Step one: pick the anchor monthly price
The anchor is the monthly price people see first. It should sit in a range your audience already pays for comparable help: a gym membership, a class pack, a streaming service. A coach whose audience pays for a boutique studio can anchor higher than one whose audience follows free workouts. Write down three candidate prices and the reason for each; the test later decides. A worked example: a mobility coach anchors at 19 EUR per month because her audience compares the app with a monthly yoga class pack.
Step two: build the ladder on one product
One program should carry several prices: monthly as the anchor, 3 month and 6 month plans with a modest discount, annual with the largest discount, and a lifetime or one-time price for people who refuse subscriptions. FitCoUp sells all of these on the same product and the student picks at checkout. Annual plans move cash forward and remove eleven renewal moments where churn can happen; in the example, 19 EUR monthly becomes 159 EUR annual, which is about two months free.
- Monthly. the anchor, no discount, the most flexible.
- 3 and 6 month. a small discount, fewer renewal moments, good for challenges and seasons.
- Annual. the largest discount, the best retention, the cash to spend on the next launch.
- One-time or lifetime. for programs with an end, or for students who do not subscribe to anything.
Step three: decide on the trial
A free trial brings more people in and converts fewer; a paid trial (for example 7 days for a small amount) brings fewer and converts more, because the card is already on file. FitCoUp limits trials to new students only and runs the trial retention sequence automatically: a welcome on day 0, a nudge on day 1 if the first session is not done, a check-in on day 3, a conversion offer on day 5 and a service notice two days before the end. The guide on trial to paid conversion covers the choice in detail.
Step four: what else is sold at checkout and after
An order bump at checkout (Pro and above) adds a small related product, for example a nutrition starter or a mobility add-on, with one checkbox. The thank you page then carries one one-click offer with the card just used: the annual plan for a monthly buyer, or the next program for a one-time buyer, with 3D Secure on the page and a timer kept on the server. Neither changes the anchor price; both raise the average order and the lifetime value.
Step five: check the price against churn
The price that wins is the one with the highest lifetime value: price times months retained. A worked example with illustrative numbers: 29 EUR with a median stay of 3 months gives 87 EUR; 19 EUR with a median stay of 6 months gives 114 EUR. The cheaper plan earns more and needs fewer new students to hit the same revenue. FitCoUp shows LTV per product and per cohort, so after one quarter you can see which price kept students.
Step six: test one thing at a time
Change the anchor, or the annual discount, or the trial, never all three in one month. Run the new price for a cohort, compare LTV at 90 days with the previous cohort, and keep the winner. Coupons and deadlines are for launches and seasons, not for permanent discounts that teach the audience to wait. Communicate price changes to existing students ahead of time; a reminder before every charge is part of FitCoUp billing anyway.