As a company, historically-speaking we have struggled to manage coaching rate changes. Over the course of so many years we have athletes who are paying all kinds of different rates. And while I would prefer to never increase billing rates, that just ain't how the world works!
In the past we would - from time to time - compile a list of all of the athletes who were paying a rate that fell below the currently advertised rate, and then do an across-the-board change to their billing rates, of some amount or percentage. While it got the necessary job done, I never really liked it, because it seemed a bit arbitrary. It seemed/felt like something that we were doing TO the affected athletes. That said, rates DO need to increase over time, because operational costs are constantly on the rise. It is just a fact of life. Netflix...Spotify...Xfinity...You name it, it goes up!
To that end, I wanted to create a system that would help us to keep up with the costs of running a business, as well as keep things fair and well-defined for the athletes. As such, I set out the following parameters.
- There will be no changes in billing rates while you are actively receiving coaching.
- The pausing of your coaching will trigger an adjustment to your billing rate, upon return.
- The magnitude of your billing adjustment will be reflective of how long your coaching is paused.
To put it simply, as long as your billing isn't paused, your billing rate will remain the same. If/When you pause your billing, we are going to increase the rate of your coaching, relative to how long you remain on pause. Pretty simple, right? All of this has been formalized, HERE.
A couple of key takeaways that you will see in the policy.
- If you are on pause for a very short period of time, your billing adjustment will be VERY minor.
- The longer that you are on pause, the greater that your billing adjustment will be.
- If you are on pause for a year, your billing is treated as a brand new athlete to the company.
- Any billing adjustments are made ONLY on the difference between your billing rate, and the currently advertised rate for your service. For example, you will see that if you are on pause for 12-24 weeks there is a billing adjustment of 20%. That is 20% of the difference between your rate and the advertised rate. So, if you are paying, say, $200 for a $300 service (because you have been with us for a LONG time), and go on pause for 13 weeks, then your rate, when you return, will be increased by 20% of the difference between $200 and $300, which is $20. I'll say it again...Your rate will be increased by 20% of the DIFFERENCE between your current rate and the advertised rate, NOT 20% of your current rate.
- Any and all rate increases have an absolute ceiling/cap at the service's advertised rate.
We believe that this new policy is designed to provide clarity and consistency in how rate adjustments are managed. And most importantly, we believe that it is fair to you and to QT2.
In addition to this, we are implementing a new policy regarding subscription payments. Our billing model is designed around four-week subscriptions. Occasionally, clients may not utilize their service for the full four weeks, instead using it for only one, two, or three weeks. In such cases, partial refunds will not be issued. Instead, when/if the client returns to the service with the same Coach, they will be able to access the unused portion of the service that they had paid for. Their return-billing date will be adjusted to offset for the previously unused weeks. This will be managed between the athlete and the Coach, and communicated to me.
We believe that these updates will help us to serve you better and ensure that all policies are communicated and applied fairly and transparently. As always, if you have any questions or need further clarification, please do not hesitate to reach out to me directly at tim@qt2systems.com or 508-846-9900.
- Tim Snow
