Mastering the Pricing Puzzle: Strategies for Association Education Programs

The pricing of education programs is a delicate balance, where setting the price too high risks deterring potential learners, while setting it too low may undermine the program’s value and sustainability. An article by WBT Systems highlights Jeff Cobb and Celisa Steele, who addressed this challenge in their session at the 2024 Learning Business Summit, acknowledging the complexities involved.

Attendees shared their current strategies for pricing programs, including gauging perceived value, considering competitors’ prices, marking up costs, and seeking customer input. Various challenges affect pricing confidence, such as the expectation of free education, competition from cheaper or free alternatives, economic constraints, and decreased professional development budgets.

The session highlighted three pillars of pricing: value, price, and communication. 

Value encompasses factors like continuing education credits, expert reputation, demonstrable improvement, access to resources, and related costs. Methods such as conjoint analysis and MaxDiff were suggested for determining value and reconfiguring offerings.

Price involves revisiting pricing structures across the learning portfolio, understanding reference prices, knowing product costs, and conducting thorough competitor research. Methods like the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter and the Gabor-Granger Method aid in understanding customer price perceptions and demand elasticity.

Communication emphasizes the importance of persuasive marketing and branding to influence value perceptions. Associations are encouraged to strategically position their offerings, potentially introducing elite programs to elevate the perceived value of other offerings. 

By embracing the three pillars of pricing and employing methods to assess value and market dynamics, organizations can better position their programs to meet the needs of learners while ensuring sustainability. Ultimately, a strategic and holistic approach to pricing not only enhances the competitiveness of educational offerings but also fosters a dynamic learning environment that resonates with diverse audiences.