Olivia Stefanino plays devil's advocate as she looks at the tricky question of how to set your fees as a coach in her feature

Does it depend on your experience, your own self worth, or what the 'market' itself dictates? Do higher fees give the impression of success - and the coach giving better quality? She asks and she poses the question: Is it time for coaching institutions to set guidelines regarding the fees coaches charge?

As a journalist I have often had to charge a daily fee. Sometimes this was set by the company that I have worked for, with no room for negotiation. On other occaisions I have been asked what my fee is - and this has usually resulted in a calculation of how big the company is, and what I think they can afford, the job that I will be doing, and how much I think that I am worth, coupled with what I think is the industry norm - usually worked out through discussions with other journalist friends. In my very early days of freelancing, I did ask the NUJ what the suggested daily rates were - but even then, few people paid them.

Journalism isn't coaching, I know - and journalistic fees have changed little in more than a decade - but isn't this the way that most people work out a rate for quite a lot of jobs, whether they are painting your house, or coaching employees?

As coaching is increasingly popular -according to CIPD research, 71% of organisations use coaching - would fee guidelines be useful? If you are a manager using a coach, would you find them helpful? If you are a coach, do you find it difficult to judge exactly how much to charge? Is this something that coaching organisations are already contemplating?

We'd love to hear your views. Please post your comments here.

Susie Finch