48. The benefits of transparent pricing for your consulting services

Happy Monday!

I had a question over the weekend from Oren, a new member of the Mentorship who positions himself as a "chief growth officer" and runs a hybrid agency/consulting model.

Oren asks:

Excellent question! Here's an overview of some of the reasons I publish pricing transparently for my consulting services.:

1. It's all about the customer experience—transparent pricing is a better experience for my clients. They don't need to come in feeling like it's a negotiation. They have their guard down and we can talk transparently about their business, finances, goals etc. My prices don't change once I find out their problem is urgent or they have a lot of money. 

2. I'm optimizing for trust and transparency—most of marketing is a black box to my ideal clients. They have been burned in the past or couldn't interpret whether their suppliers were getting results. I'm positioned as a safe haven for them. Someone they can trust. So, my prices are fixed as a way to demonstrate stability and transparency.

3. Differentiation—most consultants don't publish their prices. When everyone does one thing, I like to do another. Especially when it serves the customer. Consultants who don't publish pricing perpetuate the "black box" feeling many clients get around hiring marketing professionals, making them less likely to reach out (I think). 

4. I get to design the business the way I like it—I've designed my services to be able to sustain up to 10 1:1 clients at a time generating multiple six figures in profit if I do. I also get to work 9-5 pretty regularly, don't feel stressed after work because I'm not driving/managing projects, and I can maintain a calm schedule with lots of buffer in my day. 

5. Operational efficiency—because all of my engagements go roughly the same way, I can budget my time and roll out processes that are the same (or similar) for each clients. Because of this, my time intensity decreases and therefore the more profitable my engagements are. 

There are many more benefits to published pricing, but for me, it just matches my style and approach to the clients I serve.

Thanks for your question, Oren! I hope I've converted you—at least in part—but if not, I'd love to hear why not!

Yours,

—k