Happy Friday,

I would like to start this email out with a bit of a confession. I don't handle compliments well. One of the things I've been trying to work on for a while now is not only graciously accepting them, but trying to sincerely see them as true.

In the spirit of that, I'm going to share a recent success story.

For years I've been building up the courage to go independent and consult in a way that is abnormal to most. In particular, I abandoned hourly rates and offer a guarantee.

I recently completed an engagement under this model, and both my client and I are thrilled.

I believe a momentary segway into hourly rates is useful here because it is so prevalent people may not be aware of an alternative or assume that what I do is so insane it should never happen.

Why I moved away from hourly rates is that first, it is a simple trade of time and money. Results are secondary. Second, it invites and incentivizes all kinds of unhealthy behaviors and conversations around how time is spent or if an hour is worth some amount. None of these things help my clients or me. If I'm constantly having to justify my time or rate, then I'm not helping my client. Similarly, if they're raising the questions, then the results are buried behind doubt and distrust.

Instead, I offer a flat fee based on the measurable results a client desires. Note I didn't say deliverable. I promise results, not a readout, a document, a bit of code, etc. The artifacts we need to help get the results are something I, as an expert, will produce on my way to results.

The difference between pricing on the value of the result vs the deliverable is huge. Most of the time deliverables are chosen based on an assumption that the deliverable will create results, but when it becomes clear it doesn't, buyer's remorse kicks in.

I then offer a money-back guarantee on the quality of what I do.

So coming back to this moment. I went through this engagement with a single fee for observable and measurable results and completed the work several months early.

Were I hourly, this would be bad. Instead, because our engagement was completely aligned to the value we each get, finishing early is a delightful realization.

So where am I going with this? Well, I really thought I'd push myself out of my comfort zone and share something I'm proud of, but also, if you hire consultants, you know of a different model that you can ask for that keeps you aligned, measurable, and reverses the risk.

If you'd like to know more, just email me!

Sincerely,

Ryan