about exponentially increasing their grounding, impact and their livelihood. You can join for free here
3. Join Chip Chipman, Jan Chipman and me in Tenerife
Each year, my team and I head off to the Canary Islands for a week with my dear friends, colleagues and mentors Jan and Chip Chipman for the Clarity Life Transformation Retreat. We spend 5 days diving deep into the principles behind clarity, and lives transform in the process. If you’d like to find out more about it, go to https://www.jamiesmart.com/clarity-retreat/
4. The Thriving Coaches Blueprint
We’re putting together a new practice-building case study group at The Thriving Coaches Blueprint in April. If you’d like to work with me and my team on growing your practice, you can find out more here: https://www.jamiesmart.com/thriving/
PLUS: check these out :
Get your free Profitable Coaches Scorecard book here
Listen to the Results Mindset Podcast here
Listen to The Profitable Coaches Podcast here
Read the first 2 chapters of my Sunday Times Bestseller RESULTS: Think Less, Achieve More here