Consulting Firms with Established Brands Receive Higher Hourly Rates by up to 35%

PRLog (Press Release) – Apr 23, 2008 – The newly released research study from RainToday.com and the Wellesley Hills Group titled Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry 2008, finds that while brand leaders (27% of responding consulting firms) and “not very well-known” firms (73% of responding consulting firms) have similar standard / book rates, the hourly rates brand leaders actually get were always higher than their counterparts. The increase by level of professional is as follows:

•   Highest-level professionals (CEO, Principal): 20% higher
•   Upper-level professionals (VP, New Partner): 11% higher
•   Advanced-level professionals (Directors): 29% higher
•   Mid-level professionals (Managers, Post-MBA): 20% higher
•   Entry-level professionals (Associates): 35% higher

“It’s logical to assume that brand and reputation have a strong impact on a firm’s ability to charge higher fees. Now we know by how much,” said Mike Schultz, Co-President of Wellesley Hills Group Publisher of RainToday.com. “Firm leaders need to know this data as they build strategy for growing their revenue and maintaining healthy margins, and marketers need to know this data as they work to implement marketing and branding strategies that will have the greatest impact.”

With 645 respondents in the consulting industry, Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry 2008 provides the actual hourly dollar fees brand leaders get vs. lesser known firms, and includes actual fee data from 4 consulting specialties (operations, IT, strategy and management, and HR/OD and training). Other major findings include:

•   Median hourly rate index broken down by industry specialty, level of professional, and firm category (brand leaders and premium-price firms)
•   Discounting norms, including how often consulting firms discount their fees and by how much
•   What consulting firms see happening in the next two years regarding their fees
•   Consulting firms’ profitability levels and analysis of the most profitable firms
•   Critical factors that have influenced pricing increases and decreases over the past two years

“People want to know about how they compare to others regarding fee structures, pricing approaches and strategies, discounting, and overall pricing challenges,” said John Doerr, Co-President of Wellesley Hills Group. “Knowing how competitors in the industry are pricing their services will help firms be more competitive and more confident in their pricing.”

Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry 2008 is the first of five industry reports to be released. Forthcoming Fees and Pricing Benchmark Reports will be released for the following industries: Marketing, PR, and Advertising; Accounting and Financial Services; Law; and Architecture, Engineering, and Construction.

For additional report details and to view a complete table of contents of the Fees and Pricing Benchmark Report: Consulting Industry 2008 report, please visit the RainToday website at http://www.raintoday.com/feesandpricingconsulting.cfm.

This research report is sponsored by Deltek: http://www.deltek.com/pricing.

About RainToday

RainToday.com is the premier online provider of information, resources, and tools for service business rainmakers, marketers and leaders. RainToday.com features the most up-to-date resources including articles by industry experts, how-to-guides and tools, sales and marketing research reports, webinars and events, and a weekly newsletter. For more information, visit http://www.raintoday.com.

About Wellesley Hills Group

The Wellesley Hills Group (http://www.whillsgroup.com) is a management consulting, marketing, and lead generation firm focused on helping professional services firms grow. Wellesley Hills Group publishes RainToday.com (http://www.raintoday.com) to provide a premium source of information for professional services firms and service practitioners to help them market and sell their services.

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Erica Stritch
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RainToday.com

estritch@raintoday.com
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