Recently, I spoke with a consultant facing a challenging fee negotiation. She felt the pushback on her fees reflected a lack of recognition for her decades of expertise and proven track record.
Despite her qualifications, the client favoured two major consultancies, deferring to them solely because of their brand names.
One firm even proposed a junior consultant with far less experience, simply because he represented a well-known brand.
When she submitted her proposal, the client claimed it was too expensive. This was unexpected, given they had approached her for her expertise. Notably, they did not question her capabilities, which was the reason they contacted her.
I said to her, They are assessing you from a place of risk. As the saying goes, nobody gets fired for hiring IBM. Choosing an independent consultant can seem riskier, especially if results fall short.
In their view, she was both the stronger and the riskier candidate, and this is a common scenario when competing with larger firms.
She told me she’d read something I’d posted recently, and it resonated. Here were my thoughts: You have the experience and the results; the question is whether you believe in yourself enough.
Stop thinking that a negotiation is about your worth (nobody cares about that); build the evidence instead.
It was clear the post gave her the resolve to hold her fee. But I also said holding firm on your fee isn’t the same as making the case for it: Do not compete on the fee I suggested.
Maintain your fee and shift the negotiation to focus on proof. When possible, include a clear ROI in your proposal; talk about results, for example: “Here’s what changed for the last three clients we worked with”.
The aim is to show them you’ve already absorbed the exact risk they’re nervous about, for people just like them.
Leverage their brand comparison: “I worked with [Client]. Initially, they viewed me as the riskier choice compared to [Big Consultancy] because I have a small team. Here is what we delivered: [result].
In hindsight, the real risk was nearly hiring the brand name and receiving a junior consultant who could not have achieved that outcome.”
Address their concerns about risk rather than focusing on what you think you are worth or your own sense of value; instead, demonstrate what you have already accomplished. Because clients rarely pay more because you believe you’re worth it. They pay more when they believe the risk of not hiring you is greater than the cost of hiring you.
This is where the Practice Revenue Calculator is even more valuable, not as a sales tool, but as visible proof. By entering their data, you can show the actual returns relative to your fee compared to the costs incurred by similar businesses that chose the ‘safer’ brand name and did not achieve the desired outcomes.
The discussion then shifts to directly showing the return over 3 years, and with the evidence of successful interventions, that is your argument right there. This is much better than focusing on your fee, your feelings, or your beliefs about what you are worth.
See your numbers on the calculator, book a 20 minute demo
Until we meet.
Morton
