Abstract: Although behavior analysts are faced with contracting with insurance companies and governmental agencies, pricing strategies are not commonly understood. Selecting a profitable price for behavior analytic services is crucial for each practitioner and for our industry as a whole. Ignorance with regard to pricing is not bliss. It is costly in both the short and long run. This presentation will review the basic strategies and principles of pricing, so that behavior analysts can succeed both as business people and as clinicians. First, we will review methods to determine price, such as the use of cost analyses, pricing surveys, interviews, and competitor analyses. Second, the importance of value-based pricing will be discussed. Value-based pricing involves behavior analysts identifying the value in their service, including qualities that distinguish them from others, and then quantifying that value. Finally, we will explain the importance of communicating the value of behavior analytic service to customers and/or funding sources in order to secure a profitable price/rate. Marketing efforts to communicate the financial and psychological value of behavioral services are essential in order to be compensated appropriately. Behavior analysts must become informed on appropriate pricing strategies in order to negotiate rates that allow for quality service delivery. |