WhythePriceYouChargeChangesHowClientsBehave

There is a story from Adam Beard and Dom Hills that stuck with me. They describe a PT who was charging around £18 a session and spending most of each session on their phone. The clients who worked with this PT were, correspondingly, disengaged - not doing their homework, cancelling without notice, treating sessions as optional. The pricing and the client attitude were entirely consistent with each other.

The principle behind it

When someone pays £10 for a session, their investment in the outcome is £10 worth. When they pay £60, their investment is £60 worth. The price is not just compensation for your time - it shapes how seriously the client treats the process. A client who has paid a meaningful amount tends to show up prepared, do the work between sessions, and take feedback seriously. The financial commitment acts as an amplifier of everything else you are doing.

This is one of the reasons that new PTs who undercharge to attract clients often find themselves working harder for poorer outcomes. The clients who take low-rate sessions seriously are the exception. The ones who pay a proper rate and check out are also the exception. The price filters for a kind of commitment that makes the whole coaching relationship work better.

What this means for your rate

Setting a serious rate is not just an act of confidence. It is a service to your clients. A client who is paying enough to care about the investment is more likely to get results - which is presumably why they came to you. The PT who charges £10 out of modesty, and ends up with clients who do not do their homework and do not progress, has not done their client a favour. They have set them up for a process that does not produce the outcome they wanted.

Adam and Dom put the point directly: clients invest in people, not services. If you want clients who are invested in the process, price yourself as someone worth investing in. The clients who cannot afford a proper rate are better served in a class environment than being taken on at a rate that undermines the dynamic from the first session.

The PT on their phone

There is a second half to the story about the £18 PT. Their clients were disengaged not only because the price was low, but because the PT was visibly treating the session the same way. Price and engagement are connected in both directions - charge seriously and show up seriously, or the whole thing falls apart. The price is the beginning of the signal. The quality of your attention is how you sustain it.