There can be several reasons for the price of coaching being high and not offering a sliding scale. Let's take these items alone and then together.
Cost of coaching is biased on several factors. Those factors include, but are not limited to, certification, education, age, experience, and not to mention the motivation of being a coach. A person who is seeking out a coach must realize that when they hire a coach, they are most likely looking for a professional. In this reason, there are issues to deal with. Since coaching is a new and unregulated field, it really is buyer beware. If a person is dealing with a coach who has no education and no certification, then it can only be assumed that they mostly are looking to make a quick dollar and move on. This is the area that people will find a 'bargain basement' coach. A person who may be able to help you, but most likely will not. It may be cheap, but you get what you pay for.
As with any other profession, as the professional obtains more education and certification, then people seeking out the services of the professional will see the good in education and certification. As the professionalism goes up, so does the cost. There is a difference between a trained doctor and a doctor who may only have taken one high school science course. Yes, one is cheaper than the other, but the quality of service will be far less than one would mostly like to have.
A simple guideline to follow would be that a good life coach will have at least one advanced degree and a certification. The degree should be in the social science or psychology field of study. This alone does not mean that the person is going to be a good life coach. This is where recognized certification comes into play.
To make sure that you, the client, are receiving the best service possible, it is best to make sure that your life coach is certified by a recognized body of accreditation. There are several bodies that do this and most of them hold the same standards. Check them out and do some searching.
So why no sliding scale? This can be a tricky question with a very large answer full of problems. One of the issues of sliding scale is that unless a coach is willing to ask for tax forms, it's a mostly an on your honor system that is sometimes taken advantage of by those with no honor. After spending hundreds of hours and thousands of dollars gaining an education and certification in life coaching and other fields, it is only right to ask for fair compensation when receiving a service from a professional. Sometimes people take unfair advantage of sliding scales and therefor coaches do not offer them. Some coaches split the difference and have different levels of service. Coaches do want to help people, but after the investment in obtaining the training to help people, it would be nice to be able to put food on the table and roof over the head.
Compared to other professions, life coaches do have reasonable rates for the most part. Doctors charge anywhere from $70-100 for a 15 minute visit. Plumbers and electrical workers charge anywhere from $70-100 an hour. Lawyers can be really costly, charging anywhere from $150 - $300/hour. It's all about professionalism and what level of service you want. If you want a professional life coach that is really going to help you get from point A to point B, then the client must be willing to accept that the cost is going to be at that level.
What it comes down to is really simple. You get what you pay for. If you want a well educated, certified coach who is going to get the job done, you are going to pay professional rates. If you are working with an amateur with no education or certification, then the client will pay those rates. Bottom dollar does not mean best quality and a cheap price. Sliding scale is hard because once it has been abused in an industry, it's hard to get it back.
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