Training Businesses: How to Charge for Training Programs

If you make a living in the training profession, one of your challenges is figuring out how to charge for your services. While it may seem a bit overwhelming, there are only a handful of strategies you can choose from. These are the most typical forms:

BY THE HOUR

You determine an hourly rate and then charge the client for the time spent not only delivering, but also preparing your training program. The longer you take to prepare for a seminar, the more you will get paid. If the client adds extra work or wants mid-stream changes that add to your prep time, then of course you’d make more money. But it seems to me that there is a different perceived value for someone who charges “by the hour” than for someone who has a flat fee. There is a perception that you could be dragging things out to benefit your pocket.

FOR THE PERSON

The second way to charge is by charging per person. This is the most common way to charge when you run “open” or “public” seminars, where people sign up individually to attend your program at your facility or in a hotel or conference room. In these cases, the formers count and are compensated by quantity. So obviously you make more money the more people sign up. Of course, the marketing costs of this type of fee system are often quite high, so you may not get as much of a net amount as a session fee for a corporate seminar. Charging per person for a corporate workshop isn’t very practical, as your final rate isn’t known until the day of the show when you see how many actually show up. On the other hand, if you charged per session, you get the same amount whether 50 or five show up.

PER SESSION

This form of payment, per workshop, is the most common for most trainers who do business with companies. You create a fixed fee for a session. This is an effective way to charge because both you and the client know and agree on what the fee will be in advance, and it is not affected by the number of attendees. If only half of the anticipated number shows up, your rate is not affected. Typically, you would consider “quantity discounts” for multiple programs. It is understood that there are some “fixed costs” in a workshop, usually in preparation, so a program that is half the normal length will not necessarily be half the rate. And a program twice as long will not necessarily cost twice as much. And multiple programs also often charge discounted rates per session.

MATERIALS AND EXPENSES

In addition to the training fee, you will also be expected to collect any expenses you incur as a result of providing this training, usually related to travel, such as airfare and hotel if out of town or parking fees if local job . If there are items you regularly purchase for your workshops, such as flipchart markers or candy or name tents, it is understood that those items are already included in the cost of your fee. You would not transfer those costs that are an integral part of your training.

However, learning materials are considered an additional bona fide charge. If you prepare materials for participants, such as course handouts or workbooks, or if you include your published book or audio CD for each attendee, you can choose to add a materials fee per person. You can decide if you want to carry these costs as expenses to be reimbursed (in which case, you include the invoice from the printer who made your notebooks) or if you want to mark them up for a small profit.

Whichever way you choose to collect your services, materials and expenses, always remember to have it agreed upon in writing beforehand. Whether it’s a formal legal contract or just a letter of agreement signed by both parties, it can save you a lot of headaches later on by having the terms in writing.