I do the deal with the economic buyer. For me, that’s an ethical matter.

They are the person who knows what they are trying to achieve and what that outcome is worth to the business.

My fee is based on the value of that outcome to them and their organisation, rather than on any notion of my own “self-worth”. –

The economic buyer can make the decision without needing further permission.

Early in my coaching career I tried to do deals with gatekeepers. They were interested in up-skilling people, fair enough. But when I asked, to what end? — what business result? — the answer was often unclear. The conversation quickly came to my day rate.

I don’t have one. I’m not sure what I’m “worth”, and pricing that way has never sat well with me. For leadership team coaching, the value lies in the outcome, not the number of hours.

Gatekeepers are responsible for protecting a budget that is already allocated. So, when I don’t have a day rate and they don’t have any budget left, the conversation is awkward.

More importantly, gatekeepers need approval from someone above them.

Ethically, I believe that person should be in the conversation. As guru, Alan Weiss, puts it:

“Ethically I must meet the person who is actually approving the expenditure so that I can be sure that his or her expectations are realistic and that I have the resources to meet them.”

For similar reasons, I don’t bid for work. I’ve never won work that way. In my experience, bidding tends to turn important work into a comparison of prices rather than a conversation about outcomes.

Most clients know what they want, but not what they truly need. Until we explore that together, how could I responsibly price the work? And how can anyone meaningfully compare the value different people might bring?

The same applies to funding bids. I tried it once and didn’t get it. When I asked for feedback they said, “Yours was by far the best bid, but your evaluation of the benefits was understated. You should have whacked up the numbers.”

That isn’t a game I’m comfortable playing.

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I also don’t get into ROI estimates. Leadership and organisational change are complex systems. You and your team ultimately do the work that produces the results, so the outcomes are largely down to you.

That said, as a rough rule of thumb, if the objectives you’re pursuing aren’t worth at least 100 times what you’re paying me, it’s probably not worth it for either of us.

And I don’t produce speculative proposals. I’m very happy to reach an agreement together and then write it up as The Agreement for us to sign and refer back to as we work together.

I learned long ago that asking for a proposal is often a polite way of ending a conversation.

I share all of this so that, if you are ever considering hiring me as a leadership team coach — whether as the economic buyer or as someone facilitating the conversation — you know how I approach these things.

To save us both from politely dancing around each other

Also, I’m sharing this with the coaching community — it may be useful when thinking about “Doing the Deal”, pricing and worth.