Question:
I run a consultancy business. I’m struggling with how to market my consultancy against the bigger players.
My challenge is explaining that I deliver the same value as the high priced consultants, except that I can do it for 40% less then they can because of my low overhead. your thoughts?
My Response:Mr. P.,
You seem to be saying (in different words) that your issue is letting the clients know they get the same for less. Is that correct?
The issue is that using price as the USP is not very compelling in the consultancy arena. This is because no one brags “I got the cheapest consultant around.”
It is not like when you take an Arline flight where this is some sort of deep pride taken in telling your seatmate that you got the same sardine-seat for $110 less then they did. (on the other hand, people just love to impress others and discuss the hoity-toity consultant that they pay $175,000 to.)
Something you could do is take a base fee (your current fee) and then link the “additional” to a specific amount of amazing improvement in the clients condition (whatever it might be based on your particular area of expertise.).
By structuring things that way, you still get your base, the possibility and potential for making more, and a client that doesn’t feel something is wrong that you are cheaper then everyone else.
Does that make sense to you?
Cordially,
Issamar Ginzberg
Small Business Advisor and StrategistAnd to my blog readers:
As you can see, this leaves the door open to further discussion. In addition, the entire line of conversation is now much more expanded then a simple question and possible solution, but gives the questioner a much broader outlook for where he can tinker with the answer to that question in ways that until now were totally outside his field of vision.
Your thoughts? Leave a comment below!
I think you have nailed it again, Issamar. I am in the same boat as Mr. P. One of my former colleagues put it this way: “You are not there to help the clients save budget. You are there to help them spend their budget wisely, to help them get a great ROI for the money they spend.”
People hire consultants for a number of reasons. We like to think it’s because they need our help, but even if they do they don’t always hire us for that reason. I’ve had clients that spent hundreds of thousands of dollars for advice that they didn’t follow. I kept meeting with the leader who hired me to tell him that he wasn’t getting any ROI; he finally just told me “look…it’s our culture. We don’t listen to consultants. Our customers want us to hire consultants, so we do. It’s a marketing thing.” They put a lot of info in their annual report and their marketing brochures saying they were implementing continuous improvement.
What you have to do is show that you can deliver better ROI or better service, or that you can customize or be more agile than the larger players.