The following is an excerpt from the CoachStart Manual.

I said earlier in this book that you should not let fee stand in the way of a client when you are starting a practice.  However, I did not say you should give coaching away for free.

If I approached you and said: “I really want you to be my client.  Please be my client, I won’t charge you anything, and you need to spend 30 minutes per week with me”, how attractive would that sound to you?  There is no sense of value in this for you; it’s all for me.

However, if I said: “My regular coaching fee is $300 per month, but my coach has told me to take five people on at a big discount for my own training and development.  How would you feel if I charge you only 50% of my fee for the first two months?”

Another thing: the act of paying money is a great way to demonstrate commitment or that the client is willing to take the coaching seriously.  If you offer the coaching for free — aside from it not sounding attractive — you may have problems with the client sticking to the coaching sessions, doing his or her fieldwork etc.  Basically, it’s an issue of respect.