A great way to determine the value of an engagement is to reverse the desired outcome and ask what would happen if the project failed.
What would the immediate and longterm implications be? What pain would they feel?
What would the sunk costs vs. the potential gains be? And what is the delta between those two points?
As a consultant, your job is to capture the potential upside of your clients’ situation while also mitigating the downside risks.
They’re two sides of the same coin.
The value potential of an engagement is the total span between utter failure and total success.
That’s the conversation you should be having when discussing the value of your services—especially when price is a factor.
