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

1.5. THE BUOYANCY OF BRANDS: HOW BRANDS HELP FEES

The second book in this series was dedicated to branding for consultants. One of the key reasons for effective branding is to enhance fees.

Fees are (or should be) based on value. That value is always in the eye of the beholder—in our case, the economic buyer. Hence the more value conveyed to that buyer by the most powerful means, the less downward pressure on fees. Effective branding actually creates a fee "buoyancy."

NOTE

There is actually one thing better than a buyer impressed by you and respecting you on sight, and that is the buyer impressed by you and respecting you before ever laying eyes on you.

No CEO ever said, "Get McKinsey in here," when strategy work was needed, then followed up by saying, "I think they're too expensive." As they say in the Ferrari showroom when someone asks about gas mileage or insurance costs, "If that's your concern, you really shouldn't be here."

Ferrari is a brand that evokes certain immediate understandings on the part of the potential individual buyer:

• High cost

• Top status

• High maintenance

• High insurance

• High repair costs

• Unique image

• Personal ego needs met

You know those things going in, and they are not points for discussion when dealing with a salesperson.

Similarly, McKinsey is a brand that evokes certain immediate understandings on the part of the potential corporate buyer:

• High cost (fees will not be negotiable)

• Top status (no one can say we're giving this short shrift)

• High maintenance (a lot ...