What we would look at
Named, in order, with what we would need from your side against each. Not "a diagnostic phase".
Before you spend anything
How an engagement runs
Five stages, the same every time, and the first two cost nothing. The point of writing them down is that you can see where the decision points are — there are three, and you make all of them.
-
A telephone call
Twenty minutes
Enough to work out whether a meeting is worth anybody's morning. If it is obviously not, we say so on the call rather than booking a meeting to say it politely.
-
The first meeting
Ninety minutes, no fee
At your premises if you want us to see the place, at ours if you would rather your staff did not watch. You do the talking. At the end you get an opinion, not a proposal.
-
A written proposal
Within a week
Two pages. What we would look at, how many days, at which rate, over how many weeks, what you are holding at the end, and what we would need from your side. The fee is the day rate times the days, and the arithmetic is printed.
-
The work
Four to twenty-four weeks
Mostly at your premises. A short written note every week saying what was done and what is next, so nobody discovers in week six that we went somewhere they did not want to go.
-
The read-out
Two hours
The written thing, handed over in a room with whoever you want in it, and argued with. Then a call ninety days later that costs nothing, because whether any of it happened is the only measure that means anything.
The proposal
Two pages, and every number on it is arithmetic you can check
A consulting proposal is usually eleven pages, of which nine are about the firm. Ours is two, and it has six things on it.
How many days, at which rate
A number of chargeable days and one of the three published rates. The fee is the two multiplied and the multiplication is printed on the page.
Over how many weeks
The elapsed time, which is always longer than the days, because nobody sensible buys five consecutive days of a consultant.
What you are holding at the end
The actual document, described. If the only output is a conversation, we say so, and you should probably not buy it.
Who is doing it
By name. There are six people in this firm and no bench behind them.
How to stop
At the end of any week. You pay for the days worked and keep everything written so far.
During the work
A short note every Friday
Half a page: what was done this week, what it turned up, what happens next, and anything we need from you. It exists so that nobody discovers in week six that we spent weeks three, four and five somewhere they did not want us to go — which is the failure mode of every consulting engagement that ends badly, and it is always discovered late.
It also makes stopping easy. A client who can read four weekly notes and decide the work is not going anywhere is a client who can stop at the end of that week, which is written into how we sell this rather than being a concession we make when asked.
Either side can stop at the end of any week. Either side can stop at the end of any week. You pay for the days worked, you keep everything written so far, and there is no notice period and no termination fee.
Most of the work happens at your premises. Most of the work happens at your premises. You cannot follow a job around a spreadsheet, and the things worth finding are usually visible only in the room where the work is done.
And afterwards
A call ninety days later, which costs nothing
Whether any of it actually happened is the only measure of this work that means anything, and it cannot be taken on the last day. So we ring, three months on, and ask. It is not a sales call and there is nothing to buy on it — about half of them are twenty minutes of somebody telling us which recommendation turned out to be wrong, which is worth more to us than the fee was.
House policies
Six of them, and they are the whole of the small print.
- Everything is written down
- A weekly note during the work, a written thing at the end, and a proposal before any of it. If a piece of advice is only ever said out loud, nobody can hold us to it later.
- Either side can stop at the end of any week
- You pay for the days worked and you keep everything written so far. No notice period, no termination fee, no minimum on a project engagement. The retainer is bought three months at a time and that is the only commitment here.
- The person who sold it does the work
- The proposal names who is doing it. There is no team of juniors behind us — there are six people in this firm.
- We tell you when it is not worth doing
- About one first meeting in four ends with us saying so. It is why the meeting can be free.
- Expenses are at cost
- Travel, materials and anything bought on your behalf, itemised, with nothing added. There is no administration percentage and no mark-up.
- Nothing about a client appears on this website
- No names, no logos, no testimonials. Every case study here is a composite of several businesses and is labelled as one on the page.
$2,200 a partner day · ninety minutes free · about one in four we talk out of it
Start with the assessment, or just telephone
The assessment takes about four minutes and gives you a written summary of what your answers suggest and which engagement addresses each thing. It is indicative and not professional advice, and it is a better opening than a blank contact form. If you would rather skip it, the telephone works and the first meeting is ninety minutes and free.