Not all prices age well

Just something to consider if you have a longer sales process.

…or if there’s a gap between when you close a deal and when you start the work.

A revealed price does not age well.

The price you feel comfortable saying today can feel wrong by the time the work begins.

Most advisory and consulting work does not close fast. Good work takes time to buy. Months, not days.

Which means you are often pricing future work at today’s rates.

You set the price in one moment. You deliver in another.

Here’s the picture.

You quote 3 prospects today a service at $25,000. Same scope. Same duration.

• One prospect closes faster than usual (2 months) and starts right away.

• Another takes 4 months to close, and another 3 months to start.

• A third verbally commits but wants to wait until next fiscal budget spend.

All at the same price.

Then, halfway through that process, a new prospect shows up. Same work. But now your price is $31,000.

Nothing about the work changed.

But suddenly, some deals feel worse than others. Not because they were wrong at the time. Because time passed.

That discomfort is real.

It’s the feeling of using today’s price for work that lives in the future.

The takeaway:

If the work starts later, the price has to think ahead.

The longer the distance between price reveal and delivery, the more your pricing needs to reflect where your business will be, not where it is.

Thank you for reading.

Be well. Talk soon.

— Peter

P.S. When you’re ready to work on your pricing strategy, start with an audit to find what to charge, when to reveal, and how to frame your rates.