How much money can online training cost?

Online counseling and learning has received an enormous push from the corona pandemic. Nevertheless, the purchase of online training and consulting services is still relatively uncharted territory for many decision-makers in companies. Accordingly, they are not only unsure when it comes to assessing their quality, but also when it comes to answering the question: Is their price appropriate?

Decision-makers often complain in conversation:

• The fees charged by consultants and trainers for the various online formats are extremely wide. Their billing models also diverge. And:
• I find it difficult to judge which price expectations are still serious.

This uncertainty also has its roots in the fact that the market has not yet established price levels for the various online services. Therefore, if you are currently looking through the online offers of consultants, you will often find prices at which, as a market expert, you think: “This self-employed person will never be able to finance his living with such dumping prices.” But you can also find offers that make you think: “This provider obviously hopes to meet inexperienced buyers who accept such moon prices.

The pricing guidelines of the VBT and the BDVT

That is why the Association of Business Trainers Austria (VBT) and the German Professional Association for Training, Consulting and Coaching (BDVT) jointly developed a fee guideline for the remuneration of online formats in the area of ​​employee qualification in July 2020. In it is between

1. Live-Online-Trainings,
2. Web talks or webinars and
3. E-Learnings

differentiated.

Live-Online-Training

In this type of seminar, the number of participants is limited to around 10 people so that interactive teaching and learning methods can be used. The duration varies from 90 minutes to 4 hours.

With this format, VBT and BDVT recommend calculating a third of the usual attendance seminar daily rate for a 90-minute session. Preparatory work such as familiarizing yourself with the company’s internal technology for carrying out the online seminar or training course will be charged additionally; as well as possible co-trainers, for example for technical support.

Web talks and webinars

This format is often reminiscent of a classic lecture, which is held online, however, and followed by a question-and-answer session. A characteristic of a web talk or a webinar is: The number of participants is theoretically unlimited. Its duration is usually 30 to 90 minutes.

For this purpose, the two associations recommend charging a price, depending on the number of participants, for each 90-minute unit

• up to 20 participants at least 800 euros and
• from 21 participants (with a moderator for the chat) at least 1,740 euros.

Companies often record this format in particular for reuse or further use. The associations therefore recommend that consultants and trainers always add the following note to their offers: “Audio and video recordings are only permitted with written permission.”

If consultants grant such permission, the BDVT and VBT recommend multiplying the fees mentioned by a factor of 10, for example, because: If the customer has a recording, he can make it available to all his employees – in extreme cases worldwide – on his learning platform for an unlimited period of time put. For the trainer or consultant, this means that he no longer receives a corresponding follow-up order from the customer. There is also the risk that the recording will “move on”.

E-Learnings

WBTs as well as learning and explanation videos are usually billed per minute. Here the prices vary a lot

• Type of video (e.g. animated or not),
• Quality of the video (studio versus smartphone),
• Post production (narrator, editing, music, etc.) and
• Usage rights.

The two associations cite 1,000 euros / minute as a guideline for e-learning. However, this value only applies to videos that have been specifically constructed and designed from a methodological and didactic point of view and, for example, professionally edited in a studio – videos that are also associated with certain production costs.

Price levels will establish themselves in the market

The two associations see the prices mentioned in their guidelines as a recommendation that is intended to provide orientation for providers and consumers in the education and consulting market. In practice, I suspect, not only different billing models, but also price levels will establish themselves in the market, as with classic face-to-face training and consulting

• the topic or the problem to be solved,
• from the client system (e.g. profit or non-profit organization),
• the previous experience of the (online) consultant or trainer and its establishment in the market

partly diverge strongly. That is why guidelines only serve as a temporary guide for me. It will increasingly lose importance when the market participants have gained more experience with online consulting and training as well as buying and selling the services required for this.

Sabine Prohaska is the owner of the consulting company Seminar Consult Prohaska, Vienna. She is a member of the board of the Association of Business Trainers Austria (VBT). In April 2021 her latest book “Training and seminars in digital change: The e-learning compass for successful training concepts” was published. (www.seminarconsult.at).

Author: Sabine Prohaska

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