Tool

Consulting rate card builder: model a graded day rate card

Build a graded rate card from a borrowed ladder, with the day defined and the blended rate modelled on the rung you will actually sell.

The methodThe borrowed ladder

Ships with How to build a consulting rate card with no billing history, and is available on its own.

The rate card builder is an interactive tool for setting a graded consulting rate card when you have no billing history to price from. It borrows a ladder that already exists in your market, defines what a day is, writes the commercial terms onto the card itself, and models the blended rate on the rung you will actually sell. The modelling (modeling) replaces the usual method, which is guessing one day rate and spending two years defending it.

The inputs are the borrowed ladder, meaning the grades and published rates you can find for a firm one rung above where you will sell; your own grades mapped onto it; the definition of a day, covering hours, travel, expenses and notice; the commercial terms you want on the card; and the mix of grades a typical engagement will carry.

The outputs are a graded rate card with the day defined and the terms attached, a blended rate for each rung of the ladder, and a comparison of holding the rate while flexing effort against discounting it, so you can see what each does to margin over an engagement. A worked example is loaded and is invented, and it says so on the page.

The first card I wrote for the business that became DevOpsGroup decided more than I realised at the time, because a price is a strategy and the card written in year one decides what can be sold in year six. The builder is in development and comes with its playbook, How to build a consulting rate card with no billing history. The waitlist is open.

What you will get

Who it is for