Value-Based Fees: How to Charge—and Get—What You're Worth: A Guide for Consultants, Second Edition

3.1. FOCUSING ON OUTCOMES, NOT INPUTS

The very worst failing in relation to fees on the part of consultants has nothing to do with fees and everything to do with outcomes. If you accept the fact that the results of a project—the client's improved condition—will determine the acceptable range of investment for that return, then the outcomes for the client are the key determinant in fees.

That's right: it's the outcome, not the tasks, that matter.

If you don't believe me, then please accept this challenge. Visit the Web sites or review the printed literature of any five consultants at random.

NOTE

Most consultants place their value proposition at the wrong end of the equation: they focus on their ability to do rather than on the client's ability to improve.

(Or at an event, engage them in conversation and ask them the reasons for their success.) You will find that the following applies to four out of the five, at a minimum:

• Too many words. The promotional literature will have far too much text, using a thousand words in place of every possible picture.

• An obsession with the obvious."We believe in the highest level of ethics and integrity." (Really? I was looking specifically for an unethical consultant. Too bad.")

• Self-aggrandizing. The material will overwhelmingly focus on what the consultant does and how it is done.

• Smothered in technology or methodology. There will be detailed discussions of the consulting approaches, including analogies, graphs, steps, and jargon.

• Programmatic ...