Stop pricing hours. Anchor your fee to the commercial stakes with a three-option proposal that makes yes the easy answer.
Most independent consultants undercharge by 30 to 50 percent. Not because their work is worth less, but because they price the hours instead of the outcome.
Value-based pricing starts with a different question: what is this engagement worth to the client if it works? A pricing sprint that unlocks $400k in new pipeline is not a $5k project. Anchor your fee to the commercial stakes, then offer two or three options — a focused diagnostic, the full engagement, and a partner-level intensive — so the client chooses between working with you, not whether to work with you.
In this piece I walk through the exact option-architecture I use with clients: how to scope the middle offer as the obvious choice, where to place the premium anchor, and the one sentence that moves a stalled proposal to a yes.
Maya Ellison
Independent strategy & growth consultant
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