ALASTAIR DRYBURGH

Pricing Strategies for Consulting Firms and Creative Agencies


The Intelligent Pricing Architecture Briefing

This is a 39-minute briefing covering the principles and the steps of the process, with examples and case studies.

I’d say it’s worth watching in its entirely (but then I would say that, wouldn’t I?). But if you’re pressed for time I’ve put the timings of each segment below so you can jump straight to what’s most relevant to you.

0:00 Introduction: who it’s for, who I am, my credentials.

11:18 Principle 1: Water Wants to Flow Downhill, Not Up. Explains, among other things, why 99% of what you hear about value based pricing doesn’t work as described – it’s only step 1 of a 3 step process.

14:40 Principle 2: You Choose Your Own Competitors. Includes the secret of 17 words raised a fee 150%.

18:35 Principle 3: You Can’t Read The Lable From Inside The Bottle. This is probably the single most important point in the whole briefing.

The Process

20:10 Step 1: Understand Your Full Value (and why this is so hard). Includes the story about the Somali Pirates.

25:05 Step 2: Set Up The Right Comparison. Someone is going to set up a comparison; better it be you, and better it be a helpful one.

27:30 Step 3: Package and Present: includes the remedy for McKinsey envy.

33:30 Working Together: how it would work if you decided you wanted me to assist you.

What Other People Say

Mark Sherwood Edwards

I engaged Alastair to help me think through how to approach value-based pricing in the context of legal services. Through a series of weekly 1 hour sessions we worked through the best way to articulate the benefits provided to the customer, the different comparisons available for pricing (choosing the right comparator is key), and the best discovery questions to reveal what the customer really values.

Very, very useful. Recommended for anyone who wants to maximise the value they capture.

Mark Sherwood-Edwards, Lawyering for B2B SaaS

“Alastair is skilled at asking the right questions to help unpack the (real) value being offered to clients – and price accordingly. Our work together challenged some of my own assumptions; helped identify the right frames of reference for pricing; and reassure clients about outcomes/benefits. As a marketer I already know about value propositions & pricing. BUT even a seasoned barber shouldn’t cut his own hair … and working with Alastair is another example of when it is beneficial to get help from another expert.”

Matt Day, Meaningful Few

“In the first month, not only did the adjustments we made pay for Alastair’s fees, we identified enough opportunities to pay for the engagement 30 times over the next three years.

We unearthed highly valuable and unique skills that we had been underselling, and now have an entirely new vision for the future of the company. 

We made more progress in an hour a week with Alastair over 4 months than we had in the previous 4 years.”

Sarah Lafferty, Round Earth Consulting

Working with Alastair has had a massive impact already. Moving away from billing hours and £s towards focussing on value has been liberating. It has removed a lot of the noise and given us a lot more confidence in ourselves and the value of what we do. We’re looking forward to the results from 3-4 proposals we have out which are at much higher prices than before.”

Jo Hind, Bird Soup Consultancy

“At Curated we have an ability to look into our clients’ businesses and see things that they can’t because they are too close. It was amazing how an outsider was able to do the same for us, particularly an outsider who draws on multiple different sources. I have never met anyone like Alastair who can bring ideas from psychology, sociology, philosophy and even management theory to bear productively on business issues. We can’t properly calculate the ROI on our work with him because many benefits are still to come, but we are already beyond 10x”

Simon Douglass, Curated Digital