Clients rarely buy the services from independent consultants that are generalists. On the other hand, executives pay handsomely for specialists whose narrow Fishing Line precisely matches the problem they urgently need to solve.

Pricing tip #2: Trust your gut.

Before: You determine a fixed, final fee for the project before the project commences.

up for ten minutes. Give me a call this evening at . Or if that doesn’t work, I’ll be in tomorrow, too. I look forward to chatting.”

Then you go on to detail the extra steps you’re taking that deliver the incremental value.

YOU: “Yuri, you’ve been incredibly helpful during this project. You know that meeting people and building relationships are at the heart of what I do. Plus, I love meeting interesting people. Who have you run into recently who’s intriguing, creating change or shaking things up?”

Fee Structure #5: Variable Time and Materials with a Cap

$1.2 million risk-adjusted value.

The key is to communicate the two parts of the Fishing Line—your narrow target and the tightly-defined issue you address—in fewer than 15 words.