If you are a service provider, how do you set your price? And if you are a buyer, how do you know whether the price that you are given is reasonable? Beyond the obvious, price itself is an indicator of a number of factors: value, credibility of the service provider, work effort on the project, and risk.

While some may say that pricing is an “art”, it isn’t: it is bound by three specific factors:

1) Cost of delivery: Beyond the cost of labor, there must be sufficient margin to pay for staff training, technology, rent, and all of the other overheads involved in running a business. If these aren’t covered, the business will eventually become unsustainable.  What to look out for:

• Expensive offices and other signs of excess? (costs will be higher)
• Senior staff on the engagement, vs junior staff? (costs will be higher)
• Little investment in professional development, or reduced project scope? (costs will be lower)
• Corners are cut (costs will be lower; more on how to avoid corner-cutting.)

2) Competitive dynamic: Setting prices too high usually results in disqualification. Setting prices too low breeds suspicion: has the work effort been estimated properly? While it may seem that this factor might not apply when there is no competition (eg for a unique service or a monopoly) there is always competition: the project can be executed internally, or it can be shelved.

3) Budget: If the budget is lower than the price, then the cost of delivery and competitive dynamic make no difference – there won’t be a deal. What to look out for:

• Unrealistically low budgets: To win an engagement with an unrealistically low budget, either scope must be cut or more junior staff must be used. Or, the project will end up with a greater number of “change requests” and a higher total price.
• Very high budgets:  If the budget is higher than price, it will be harder to justify the project’s ROI.
• No budget provided: This is a no-win situation for everyone, as some service providers will deliver a Mercedes Benz-priced proposal, others a Toyota, and others a low-end Ford.  The truth is that each service provider can deliver the engagement at all three price levels: without budget guidelines, it is impossible for the buyer to tell which is best.

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