How do you price a consulting engagement that includes implementation?
Independent advisor, Hamburg · 4 Oct 2026 · Sample discussion
Advice is easy to scope. Staying to install the new way of working is where the margin disappears. How do experienced advisors separate the two without surprising the client?
Answer
Elena Voss, Editor · 7 Oct 2026 · Sample answer
Price the diagnosis and the installation as different promises. The first ends in a decision and a design the client could, in principle, run without you. The second is a delivery project: named outputs, a team, a calendar, and a change-control rule when the client adds scope.
Say in the proposal which hours are senior judgement and which are production. Clients rarely object to a fair production rate. They object to discovering that the “included support” was four weeks of unpaid building.
This is an editorial view, not a rate card and not a quote. If the work includes software, legal commitments or a regulated process, the price belongs in a proper statement of work from the practice doing the job.