More and more trainers are now relying on online offers. But what price is appropriate for your online training or webinar? The new international fee recommendation gives you a clear and simple answer. This way, you can sell your online trainings appropriately:
The question of the price for online training is probably as old as online training itself among trainers, coaches, and consultants. However, the question arises not only for trainers who have recently (due to the current crisis) had to switch to online training. Even if you have been offering online formats for a longer time, pricing is often challenging:
On the one hand, customers want an affordable product. After all, companies especially hope to save time on in-person training by using online training, thus saving money as well. According to the 2019 fee study, the strongest financial burden for trainers is the increasing reduction of training duration. But be careful:
What costs nothing is worth nothing!
On the other hand, the quality must, of course, be right as well. And combining both in a pricing model is a challenge for you as a trainer. After all, a product that is too cheap may be considered inferior from the buyer's perspective; a price that is too high for online training can make customer acquisition more difficult.
And with every compromise, you must also reasonably account for your own working time, your expertise, and additional expenses. Your working time for preparation and providing the tools/software is, after all, part of your online training.
Regardless of customer wishes, various factors influence the price of your online training: For example, whether you want to offer a pure online training or blended learning, how much content your online trainings or -courses include, and what your own standing in the market is (beginner, professional, or experienced senior).
7 Selling Arguments as PDF
Sell online courses as training accompaniment
The most important question in pricing: What added value does your customer get from your online offer? With these 7 arguments, you are perfectly prepared for the next sales conversation!
Refer to the new fee recommendation
For simpler pricing for online training, the BDVT (Professional Association for Training, Consulting, and Coaching from Germany) and the VBT (Association for Business Trainers in Austria) published a fee recommendation specifically for online formats on June 16, 2020.
Based on the general fee recommendations of the BDVT, the associations recommend the following basic formula for the price of online training:
3 online sessions of 90 minutes = 1 daily rate!
In the following overview, you can see the price recommendations for live online training at all experience levels from starter to senior professional:
| Area | Starter | Professionals | Senior Pros. || ---------------------------------------------------------------- | ----------- | ----------------- | ---------------- || Online training with standard content per 90 minutes. | from €400 | from €460 | from €860 || Online training with specially developed content per 90 minutes. | from €500 | from €660 | from €1,100 || Online coaching per unit. | from €200 | from €275 | from €440 |
Source: Pricing for online formats - BDVT / VBT // Own representation
Additionally, in the official fee recommendation, you will also find price recommendations for web talks and recordings of online training for repeated use. You can view the complete fee recommendation for online formats here: Pricing for online formats / BDVT Website.
If you offer a virtual blended learning (i.e., the combination of live online training and online course), you should certainly adjust the prices accordingly: By offering an online course with additional content such as materials or exercises, you increase the added value for your customers. And ultimately, 'added value' is what your customers are paying for! What pricing models we recommend for blended learning can be found in this article: Expand trainings: How to calculate the price of your online course.
Now that you have calculated your optimal price, it's time to sell. We also have 7 selling arguments for you, with which your next sales conversation for online training or virtual blended learning will be successful:
