LITE 2017 – Common Course Pricing Strategies for Training Companies [Siobhain Murdoch & Natasha Serafimovska]

COMMON COURSE PRICING STRATEGIES

Natasha Serafimovska & Siobhain Murdoch

Administrate

Introductions

Agenda:

• 4 Key Pricing Strategies:

• Subscriptions/Memberships;

• Pay as You Learn;

• Training Tokens;

• Freebies;

• The ideal users;

• The benefits;

• How to Set Them Up;

Subscriptions/Memberships

Subscriptions/Memberships

• Cloud-based services;

• Phones

• Books

• Food

• Machinery

Subscriptions/Memberships – The Ideal User

Training Providers who offer:

• Big portfolio of courses;

• Higher-cost or long-term courses;

• eLearning (access to archived content);

Subscriptions/Memberships - Benefits

• Higher Profit Margins;

• MRR (Monthly Recurring Revenue):• predictable revenue;

• protects against seasonality;

• Loyal customer base;

• More accessible and desirable courses (even those hard to sell);

Subscriptions/Memberships – How to Set It Up

• Develop Subscription Plans:• Limit content duration access per plan (LMS);• Limit course access;• Offer more value by providing course materials, tutoring sessions etc.

• Specify clear Payment Terms:• Monthly/annual;• Instalments;• Types of Payments accepted;

• Keep it simple and straightforward on your website and in your T&C’s

Pay As You Learn

Pay As You Learn – The Ideal User

Training Providers with:

• high student turnover (for ex. students might be buying certification course only);

• Event Bundles - (buy 2 courses and get 3rd half price, free equipment rental etc.;

• High demand for low-cost courses;

Pay As You Learn – Benefits

• Increased revenue;

• Easy to set up;

• Increased engagement (loyalty);

Pay As You Learn - How to Set It Up

• Match up courses – what courses work well together (Event Bundles);

• Go by number of Events vs. Specific Events (for example, you may look to offer bundles of Events which are picked by the Student themselves and not necessarily linked to one another);

• Decide on your “Deal” price so that it is attractive to bring in new business, but also leads to increased revenue. Don’t want to price too cheap so that your customers never buy individual courses;

Training Tokens

Training Tokens – The Ideal User

Training Providers who:

• have customers with budgetary constraint (government-funded);

• Look to increase customer loyalty;

• Want to improve their cash flow (upfront payments);

Training Tokens - Benefits

• Spike in Revenue;

• More income per course delivered (CNN – 50% are not redeemed);

• Can be used as gift cards (get new clients through the door);

• Improved customer retention rate;

• Competitive Advantage;

Training Tokens - How to Set It Up

• Define Token Tiers: • Silver, Gold, Platinum etc.

• The monetary value of each token per tier;

• Define token course list;

• Define Course token price;

• Set Expiry Date on tokens;

Free Courses

Free Courses – The Ideal User

Training Providers who:

• Want to introduce new courses;• Measure interest;

• Get feedback;

• Want to Generate More Interest (for ex. new business venture);

• Brand recognition;

Free Courses - Benefits

• Increased interest in your courses;

• Increased sales;

• Good way to gather constructive feedback on your new courses before going to market with them;

• Customer loyalty – if you’re willing to offer free courses this will get a lot of buy in from your customers

Free Courses – How to Set This Up

• Decide if the Course you’re offering for free is going to be free for a set period or will it be ongoing?

• Decide what is a good follow-up paying course;

• Get your marketing in place:• To promote your free courses;

• To promote other paying courses clients might be interested in.

It’s All About Value

Natasha Serafimovska

[email protected]

0131 460 7126

Wrap Up!

Siobhain Murdoch

[email protected]

0131 460 7165