Don't Hate the Player...Change the Game!

My brain sometimes conjures up the image of Bob Barker (sorry, Drew Carey) in the TV game show "The Price is Right!" and the announcer calling out:

"Gus Prestera, come on down! You're the next contestant on The Price is Right!"

I run down to the stage, screaming, hands in the air like I just won the Super Bowl.  Only instead of trying to guess prices for electrical appliances and other consumer products, I'm asked to price business consulting services. And then I wake up.

Then I dry off the sweat, pour another cup of coffee, and get back to that proposal I was writing.

Too often, to those of us providing organizations with consulting services, it does feel like a game, where the rules are stacked against us. The product we're pricing is not a product at all: it's an amorphous blob of services with a value that is a highly subjective and closely guarded secret. Not only is the blob hidden behind a curtain, we have no idea if it's behind curtain number one, two, three, or 53! The truth is, our clients often don't know either, but that's not easy for them to admit.

So with all that murkiness surrounding pricing for services, how do the pros do it? I've been a business consultant for most of my 20-year career and have worked with many brilliant colleagues who've been kind enough to share some of their secrets in a series of interviews I recently conducted for my Pricing Your Services course. Let me share with you one nugget of wisdom that I've mined from these interviews:

If the game is stacked against you,
try to change the game.

Unlike a contestant on The Price is Right, we consultants do have a choice in not only how we play the game but also in what game we're going to play. We have the ability to walk away when a game is simply unfair.  We also have the power within us to change the game--or at least to try.

Let's say that a prospective client approaches you about a project. She emails you to say that she wants you to participate in a Request for Proposal (RFP) process and that your proposal is due in five days. That probably means that you were among the last vendors to be selected for the RFP, and you're being invited to participate so that the client can have enough price points to compare (typically, they'll want at least three). Being a people pleaser, you agree to submit the proposal even though you know--or should know--that your chances are slim-to-none. How would a pro handle that differently?

A pro would evaluate the situation, determine what success looks like, and then critically assess her odds of success. If the odds are too low, then the pro would make a decision:

• Proceed as requested (no way)
• Decline (maybe)
• Or try to change the game (definitely)

Changing the game might involve simply asking for more time. Or, it might involve trying to get the client and her stakeholders on the phone or in person to have a discussion about the project, so that you can...you know...act like a consultant instead of an order-taker.

It might involve looking at the proposal and deciding to offer a completely different type of solution to the client's needs...something the client hadn't even considered. Why not? If the chances of success are low to begin with, why not take a big gamble and see what happens?

One time, a client asked me to submit a proposal on something silly. I had been doing work for that organization for a few years, but there was a new executive in charge and this was our first interaction. I responded with a memo explaining why I was not going to provide a quote for that project and instead suggested that my team could be of better use to them in a different capacity...one that was more closely tied to their business needs. I made a few specific suggestions and respectfully asked the executive to meet with me in person to discuss it further if she was open to it.

I agonized over that memo like you can't imagine. Weeks went by and no response. I had begun to assume that my relationship with them was finished, but then the executive's admin reached out to set up a lunch meeting. Say what now?!

It gets better. Over lunch, we hit it off, and the executive asked me to help with a much larger project. Within a week, we had a huge new contract, and that was the beginning of a multi-year engagement that became a cornerstone for my consulting business and a strategic vendor relationship for our client as well.  It ended up being a win-win situation, but it started with a courageous act.

Early on, you have little to lose.  As your business and your overhead expenses grow, it gets increasingly difficult to demonstrate that sort of reckless courage. Even so, I always look for ways to change the game, even it's only a small change to the ground rules. I'm less interested in negotiating for more time and am more interested in opportunities to learn about the client and their business needs, to develop relationships, and to demonstrate my unique value proposition. In other words, I want access. If I can alter the game in a way that gets me greater access, I know I can even the playing field with my competitors and I can help the client in ways that they can't even begin to appreciate. Without access, I'm just another vendor...just a commodity...just one more price point.

I'd love to read your thoughts on this, so please post a comment.

If you're interested in learning more about pricing your consulting services, please join me this Saturday (Jan-30) for a FREE Webinar as we discuss Pricing Pitfalls and ways to counter them.  If you can't attend, note that all registrants will be sent a link to the replay of the webinar.

Gus Prestera

Consultant | Instructor | Entrepreneur

Prestera FX | Prestera Academy