Yes, for the client. Yes, for the Agency. The most compelling reason is that you, the client, are paying what the product or service is actually worth. That incentivizes both parties to be at their best and forge the type of long-term win-win working relationship required for the type of change most CEOs seek from us. In his writings on economics, John Ruskin made one of the most eloquent arguments for value-based pricing:
“It’s unwise to pay too much, but it’s worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money – that’s all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it can’t be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better. There is hardly anything in the world that some man cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man’s lawful prey.” — John Ruskin.
How does this work in terms of estimates, invoicing, and payments?
Our work is priced on a project basis. We start by discussing your objectives and the value of the work to determine your ambition level. We agree on a scope of work with you before we price it up. In the pricing process, we develop two or three different pricing options based on our discussions. Timeline and payment terms are provided with each option. Our projects include an upfront partial payment to get the work started, followed by other payments depending on the duration of the project. Lastly, we sign a project agreement with you detailing the scope and terms.
