Should I pay this much for one to one coaching?

Oh wait, a parenting coach? He’s taking the piss! I bet he thinks he’s found the glitch in the matrix!

His condensed version will work just the same if you are consistent .

It’s expensive, but not unusual for coaching. It all really depends on how good he is and if you are willing to pay!

I don’t think he has done anything unethical in offering a five week course for free and then sharing information about his paid services. The OP has already said that she found it useful. As long as there isn’t a hard sell and people are free to walk away at the end of the five weeks. It’s a legitimate marketing technique and gives the OP a lot of insight into what he will be like as a coach.

He is self employed (which generally works on a day-rate basis) and, while the hourly rate looks high, he will have to keep that part of the day free as he can’t assume that the client will want coaching at a convenient time. So any appointment blocks out other work. For example, he can’t do coaching at 11am and then do a day’s work elsewhere, as part of the day is already used up. So the rate for a coaching session needs to cover him for at least half a day. The client is effectively paying for his availability. But three coaching hours per day becomes a reasonable day rate and covers some of his ongoing business development, including running free five-week courses!

Counsellors have been mentioned on this thread, but many counsellors find it difficult to make their work pay a decent wage - see a recent thread about training to be a counsellor. Perhaps this model more accurately reflects the ongoing cost of an engagement of this kind?

£200 for an hour session? Hard pass.

I spoke with someone a while back who offered something similar. Helpfully, she told me that she could do a 15-minute call if I didn’t want to spend that much.

£38 for 15 mins of her so very valuable time. Again, it was a hard pass.

(I’m self-employed myself, so do understand service pricing, etc – but just… nah)

I think the question OP is do you feel the sessions will pay for themselves in terms of prospects? What impact would this outlay have on your finances? And does it have to be 20 sessions over 5 months?

He is praying on your struggles he doesn't want to help you he wants to make money and fast Which child development qualifications does he have for starters?

A parenting coach? You would be better off posting here for specific advice. There isn't a parenting issue in the world this site hasn't seen.
And it's free.

I also share @Jellycatspyjamas about this being a potentially exploitative offer.

I work in children's services, and this is more than we would pay if we were commissioning a service for some bespoke support. As others have said for that price I'd expect an expert, ie someone at doctoral level with years of experience, and even then it would be an unusually high rate. I don't think you're being offered value for money.

Sorry, just say it's parenting struggles.

Other mums who have experienced similar will be your best support.

How is that unethical? It’s normal business practice to offer taster sessions as it were and then at least you can make an informed decision about the quality of the service and if it’s suitable for you.

It can be unethical to offer free services which then create a dependency on that particular kind of support at an exorbitant price. Offering a 30 mins taster session, or a one off parenting class is very different to offering 5 sessions, building a relationship (and “evidencing” a need) and then asking for £4k.

If someone walked up to you in the street and asked for £4k to help you with your parenting you’d chase them, but having done 5 weeks, had supportive feedback, built a relationship it’s much harder to say “no”. And they must think you need it because otherwise they wouldn’t offer you a service, because they know you and would never take advantage. And they’re such a nice, charismatic person… and before you know it your £4k lighter.

Quite. Unless her coaching is how to bag a rich guy, I’m not sure what she thinks she can teach anyone.

What is it that you want to self develop?

There are many people on her that give you advise for free.

If it's personal issues, therapy would be better.
If it's work, a recruited would be better
If it's weight, nutritionist would be better

If you give us a summary of what you are hoping to get from it people can advise of tailored cheaper courses of action.

money does tend to take the edge off..

You’ve been working with him for 5 weeks. What measurable difference have you seen in your parenting during that time?

Think of what else you could use £4k for - there are only so many ways to parent your kids and lots of free and low cost ways to get support for parenting. Meeting weekly is much more along the lines of therapy, which coaches aren’t qualified to do. And do you actually need 20+ hours of one to one support?

As a former exec coach that sounds a v expensive product- it’s coaching, where the underlying concept is that the coachee is capable of solving their issues… it is not therapy, where the frequency makes more sense.
A monthly meeting is more usual- with weekly email check ins etc.
I would suggest try one session to see if you think it’s worth it… but weekly sounds v high frequency.

So you got 5 weeks for free - and there's next but is 4k?

charlatan

How is that unethical? It’s normal business practice to offer taster sessions as it were and then at least you can make an informed decision about the quality of the service and if it’s suitable for you. As long as he is suitably qualified and his charges are in line with industry standards then where’s the problem?

Im going to go against the grain. You asked specifically is it high for coaching, no i dont think it is. Specialist coaching in a niche area is usually expensive but it's what its worth to you

Mumsnet are generally very hostile to any mention of coaching, so i would take these responses with a pinch of salt. Its a shame as there are some terrible coaches out there that bring the reputation of the whole industry down.

There are 2 things that are important. Is he credible, can he back up his credentials and does he come recomended ie can you trust he will deliver? Is he one of the good ones??

Second, as i said previously, what is it worth to you, can you afford it?

You need to go in with both eyes open and not get sucked in to anything with false promises. Are you being realistic about what you will get out of it?

It might also we worth asking if you can start with a smaller option/ package so you're not commiting so much and/ or asking about any added value ie out of session support/ access to resources etc which might make it stack up financially for you more.

Why do you think you need to spend that sort of money on a parenting coach? Assuming that’s what he’s offering?

If he is providing his time for the parenting courses for free, then selling his services, unethical.

If he is paid by someone else to provide the courses his actions are probably against his terms and conditions or even misconduct.

He sounds like a charlatan. ‘Life coaching’ and such is notorious for people with no or poor qualifications charging loads of money.

It’s also unethical of him to run courses on parenting that are free for those participating and use it as a way to sell his services.

for much less than that amount of money you could see a well qualified counsellor.

Coaching is usually 50-100pph.