Managing ProServe Rates
Value and Pricing Partners is uniquely qualified to aid professional services organizations achieve more profitable growth by better managing their rates and pricing practices.  Our consultancy is an Expert Alliance Partner of the Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA) and an advisor to the 2009 TPSA Market Rates Study, a global survey of professional services rates and practices in 30 countries.

Based on our work with professional services firms and the TPSA, we have developed proprietary processes for evaluating and improving the pricing effectiveness of proserve organizations.  A white paper entitled Pricing Strategically Using the TPSA Market Rates Study is available to members only on the Association’s web site www.tpsaonline.com .

Broadly speaking, professional services rates performance may be improved at two levels: strategic and tactical.  Strategic pricing involves the positioning of the offering in the marketplace, i.e. setting the list price level and structure.  Consider software implementation services.  There may be several different acceptable price levels for implementation.  For example, local IT consultants may have the skills and time to implement, but perhaps not much experience with the software and underlying business processes.  Consultants from the software company itself can achieve full implementation, reengineer processes and get high utilization in a fraction of the time.  Because of the higher value created, the software company can command much higher prices for its implementation services.  Strategic pricing asks the question: Given our value relative to the competition, what should our prices be?


Tactical pricing, in its most basic form, involves the degree of discounting off the rate card.  The goal of tactical pricing is managing the pocket price, i.e. the money you actually put into your pocket after accounting for things like volume discounts, discretionary discounts, free software, etc.  The domain of pricing tactics includes the processes and systems used to manage price performance on a daily basis.  The operative question is: How should our pricing process be improved to increase our margins?  Using a guided missile analogy, strategic pricing sets the missile’s target and tactical pricing controls the missile during flight.
Sound pricing practice is the management process, from strategy to execution, which delivers the right price in the right form to the right customer at the right time.  Getting price right is a key to capturing the right clients, selling them the right services, being paid fairly, securing good quality references and obtaining future assignments.

To arrange a confidential conversation about the pricing challenges and opportunities in your business, please contact tim@valueandpricing.com

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