How To Price Consulting Services For Corporations

The top 1% of consultants leverage a powerful psychological pricing trigger: "Pay me based on the results I generate for you." Revenue-share style agreements are more common in service businesses, but "gain sharing" might be the consulting industry's best-kept secret. Why it works: • Zero risk barrier removal: Clients won't face a downside if you fail to deliver. You've removed their biggest objection to hiring you • Skin in the game: It's a signal of extreme confidence in your abilities when you're willing to bet on yourself • Value alignment: Both parties are now focused on the same goal. Some of the most sophisticated players in the game understand that the highest fee potential comes from tying compensation directly to results. When you tie your compensation to performance, the upside potential dwarfs typical flat-fee arrangements. A percentage of significant growth can outperform even the highest monthly retainer. When you're both "eating what you kill" you're partners, not vendor and client. The focus shifts from "did they send the deliverables?" to "did we move the needle?" Honestly, most consultants run screaming from this model. They love the safety net of getting paid the same amount no matter what. Others don't have the confidence (or ability) to prove their work delivers. To pull it off, you need to: • Know exactly how to track ROI with zero ambiguity (dashboards are your best friend) • Set proper attribution and baselines at day one • Get comfortable with delayed gratification • Have enough cash to bridge the gap before the big paydays The paradox is the more you NEED the security of fixed fees, the less ready you are for the exponential upside of gain sharing. But the consultants who cracked the code make millions while everyone else debates hourly rates vs. retainers on Twitter. What's your pricing model? And more importantly: Would you bet on yourself?

Think raising your prices will scare clients away? What if the opposite is true? On the latest episode of Stop the Noise, I spoke with Per Sjofors, founder of Sjöfors & Partners and author of The Price Whisperer. With over 750 client engagements under his belt, Per has helped businesses double their growth rates and boost margins by as much as 40%. He joined me to break down one of the trickiest parts of consulting: pricing your services. Per believes pricing isn’t just numbers—it’s a message. And if your prices don’t reflect your value, your clients will notice. Here are a few highlights from our conversation: ➡️Stop Selling Hours Charging hourly invites comparisons and can even penalize you for being efficient. Per argues that value-based pricing shifts the focus from time to tangible results. ➡️Presentation Matters A strong proposal builds confidence. By the time you reveal your price, your client should already see the value. ➡️Anchor High Per’s "Best, Better, Good" framework sets expectations by showing your top-tier offer first. ➡️Test Your Pricing with Two Key Questions Ask 25 potential clients: > What price feels too low to trust? > What price feels too high to afford? The goal isn’t just to charge more—it’s to build trust and position yourself as a premium choice. Curious to dive deeper into these strategies? Listen to the full episode here: https://lnkd.in/gsH7aHnp There’s already too much noise about chasing clients with low fees. The real win? Owning your worth and showing clients why you’re worth it.

When I talk to a roomful of consultants about value pricing, one of the first questions I get asked is: “How do you prevent scope creep if you give clients a fixed bid?” My answer is simple: **By keeping the client focused on their desired business outcome.** Let's back up... A prospect is considering hiring you. You have a meeting with them. They probably tell you a bunch of stuff they want you to do (e.g., hours, activities, features, deliverables). These are INPUTS. You need to get past their inputs and get to what they are hoping to achieve with your assistance. You use The Why Conversation to uncover what their desired outcome actually is. You summarize their desired outcome back to them. They say something like, "Yes! That would be a home run for us!" You set a price based on the value of their desired outcome. You design a scope of stuff you can do for them at that price. You send a proposal that mentions some of the inputs you expect will be involved, but the real focus is achieving their desired outcome. In the proposal, you promise to keep them focused on reaching their desired outcome as quickly and effectively as possible. You point out that distractions always crop up on big projects like this, and one of the reasons they hired a professional like you is to keep them on track. You warn them that this will sometimes require that you say No to them when they make a request. Good clients will LOVE this because they know they have a track record of getting distracted. They may have already tried and failed to reach their desired outcome and attribute it to a lack of focus. SOOOOO... Back to the original question: “How do you prevent scope creep if you give clients a fixed bid?” You say NO to requests that jeopardize the success of the project. It's not always easy, but it is simple. ---- Hi! I'm Jonathan Stark 👋😀 Want to learn how to price your services? Subscribe to my free email course: Value Pricing Bootcamp Like this post? Hit 👍 Love it? Leave a comment ✍️ Think others should read it? Repost ♻️ ----

𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞, 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 Imagine this scenario: A client asks for your hourly rate. Naturally, you tell them, and they calculate your total cost based on the hours you estimate for a project. Simple, right? But is it fair? Here’s the core issue: charging by the hour often punishes efficiency and skill. Think about it: If a skilled designer creates a stunning, effective logo in just 5 hours, is it worth less than another logo that takes someone 50 hours to make? Does faster work equate to less value? No! In fact, it could mean more value because you’re getting exceptional results in less time. This highlights a key flaw in hourly pricing: it rewards inefficiency and fails to align value with outcomes. 𝐒𝐨, 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐝𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬? If you're a creative professional, service provider, or freelancer, consider these three steps to move away from hourly rates and align pricing with value: 1. 𝐒𝐡𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞-𝐁𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠 Charge based on the result you deliver, not the time it takes. Ask yourself (and the client): What is this worth to them? How will this impact their business? 2. 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐂𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 Share why your experience, expertise, and efficiency lead to superior outcomes. Explain that time spent is only one aspect of delivering exceptional work. 3. 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐂𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 If a client focuses on hourly rates, ask: “Do you value the time it takes or the results it delivers?” Help them understand that paying for speed, quality, and expertise is an investment in value. 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐱𝐚𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐞 Imagine hiring a surgeon. Do you want the one who completes a successful operation in one hour or someone who takes five hours? You're paying for skill, precision, and outcomes—not just the time. The same logic applies to creative work, consulting, or any professional service. Remember: 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐮𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬; 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐬. What do you think? Are you ready to break free from the hourly mindset? Let’s discuss below! #Freelancing #BusinessTips #PricingStrategy #ValueOverTime

Ever had a potential client say, “That’s too expensive”? It stings. But sometimes, it’s not about the price—it’s about how you position the value. I once worked with a consultant who kept getting price objections. She was charging $2,000 for a strategy session, but prospects kept pushing back. We looked deeper and asked a simple question: "What is the financial impact of this strategy for your clients?" Her response? “Well, most of my clients see a $50K revenue increase.” That was the problem. She was pricing based on her time, not her clients’ results. Instead of charging $2,000 for a session, she repositioned it as: 💡 A roadmap to unlock $50K in new revenue 💡 A strategy that reduces wasted marketing spend by 20% 💡 A business growth accelerator, not just a consultation The result? Higher pricing. More confident sales. Fewer objections. Clients compare price to value received, not hours worked. If you're constantly defending your price, ask yourself: Am I selling effort—or impact? P.S. This week, I dropped episode 126 with Peter Giordano III on pricing strategy, and today at noon, we're going live in the chat. Save your seat in the comments.

Why are so many still clinging to this outdated mindset? The future of consulting is not hourly. It’s outcome-based. The billable hour is broken: → It rewards inefficiency → Misaligns incentives → Caps your growth Top firms are moving fast toward outcome-based pricing - and seeing 2–3x higher margins because of it. Here’s the shift in action: ❌ “We charge $300/hour” ✅ “We'll deliver a validated 20% conversion improvement through our proven methodology, with a fixed investment of $X that demonstrably outperforms all alternative approaches in long-term value creation and ROI.ve that outcome” See the difference? Clients stop obsessing over costs. You align fully with their success. And you finally break free from the time-for-money trap. It’s not an easy transition. You’ll need: → Clear ways to measure impact → Strong value articulation → Pricing confidence → Financial models to back it up And the firms figuring this out and not just surviving. They’re thriving. The market is moving. Your pricing model needs to move with it. Are you ready to price for impact?