Why Engineering Consultants Charge for Advice

Gave them the answer for free. They paid us anyway. Discovery call last Tuesday. Prospect asked a specific technical question about their AI implementation. The kind of question consultants usually dodge with "we'd need to assess that" because giving away answers feels like giving away leverage. I just told them. Walked through exactly what was wrong, why it wasn't working, what they needed to change. Took maybe eight minutes. Enough detail they could've hung up and fixed it themselves. They signed the contract three days later. This keeps happening. Client asks a question. I answer it completely, no holding back. They could take that answer and run. Sometimes they do—I've had people disappear after a free consultation, implement what I told them, and I never hear from them again. Fine. But most of them come back. Not because they didn't understand the answer. Because knowing what to do and actually doing it in their specific context are completely different problems. The answer was "your data pipeline has a bottleneck in the transformation layer." The implementation is: which transformation specifically, how do you fix it without breaking three other things downstream, what's the sequence of changes that won't cause downtime, how do you test it, what happens when it scales, who owns it after you leave. That's the work. I had a prospect six months ago who took my free advice, tried implementing it themselves, came back four weeks later. "We understood what you said. We just... couldn't make it work in our setup." (Turns out their infrastructure was more complicated than they'd let on, and the straightforward fix created issues with their legacy systems.) People don't pay for information anymore. Google exists. ChatGPT exists. The specific answer to almost any technical question is out there somewhere. They pay for judgment. For knowing which answer applies to their situation. For making it actually work when theory meets their messy reality. So I give away the answer. The ones who just needed information leave happy. The ones who need implementation hire us. Trying to hoard information just makes you look like you don't have much worth protecting.

An agency owner I was speaking to yesterday was incredibly frustrated. Clients keep ringing with questions that aren't strictly about website maintenance. "Where does my remit finish?" she asked. I hear this all the time. A client calls about selling their business and wants advice on domain transfer. Another asks about pricing strategy. Someone else needs help explaining technical details to their solicitors. And we feel awkward charging for these conversations because they're not part of the deliverable we quoted for. But that's exactly backwards. The deliverable (the website, the design, the code) are commodities. Anyone reasonably competent can build a website. What clients are actually buying is your judgment. Your experience. Your ability to make sense of things they find confusing. That's why they keep coming back with questions. They trust you. They value your opinion. And that trust is worth far more than the technical work. So yes, charge for it. Not in a sneaky, nickel-and-dime way. But as an explicit part of your service offering. In my consulting work, everything runs on time banks. A client emails me with a strategy question? That's 30 minutes against their balance. They want to talk through a hiring decision? Another hour logged. At the end of each month, they get an automatic email showing hours used and hours remaining. Clean. Transparent. No surprises. I've found people actually prefer this. It feels like insurance. They know there's always someone they can turn to when they're stuck. And I make more money giving advice than I ever did delivering finished documents. Because knowledge is the actual product. Everything else is just packaging. #ConsultingBusiness #UXLeadership #ValuePricing

There is a role that chose me, not the other way around. I never saw myself as a consultant. Back in my corporate days, I didn’t understand the value of consulting. I’d think, “Why would anyone pay hundreds of euros for an hour of advice?” Now, with (only, barely starting) over 15 hours of professional consulting, the picture looks very different. Here’s what I’ve learned: 💡 As a consultant, you add value because you know something others don’t. And that “something” is worth a lot of $$$. It’s not just knowledge or experience. It’s the unique combination of: 👉 First-hand experience: I was there when brands struggled, when wins were celebrated, and when hard lessons were learned. I’ve seen strengths leveraged and weaknesses derail entire projects. 👉 Strategic foresight: I don’t just know the path forward. I see the risks and pitfalls long before they appear. 👉 Real financial impact: The insights you bring as a consultant can save millions or generate them when shared at the right time. And here’s something most people don’t see. For every consulting hour billed, there are hours spent preparing. Understanding the client’s needs, aligning strategies, and tailoring solutions doesn’t happen in a vacuum. That “one hour” on a call is backed by thoughtful preparation and years of expertise. This is why I think about all those posts criticizing consulting rates. “€300 an hour? That’s insane!” I used to think the same way, but now I see it differently. With just over 15 hours with professional consulting gigs, my rates already range between €350 and €450 per hour, depending on the project. Is that excessive? I don’t think so. Here’s why: 🔑 I only take on projects where I know I can deliver real value. It’s not about selling my time. It’s about ensuring the strategies and solutions I provide lead to measurable impact. 🔑 The cost of not knowing is far higher. I’ve seen what happens when a critical insight is missed or a wrong decision is made. The financial and operational repercussions can be staggering. The reality is, consulting isn’t just about the hour you spend on the call. It’s about the preparation beforehand, the expertise behind it, and the ripple effects of those insights. I’m sharing this not to boast, but to shift perspectives. Consulting isn’t about paying for one hour. It’s about paying for the results that hour delivers. What do you think? Have you ever looked at consulting from this angle?

A client paid McKinsey ~$1 million for procurement advice. The revolutionary strategy they received? “Send an RFP to more suppliers.” There’s something fundamentally dangerous about the gap between consulting fees and the actual value they provide. Having worked on both sides as a consultant and in industry, I've seen this pattern repeatedly. Companies pay premium fees for obvious advice their teams already know but aren't empowered to implement. Here's why this happens: 1. External voice bias: When executives hear the same recommendations from a prestigious firm that their internal team suggested, suddenly it becomes brilliant. The messenger matters more than the message. 2. Confirmation Purchase: Companies often hire consultants not to challenge thinking but to validate decisions they've already made. The expensive report becomes a shield against criticism. 3. Resource Imbalance: When consultants suggest implementing changes, they rarely account for the fact that your team must execute these ideas with existing resources, not with a team of 10 analysts working 80-hour weeks. This is why I made my consulting approach to be outcome-based. No million-dollar slide decks without results. No generic advice without implementation support. I help companies build consulting-level capabilities internally all while delivering tangible results. It creates teams that understand both the technical aspects of procurement and the business context in ways no external consultant ever could. Procurement consulting shouldn't just tell you what to do, it should ensure you don't need consultants again. It should transfer skills, build your team's capabilities, and deliver measurable outcomes. The procurement landscape is too dynamic to rely on external voices telling you the obvious. Your team needs the experience, the tools, the mindset and confidence to drive value independently. And when they get stuck, they need someone who can step in, bail them out, and keep them moving toward results, while helping them build the capability to solve it themselves next time. What's the most obvious (or absurd) piece of advice you've seen companies pay consultants for? _____ PS: We’ve a WhatsApp community for the best of the procurement minds. If you are curious, join us here: https://lnkd.in/gHNVrpjE

The True Cost of Getting It Wrong When people ask, "What are your rates?", I sometimes hear that sharp intake of breath followed by, "Oh! That sounds expensive!" But let me ask you this—what’s the cost of getting it wrong? As consultants, our job isn’t just to answer the question you think you need answered. It’s to ask the right questions. Often, clients come to us with a problem, only for us to uncover a deeper issue they hadn’t even considered. 🔎 The Exam Question Before diving into solutions, we stand at the whiteboard and ask: 💡 What’s the real problem here? 💡 Are we solving the right thing? 💡 Are there risks or inefficiencies that haven’t been spotted? Because by going through this process, we often uncover that what a client initially believes they need turns out to be unnecessary, infeasible, or even counterproductive. The value of good consulting is in avoiding expensive mistakes before they happen. Take the Oceangate Sub disaster—a classic case of cost-cutting leading to catastrophe. If the right questions had been asked upfront, the sub would not have imploded, and nobody would have died. In engineering, and in business, you get what you pay for. Investing a little more in expert guidance upfront can mean the difference between smooth execution and costly disaster. That’s why we offer commercial support contracts—STARPLAN® and FLEXPLAN®—designed as a safety net for our clients. They offer access to expert guidance exactly when you need it, preventing expensive missteps before they happen, and providing excellent value for your engineering needs. 🚀 The best clients understand the value of expertise—not just the price. What do you think? Have you ever seen the cost of a bad decision outweigh the cost of good advice? Let’s discuss. 👇 #Engineering #Consulting #OffshoreEnergy #NavalArchitecture #ProjectSuccess #LessonsLearned #ValueMatters #STARPLAN #FLEXPLAN #FYNB

Don’t underestimate the value of your expertise! In fields like architecture and engineering, our knowledge and experience are priceless. Casual requests for "quick advice" or "just a quick inspection" can undermine the dedication and education that built those skills. When we say yes but mention our fee, it's essential to value our work: - Recognising Value: Free advice can devalue our entire profession. - Maintaining Professional Dignity: Charging appropriately sets a standard of respect for our services. - Setting Industry Standards: Proper fees establish expectations for all professionals. Ultimately, saying “no” to free advice is about knowing—and asserting—our worth. #Professionalism #Expertise #ValueYourself

I watched a consultant spend 40 hours on discovery and scoping for a prospect. Detailed requirements gathering, architecture review, risk assessment, the whole nine yards. The prospect then ghosted. Zero revenue. Forty hours gone. This happens constantly in our industry, and we treat it like it's normal. Here's the thing: presales is work. Real work. It requires expertise, time, and resources. Yet most VARs, MSPs, and consultants give it away for free, treating it as a gate-keeper activity before the "real" project begins. That's backwards. Think about it this way. If a prospect needs a network assessment, you charge for it. If they need security consulting, you charge for it. If they need a strategic technology review, you charge for it. But if they need discovery and scoping to understand their problem and your solution? Suddenly it's free. The math doesn't work. Studies show VARs and MSPs spend 20-40% of their time on presales activities. If you're not charging for that time, you're eroding your margins on every deal. And worse, you're attracting the wrong kind of prospect—the tire-kickers who will waste your time because they have nothing invested. Free presales also create scope creep. When a prospect hasn't paid for discovery, they don't value it. They'll ask for "just one more thing" during scoping. Then during delivery, they'll claim you missed requirements that were never discussed. You end up delivering more than you quoted because the presales phase was rushed and undervalued. Here's what changes when you charge for presales: 1. prospects take it seriously. They're invested. They show up prepared. They engage thoughtfully because they're paying for your expertise. 2. you filter out the tire-kickers. The serious buyers move forward. The ones just shopping around disappear. Your pipeline becomes cleaner. 3. you get paid for your time regardless of outcome. If a deal doesn't close, you've still been compensated for the work. That's professional. 4. your project delivery improves. Because presales was thorough and properly scoped, your delivery team has clear requirements. Scope creep drops. Profitability goes up. You can structure this as a flat discovery fee, an hourly engagement, or a fee that gets credited toward the project if they move forward. The structure matters less than the principle: presales is a service. Charge for it. Your time is valuable. Stop giving it away. What's your biggest hesitation about charging for presales?

Salary is paid for doing. Consulting fee is paid for knowing. Employees are paid to execute. Consultants are paid to solve. One values time. The other values expertise. If you're shifting or hiring from a salaried role to consulting — the mindset must shift too. You're not charging for hours. You're charging for outcomes. Know the difference. Price accordingly.

When I first started consulting, I charged an hourly rate. That was a mistake. I was thinking like an employee charging an hourly rate. And I know I am not alone because I have now had multiple conversations with data engineers and data scientists who are often charging as little as $35 an hour for their time. Which is drastically undercharging. So if you're just starting out here are just a few key values you offer as a consultant that you might not realize you should consider. Experience - You're not just paid for getting the job done, you're getting paid for knowing how to do it better than others because you've done it before. One common question I get during most projects is "How have you seen other companies do it". Temporary Engagement - Hiring and firing employees is expensive. A company has to manage benefits, possibly offer severance, onboarding, and possibly deal with legal problems if they fire their employee. But a consultant’s engagement can end at any time. Meaning you could be saving a company tens of thousands of dollars due to this flexibility alone. Speed - One of the biggest benefits most experienced consultants offer is speed. Due to their experience as well as their focus, consultants can often come in and deliver a specific piece of work faster than an employee who may only occasionally take on a migration or similar project. Risk Reduction - Paying a consultant can also come with some level of risk reduction. Either because a company is trying to figure out the best solution to pick and your perspective could help save 100s of thousands of dollars and the fact that you've likely done a type of project before ensures it'll more likely succeed. And honestly those are just a few of the benefits you bring as a consultant, plus don't forget you've got to handle taxes, benefits, etc. So please charge more than $35/hr(this is some what location based). Now if you do feel stuck and don't know what to charge or how to charge. Or maybe you're stuck on marketing or sales. Then you should consider joining the community of +700 other consultants I have recently started!

Why Do We Hesitate to Pay for Consultancy? In India, we readily pay for tangible things—materials, labor, and execution. But when it comes to paying for expertise, we hesitate. I’ve experienced this firsthand. A lot of work happens behind the scenes—anticipating risks, solving problems before they arise, and ensuring seamless execution. Yet, when the bill is raised, the client simply asks: “What have you done?” Why? Because the most critical work often goes unnoticed. 🔹 The fire you never had to put out? That’s because someone predicted and prevented it. 🔹 The project that ran smoothly? That’s because someone worked behind the scenes, ensuring every piece fit together. 🔹 The seamless experience? That’s because someone thought through the details, long before execution began. But here’s the irony: The same people who hesitate to pay a consultant ₹50,000 to ensure smooth execution often end up losing lakhs due to poor planning or mismanagement. In my industry, I think an architect is the poorest soul who is on the wrong side of it mostly. After offering very valuable advise to clients to win a project, the client does not pay for the advise and acts as if he already knew it. Good consultancy pays for itself. It’s time we start valuing the expertise that saves us time, money, and unnecessary stress. #Consultancy #ValueOfExpertise #ConstructionManagement #ProfessionalFees