The Difficult —and Flexible— Price-Value Equation in Professional Services
Setting the price of a professional service has always been an exercise in unstable balance. We’re not talking about products you can touch, compare, or return. We’re talking about consulting, executive education, auditing, creativity, or any activity where the “deliverable” is intangible, context-dependent, and—on top of that—something the client cannot see in advance, even though the price has already been set.
When You Can’t Show the Product Before Selling It
For years, sectors like education tried to solve this structural impossibility. Enter Open Days: a sort of “day in the life” of a program, designed so prospective students could experience a taste of a master’s or MBA before paying the tuition. It worked for a while—accelerating buying decisions—but its impact has steadily faded.
Generational changes, market saturation, updated curricula, and above all the chronic rise of no-shows (we sign up for events we then skip) have turned the Open Day into a declining-impact exercise. People register but don’t show up, making it nearly impossible to build a perception that supports attaching a price to a service not yet experienced.
“Without prior experience, the structural problem remains: how can we accurately value a service before buying it, when the final value delivered is not only not clearly defined, but may vary depending on who receives it and how they perceive it?”
Perceptions can be shared, but they can also be personal and non-transferable.
In professional services the situation is even more complex because, unlike an academic program with stable sessions, the future deliverable—and the client’s perception of its value—is not fixed. It must be projected.
Price vs. Perceived Value
Pricing in consulting is as flexible as it is critical. Flexible because it depends on contextual variables—scope, urgency, uncertainty, level of interlocution, reputational risk, analytical depth, team dedication, etc. But critical because once a price is set, there’s no going back. The agreement defines both the starting point and the boundary.
Here emerges the key equation: Price vs. Service Delivered vs. Perceived Value.
And the risk lies in the deviation:
- If the perceived value exceeds expectations, the client thinks, “I would have paid more for this.” Great for them, not so great for the provider, who ends up delivering more than what was charged.
- If the opposite happens—if perceived value falls short—the client feels disappointed. And disappointment is the prelude to distrust and discontinuity.
The complexity lies in the fact that this equation is calculated before the service exists. We’re projecting deliverables that haven’t been produced yet—and worse, we’re also projecting the estimated future satisfaction those deliverables might generate.
The Importance (and Traps) of Brand
Brand, history, testimonials, referrals… they all help. They help craft a narrative that softens uncertainty and shape expectations, while increasing the client’s willingness to pay. But none of this solves the core issue: we are still projecting.
A client may trust you because “everyone recommends you,” but what they’re buying isn’t the final deliverable—it’s the promise of one. And that promise is conditioned by people, timing, setbacks, shifting priorities. Meanwhile, the negotiated price doesn’t change even if the circumstances do.
Willingness to Pay and the Expectation Game
In this uncertain landscape, understanding the client’s willingness to pay is crucial. It’s not just about how much they can pay, but how much they’re willing to pay for a certain level of perceived satisfaction.
“Expectations can be met, exceeded, or fall short. In services, willingness to pay is not static or uniform; it’s an emotional bet each client makes on their future level of satisfaction.”
And like all emotional bets, it’s volatile.
Strategic Consulting as a Shield
In high-level strategic consulting, another dimension emerges. Often the client already knows a substantial part of the future deliverable. They’ve seen identical frameworks, repeated similar processes, and know exactly what slide 7 will contain before it’s shown. So what are they actually buying?
They’re usually buying a mix of three factors: corporate safety, reputational coverage, and internal legitimization. Let’s analyze them one by one.
1. Corporate Safety: Buying Certainty in Uncertain Terrain
In complex and uncertain environments—mergers, reorganizations, strategic plans, operating models—decisions must be made with incomplete information. Leaders know they need to move forward but also know any step may have consequences. This is where large consultancies act as providers of “corporate safety.”
2. Reputational Coverage: Protecting the Decision-Maker’s Image
Taking unpopular or risky decisions affects not only the company but the executive personally. Every relevant decision brings exposure—and exposure carries reputational risk.
External validation reduces the likelihood of an error being attributed solely to their judgment. If things go well, they claim leadership. If things go poorly, blame becomes diluted.
3. Internal Legitimization: Making the Organization Accept the Decision
Many decisions don’t fail due to lack of quality but due to lack of internal acceptance. Teams resist, departments clash, incentives misalign.
A recommendation backed by a “big name” is easier to swallow. It brings external authority into internal debates.
In short: big brands become corporate shields. “Consulting Firm X said so.”
Translation: if things go wrong, responsibility is shared—or, even better, transferrable.
At this level, pricing reflects less the value of the deliverable and more the value of that shield.
Piloting Uncertainty
Projecting scenarios, anticipating deviations, and managing uncertainty are part of the job. In fact, that is the job. What else should we expect from a CEO if not precisely that: piloting uncertainty?
Professional services aren’t bought for what they are, but for the provider’s ability to navigate what doesn’t yet exist.
And that’s why pricing is so difficult. The price must capture something intangible: the ability to transform uncertainty into clarity, expectations into satisfaction, and promises into real deliverables.
