Back in the late 90s when I started my consulting company I charged $70 an hour and thought I was expensive. Then I started working with another consulting company who used me as their consultant and paid my full fee. They charged their clients a lot more than $70...
So I sat down with the sales person at that company and had an epiphany. Besides the obvious branding and styling they delivered, the price also delivered a benefit I hadn't thought about. Clients wanted to pay more...
Let's say you have a technical problem and you need a consultant to help solve that problem. You can hire the $70 an hour developer to solve that problem but what happens if he fails???
If you hire a $300 an hour consultant and he says this can't be done then you can go right to your managers and explain: "I hired the best guy at great expense and he says X so it's true".
I also noticed a HUGE difference in the attitude in the room when I did the high price consulting gigs. Yes there were times people "tested" me to make sure I knew my stuff, but overall they treat you much nicer.
Obviously you need the skills to back this up. To be on top of everything. But it's still crucial to be able to state your ignorance when challenged on something you don't know because that can be very dangerous.
Since then I often stated a higher price for my time and just walked away from people trying to negotiate me down. This kept me well employed for a long time but it is a grind which is why I don't do consulting anymore.
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Agreed.
Back in the late 90s when I started my consulting company I charged $70 an hour and thought I was expensive. Then I started working with another consulting company who used me as their consultant and paid my full fee. They charged their clients a lot more than $70...
So I sat down with the sales person at that company and had an epiphany. Besides the obvious branding and styling they delivered, the price also delivered a benefit I hadn't thought about. Clients wanted to pay more...
Let's say you have a technical problem and you need a consultant to help solve that problem. You can hire the $70 an hour developer to solve that problem but what happens if he fails???
If you hire a $300 an hour consultant and he says this can't be done then you can go right to your managers and explain: "I hired the best guy at great expense and he says X so it's true".
I also noticed a HUGE difference in the attitude in the room when I did the high price consulting gigs. Yes there were times people "tested" me to make sure I knew my stuff, but overall they treat you much nicer.
Obviously you need the skills to back this up. To be on top of everything. But it's still crucial to be able to state your ignorance when challenged on something you don't know because that can be very dangerous.
Since then I often stated a higher price for my time and just walked away from people trying to negotiate me down. This kept me well employed for a long time but it is a grind which is why I don't do consulting anymore.