How to set the right rate
Good trainers do not necessarily have to be economic geniuses, so setting the price for their training can become a real headache. The price will depend on the type of training (individual, inter-company, intra-company), the subject (is it conventional training or am I the expert on the subject?), or the duration (the same amount is not charged for a day, a recurring training or a ten-day training).
Should I offer big discounts on my training?
For new trainers, it can be tempting to break the market price to break through and ensure the prosperity of your business. However, this is a risky strategy because it devalues the quality of the service and does not allow for adequate remuneration. A low-cost service means spending less time on preparation and follow-up, which can translate into lower recipient satisfaction and a decrease in the customer base. And, if the trainer reacts to this decrease in activity with another price drop, he/she will enter a hellish spiral.
This being the case, it seems more opportune to find new training alternatives (e.g., a combination of in-person and virtual training) to reduce costs and allow everyone to train.
To do this, you don’t have to be a master of the digital universe or think about overly complex methods. For example, an in-person presentation can be completed with videos or interactive questionnaires that students will access from their homes.
In this way, the face-to-face time with students can be invested in sharing experiences, interacting, and working in groups, while the distance time will be used to expand information (videos, extracts from reports), propose online searches to students, or put Test your knowledge (quizzes).
If any more in-person sessions are planned, it will be the perfect opportunity to analyze the remote work and answer students’ questions. If it is a complementary module to close the training, it would be advisable to create a forum, chat, or live stream to answer possible questions from the students.
From the point of view of workload, it is also an interesting option for trainers because, although these remote sessions must be properly prepared, their development occurs independently of the presence of the trainers and they can be reused in other sessions. formations.
And can occasional offers be made?
Not throwing training prices down does not mean being intransigent with rates, especially when this can benefit both trainers and students.
A good example could be the distribution of workload over time. Training is a seasonal activity in which peaks in enrollment can be observed at the end of the year (companies realize that they have budget left, that their employee’s development plan had training scheduled, etc.) or at the beginning of summer. (during the semi-annual maintenance shutdown, a training proposal from management that HR plans just before vacation, etc.). Offering a more advantageous rate to people who agree to train at times of the year with less demand because they have fewer scheduling problems is a way of freeing up space for other clients and ensuring correct occupancy of the training calendar.
Another good reason to define an occasional offer may be to complete inter-company students, for example, when a training program with a capacity for eight people is scheduled and only five have registered. Launching last-minute offers will allow you to get new registrations. New registrations that, financially speaking, could be considered extra income (removing individual preparation and monitoring time, the possible use of equipment, or the rental of a larger classroom). In this way, all students will enjoy a good group dynamic and, in the case of people who register at the last minute, they will be able to attend a training that interests them, but that they would not have been able to take due to lack of budget. The trainers, for their part, increase their profit. These last-minute deals can be posted on social media, sent directly to potential customers, or broadcast on digital platforms. Attention! The goal is to fill incomplete sessions, not to increase training capacity. If these have been planned for a maximum number of students, increasing the capacity too much could harm the quality of the offer.
And what about loyalty?
Many offers combine a couple of training courses within a complementary itinerary for which a special rate is offered. In that case, it is about offering more complete training to the client. Some trainers play it safe and reduce their rates if both trainings are booked at the same time. Others—perhaps more self-confident—allow students to take initial or introductory training and, if they are interested, make them an attractive offer for the second. This strategy is beneficial for the trainer, because it is easier to retain a client than to look for a new potential client, and for the student, who will be able to expand their knowledge with a trainer who already knows and values.
In short, the correct rate is one with which adequate remuneration can be obtained for the service provided and which allows students to access the training they need. As has been seen, the modularity of training methods allows tariffs to be adapted. For its part, offers based on the number of students or their loyalty are also a good way to adapt to the market.
