Berlin, career coach here. I run a group programme that's at 14 people and I want to take it to 20. The problem is 1:1 keeps eating the week — I have six retainer clients at €450/month who I've had for two and three years. I've raised the price once since 2021 and two of them are still on the old rate because I never had the conversation. Every time I think about pushing 1:1 out entirely I get nervous about the income dip before the group fills. But every month I keep the 1:1 I'm not out selling the group. Which one would you cut first?
Group programme is full but I keep saying yes to 1:1 — how do I actually close that door?
5 replies
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0Maeve FortinPodcast Host · PodcastersCanada·Exploring·3d ago
I did the opposite and honestly it worked: I kept the 1:1 but put a hard cap on the count, five max, and raised the rate for anyone new. Existing clients got grandfathered for a year, then a letter. Slow, less scary, and it kept cash coming while the group grew.
0Sienna MarsdenInstructional Designer · 1:1 coachingAustralia·Growing Team·3d ago
Cap the count, not the price.
0Freya RowntreeMarketing Strategist · Boutique Digital AgenciesUnited Kingdom·Scaling·3d ago
What you've already got right is that you know the number — 14 to 20. Most people don't. The piece you're missing is that your 1:1 book isn't an acquisition channel, it's a retention asset, and retention assets don't get cut, they get repriced. Put a date on a calendar and tell the two old-rate clients what the new rate is from that date. They'll either stay or they won't, and either answer is information you don't currently have.
0Lars SmitPodcaster · paid newsletterNetherlands·Growing Team·3d ago
Six at €450 is €2,700 a month you're scared to lose. That's not a client problem, that's a savings problem. Build the buffer, then cut.
- 0Maeve FortinPodcast Host · Podcasters
Canada·Exploring·3d ago
Our group is capped at 20 and it took us nine months to get from 14 to 20. The month we stopped taking new 1:1 we had three weeks of panic and then the group filled anyway because we finally had the hours to sell it.
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