pricing-your-services

# Pricing Your Services Skill Freelancers treat pricing as one number when it's actually a structure: *which model* for which work, *how it's packaged*, and *how it's said*. Hourly punishes you for being fast; fixed-price punishes you for scoping badly; the right answer differs by engagement type within the same practice. This skill designs the structure — models matched to work, tiered packages that anchor, a script for the money moment — for someone who already knows their base rate (see [freelance-rate](../freelance-rate/SKILL.md) to derive it). ## What This Skill Produces - **The model map** — hourly / day-rate / fixed-project / retainer / value-based, matched to each engagement type they actually sell - **The package structure** — three tiers with the anchor built in, and what's deliberately excluded from each - **The rate-conversation script** — saying the number, then the silence; deflections for "what's your best price" pre-answered - **The discount policy** — what earns a discount (scope cut, longer commitment, prepayment), the floor, and the no-discount discount alternatives ## Required Inputs Ask for these if not provided: - **Base day/hourly rate** — derived, not guessed (route to freelance-rate if missing) - **The engagement types they actually sell** — quick consults, defined projects, ongoing work — each may price differently - **Scoping confidence per type** — fixed-price is only safe where they can scope within ±20%; be honest - **Client landscape** — enterprise vs small business vs startups changes packaging and payment terms more than the rate ## Framework: The Structure Rules 1. **Match model to uncertainty:** well-scoped repeatable work → fixed price (you keep efficiency gains); discovery-heavy or ambiguous work → time-based (client keeps the scoping risk); ongoing availability → retainer with defined capacity, never "unlimited access." 2. **Three tiers, priced to anchor:** the top tier makes the middle look reasonable (most buyers take the middle); the bottom tier is genuinely minimal — its job is to make skipping it feel like a real trade-off, not to be cheap. 3. **Exclusions do the work:** each tier lists what's *not* included (revisions beyond N, rush turnaround, extra meetings) — that's where scope creep dies and upsells live. 4. **Say the number, then stop:** state price plainly, no trailing justification, no "...but I'm flexible." The silence after is the client's turn. Discounting against silence is negotiating with yourself. 5. **Discounts buy something or don't exist:** smaller scope, longer commitment, prepayment, a referenceable case study — a discount with no exchange just reprices every future engagement. Know the floor (from the rate math) below which work loses money, and decline below it. ## Output Format # Pricing Structure: [practice] ## Model Map | Engagement type | Model | Why | Risk it assigns | |---|---|---|---| ## Packages **[Tier 1 name] — $X:** [included] · *Not included:* […] **[Tier 2 name] — $Y (most clients):** … **[Tier 3 name] — $Z (the anchor):** … ## The Money Moment Saying it: "[script]" [then silence] "What's your best price?" → "[deflection that trades, not caves]" "That's more than we budgeted" → "[scope-cut offer, same rate]" ## Discount Policy Earns a discount: [list with exchange rates] · Floor: $[N] ([why]) · Below floor: decline script ## Quality Checks - [ ] Every engagement type has a model AND the reasoning for it - [ ] Fixed-price only where scoping confidence is stated ±20% - [ ] Each tier lists exclusions, not just inclusions - [ ] The script ends at the number — no trailing hedge - [ ] Every discount names what it buys; the floor is computed, not felt ## Anti-Patterns - [ ] Do not use one model for everything — the model is per-engagement-type - [ ] Do not fixed-price ambiguity — that's donating the scoping risk for free - [ ] Do not build a cheap bottom tier to "win volume" — it attracts the clients who cost the most per dollar - [ ] Do not justify the rate after saying it — justification signals negotiability - [ ] Do not discount without an exchange — reprice scope, terms, or timeline instead