The ROI test, in writing, before every tier.
Consulting engagements drift when nothing forces the question: is this still worth it? Our tier gates force it — on us.
How the test works
- Tier 1 (Discover) runs at a flat fee and produces a quantified annual value gap finding.
- The gate: Tier 2 may begin only if the conservative band of the Tier 1 finding is a stated multiple of the Tier 2 fee. The multiple is in your engagement letter before Tier 1 starts.
- The same test gates Tier 3 against the Tier 2 model’s supported value gap.
- Either conclusion is delivered in writing — proceed, or stop. A written “stop” is a working feature of the methodology, not an embarrassment to be avoided.
What this does to your downside
Your maximum exposure at any moment is the current tier’s flat fee. There is no scope creep to approve, no contingency percentage compounding against your negotiated result, and no incentive for us to inflate findings — an inflated finding would fail on re-run of the formula, and reproducibility is the entire brand.
Contingency fees look free until they aren’t: a percentage of measured gap, recurring against a recurring gap, is usually the most expensive way to buy an analysis. A flat fee your procurement office can approve once is more defensible — and it keeps our incentives on the math, not the size of the claim.
See the gate applied to your own tier structure.
The Tier 0 Discovery call walks through the fee, the flat structure, and what the written test looks like — sixty minutes, no cost, no obligation.