Value-Based Fees: How to Charge—and Get—What You're Worth: A Guide for Consultants, Second Edition

8.2. MAINTAINING THE FOCUS ON VALUE

Here's an ironclad rule: if you're in a discussion about fees and not value, you've lost control of the discussion. Prospects often want to go immediately to a discussion of costs. It's important to understand the psychology of this tropism. The buyer wants to deal with fees—costs—early because they provide the easiest excuse to be rid of you. You're not dealing with a real objection but instead with a very effective technique (if not correctly countered) to immediately end further discussion.

The rebuttal to this immediate focus on fees is not to do it. Once you agree to talk about fees, you have enabled and empowered the prospect to focus on the cost side of the equation, not the outcome or value side. If you become a willing accomplice to this tactic, you might as well leave your card and disappear into the night. It ain't going to get better. You must create clear results so that ROI is readily apparent, not ambiguous results where only fees are readily apparent.

Here are the major rebuttals to use when the prospect immediately wants to know what you charge:

• "I don't know what the fees would be, since I don't know what you need or even if I'm the right consultant. Can we spend some time talking about your situation first? That will put me in a better position to answer that question."

• "It would be unfair to you to attempt a response. We've just met, and both of us need to explore and learn a few things first. Let's table that issue until ...