Guides · Selling more than hours
What are the three questions every offer answers?
What the client picks before they pay, what they get once it’s paid, and whether it happens again. Answer those three for anything you sell and you know what it is: a session, a package, a course, a project, a file or something monthly. The name comes last.
Most booking software asks you to pick a category first: session, product, membership. Then the category decides everything after it. Pick “session” for a workbook and the client is asked for a time before they can buy a PDF. The three questions come before the name, so the name comes out right.
The three questions
- 1
Choose
What does the client pick before paying? A time, a start date you set, or nothing at all.
- 2
Deliver
What do they get once it’s paid? An hour with you, several sessions, a file, or the work begins.
- 3
Repeat
Does it happen once, or again every month until somebody stops it?
Ten offers, walked through
| The offer | Choose | Deliver | Repeat | It’s |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A career coach’s single session | A time | An hour with you | Once | A session |
| A yoga teacher’s eight-week beginners’ course | Your dates | Sessions | Once | A course on set dates |
| A tutor’s ten lessons, bought together | Nothing | Sessions | Once | A package |
| A coach’s two sessions a month | Nothing | Sessions | Every month | A retainer |
| A designer’s brand identity | Nothing | The work begins | Once | A project |
| A bookkeeper’s monthly books | Nothing | The work begins | Every month | A monthly arrangement |
| A nutritionist’s meal-plan workbook | Nothing | A file | Once | A file |
| An analyst’s monthly market report | Nothing | A file | Every month | A file that renews |
| A pricing clinic with eight seats | Your dates | Sessions | Once | A course on set dates |
| A consultant’s free first call | A time | An hour with you | Once | A session |
Two of the ten come out the same twice: the course and the clinic, the session and the free call. The shape is the same. The price and the description are what make them different things on a page.
Answer the three questions first. The name takes care of itself.
Checked 2026-10-11.