Price your debt-help advisory
Set pricing for cashflow and debt advisory that reflects the value you create, escapes the hourly trap, and gives clients certainty about what they pay.
What this play helps you do
- Understand why value-based pricing suits advisory better than hourly billing
- Structure pricing around defined deliverables and outcomes
- Give clients price certainty that makes saying yes easy
- Keep recovery costs cleanly separate from your advisory fees
- Avoid common pricing mistakes that erode advisory margins
9 min read
The opportunity
Hourly billing is the enemy of advisory value. It caps your income at the time you can sell, punishes you for being efficient, and makes the client focus on the clock rather than the outcome. Cashflow and debt advisory — where the value is foresight and recovered cash — deserves value-based pricing tied to outcomes and deliverables, not minutes.
Pricing on value lets you earn in proportion to the difference you make, gives the client certainty up front, and shifts the conversation to results. It is the single biggest lever for making an advisory line genuinely profitable rather than a thinly disguised hourly service.
Run the play (steps)
- Price the deliverable, not the hour. Attach a fixed price to each defined offer — a review, a credit-control product, an advisory subscription.
- Anchor to value. Set prices by the value of the outcome — cash recovered, debtor days cut, risk removed — not the time involved.
- Offer certainty. Quote a clear, fixed price so the client knows exactly what they pay before they commit.
- Separate recovery. Keep the success-based recovery cost distinct from your advisory fee, so each is clean and transparent.
- Tier where useful. Offer good-better-best options so clients can self-select the level that fits.
How to package & price it
Build your advisory as a set of named, fixed-price packages — a cashflow review, a credit health service, an advisory retainer — each with a clear scope and a price anchored to the value it delivers. Avoid quoting these in hours; keep the focus on the outcome and the certainty.
Keep recovery entirely separate from your pricing. On a no-recovery-no-fee model the recovery firm's commission is a success-based deduction the client agrees to directly via the refer a debt pathway — it is not part of your fee. This keeps your pricing simple and transparent and lets you offer recovery as a no-downside benefit. (Keep all guidance principle-level; do not quote specific figures you cannot stand behind.)
How to talk about it
Talk price in terms of value and certainty, never hours. "This is a fixed fee for a clear piece of work and a clear outcome — you'll know exactly what you're paying and what you'll get." Certainty removes the client's biggest objection.
When recovery comes up, be transparent: it is success-based and separate, so the client pays only if money is recovered. Avoid implying guaranteed returns from your advice; sell the certainty of the deliverable and the no-downside nature of the recovery route.
Key takeaways
- Hourly billing caps income and focuses clients on the clock — advisory deserves value-based pricing.
- Price defined deliverables with fixed, certain prices anchored to outcomes, not minutes.
- Keep the success-based recovery cost cleanly separate from your advisory fee for simplicity and transparency.
FAQ
Why move away from hourly billing for advisory?
Because it caps your income at the hours you can sell, penalises efficiency, and fixes the client's attention on time rather than outcome. Value-based pricing lets you earn in proportion to the difference you make and gives the client certainty.
How do I set a value-based price without guessing?
Anchor to the outcome the package delivers — risk removed, cash recovered, debtor days cut — and to a defined scope. Tiered options let clients self-select. Keep guidance principle-level rather than quoting figures you cannot reliably stand behind.
Where does the recovery cost fit in my pricing?
Outside it. On a no-recovery-no-fee basis the recovery firm's commission is a success-based deduction the client agrees to directly, separate from your advisory fee. That keeps your pricing clean and lets you offer recovery as a no-downside benefit.
Run the play — we'll handle recovery
Commission-only recovery your clients can trust. No recovery, no fee.