A package is the simplest way to raise your effective rate and your client commitment at the same time. It is also the fastest way to create a second admin job for yourself.
The difference is whether you decided the rules before you sold one.
1. The maths
Fill in your own numbers.
| Line | Your number |
|---|---|
| Single session rate | $______ |
| Sessions in the package | ______ |
| Package price | $______ |
| Effective per-session rate | $______ |
| Discount per session | $______ |
| Discount as a percentage | ______% |
| Cash collected upfront | $______ |
A worked example, so the shape is clear:
- Single session rate: $85
- Package: 10 sessions for $750
- Effective rate: $75 per session
- Discount: $10 per session, about 12%
- Collected upfront: $750
Two things to check before you commit.
Are you discounting for something you already had? If a client already books weekly and pays every time, a package converts guaranteed revenue into discounted revenue. The discount should buy commitment you did not already have, or cash timing you actually need.
Does the effective rate still work? $75 for ten sessions is only good business if $75 is a rate you would accept. Work out the per-session number before you fall in love with the package price.
2. The rules
These are the ones that cause arguments later. Decide them now.
Expiry. Credits are valid for ______ months from purchase.
Without an expiry, a ten-pack bought in March can turn up in December expecting your old rate. Three to six months suits most private-lesson businesses. Say it on the offer page.
Late cancellations. A session cancelled inside the cancellation window: uses a credit / does not use a credit.
Pick one. If the answer is “does not use a credit”, your cancellation policy has no teeth for package clients, which is usually the opposite of what you wanted.
Transferability. Credits can be used by: the purchaser only / anybody in the immediate family / anybody.
Junior coaching often needs the family option. Say so explicitly, or you will decide it under pressure when a sibling turns up.
Across offer types. Can a private-lesson credit be spent on a clinic seat?
Usually no, because the prices differ. If yes, define the conversion before somebody asks.
3. The tracking
Tracking decides whether packages save you time or quietly cost you time.
Ask one question: when a package client books a session, what decrements the count?
If the honest answer is “I do, later, from memory or a spreadsheet”, then every package you sell adds a recurring manual job and an eventual disagreement about how many are left. Clients keep their own count, and their count is usually different from yours.
The count should be a consequence of the booking. Package sold, credits sit on the client record, booking a session draws one down, and both of you are looking at the same number.
4. The description the client reads
Fill in the blanks and put this on the page:
______ session package: $______
Save $______ per session compared with booking individually.
Credits are valid for ______ months from purchase and can be used for ______. Sessions cancelled with less than ______ hours notice use a credit. Book each session as you go, at times that suit you.
If you cannot fill every blank, the package is not ready to sell yet.
Elite Coach Booking sells packages and counts the credits in the same system that holds the booking, the payment, and the client record, so the count is never a separate job.
Background reading: Lesson packages should not create a second admin system