Here's What I Charge as a Consultant

I recently wrote a post that made reference to Marcus Sheridan's book and methodology, "They Ask, You Answer". He argues that price is one of the first questions customers ask, and one of the last that  solution providers, including consultants, want to answer, for a couple of reasons. Let's take a look at these, with my take on them through the filter of an independent consultant. 

They are worried their competition will undercut their pricing. That's probably a concern in a transactional, commoditized market. For things that are not so transactional or commoditized, such as Acme's proven methodology to improve sales closing rates or employee onboarding or whatever Acme excels at, your competitor isn't necessarily another firm. Rather, it's inertia, or budget, or competing priorities for the client. 

They think it will scare off their customers. But you're going to have to talk about cost at some point anyway - why waste a prospective customer's time, and yours, if their, and your, expectations are wildly out of line with each other?

There are too many variables to give a price. Yes, there are a lot of variables, whether the project in question is Sheridan's swimming pools, or a records management assessment and roadmap, or the mix of server and client applications and modules to meet the client's business requirements. 

But the approach can be consistent - for example, an interview supporting the assessment is priced at two hours - one to conduct the interview, and one to analyze the response and, if needed, tweak the questionnaire for the next interview. 50 interviews = 100 hours x the consultant's rate. Factor in, and be transparent about, information gathering and analysis, project management and reporting requirements, and travel time and costs. Similarly, your sales people know the rate sheet rates as a starting point. 

They think their customers won't understand how rates are set - or will balk at exhorbitant rates. "What makes you think you're worth $250 an hour?!" Well, you can, and should, expect that that consultant is bringing you significant and specialized experience, expertise, best practices, lessons learned, and the ability to hit the ground running and come up to speed - on your organization, your business practices, your challenges - quite quickly. In other words, you're not paying so much for the 100 hours your project will take, as for the twenty-plus years that preceded them. (You're also not paying the taxes, health insurance, etc. for a full-time employee to do that work.)

All of that said, there's also a case to be made, and Sheridan and many others make it, that clients are already doing their own research. They've used consultants before or have reached out to others - hence the concern about undercutting, above. If you massively overbid, of course you'll miss out on work. If you underbid, however, they may feel that you're less valuable compared to the others they are considering. In other words, they don't need to know the specifics of how you got to your rate, as long as it seems comparable to others they've researched and offers value at that price. 

So What Do I Charge?

In the interests of transparency, and practicing what I preach, here are my consulting rates for Athro Consulting.

Base consulting rate for 2022: $250.00/hour. 

Travel rate: $125.00/hour, 4-hour minimum. This is for travel to/from/between client sites. I do not charge this for travel to/from speaking engagements. 

I do also do project-based pricing, but I get to the number in substantially the same way. 

Speaking fees: 

• Typical non-profit chapter/regional meetings: free for the 2021-2022 chapter year
• For-profit event: Starts at $1,000
• Half-day workshop: Starts at $1,500
• Full-/multi-day workshop: Starts at $2,500 per day or $300/hour for live virtual workshops

These fees do not include typical travel costs if applicable: 

• Airfare - in most cases I look for the cheapest scheduled coach fare I can find on Southwest or United, 21 days in advance or as far ahead as I can. 
• Lodging - I don't need the Ritz Carlton, but I'd prefer to avoid the No-Name Motel and Suites(!) when possible. 
• Ground transportation. I try to balance my and the client's convenience and associated costs; sometimes a rental car is cheaper, sometimes it's Uber/Lyft, sometimes it's a cab. 
• Meals. Again, I'm a pretty cheap date - I generally prefer bars or lounges to 3-star Michelin restaurants. 
• Any other incidental expenses - for example, visas or inoculations. 

My fees are negotiable on a case-by-case basis; we can look at different, creative ways to stay within your budget. I can also break projects into phases to reduce their individual costs. Finally, if you're not sure what you need, I offer retainer packages that give you the flexibility to determine how best to leverage me. 

If you're interested in engaging me, either for a consulting engagement or to discuss this post, you can reach me at jesse.wilkins@athroconsulting.com.