The Contract and Fee-Setting Guide for Consultants and Professionals [Paperback]

Howard L. Shenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 16, 1990

Expert advice on how to strike a fair deal and command a fair price. The Contract and Fee-Setting Guide for Consultants & Professionals No matter how knowledgeable you are in your field..No matter how great your track record..No matter how expert your advice or impressive your credentials . you jeopardize your client base if you do not instill every phase of your practice with a consummate professionalism. And for sharp clients, the first clear signs of such a savvy professionalism are the ability to set fees at a fair market price and offer neat, straightforward contracts with clearly delineated terms. This book teaches you, in a few days, what it traditionally took people half a lifetime to learn through trial and error. In writing it, the author drew on his more than twenty years as a business consultant, lecturer, and author to offer you tips on how to ask for and get the fees you deserve and to establish contract terms that are in the best interests of you and your clients. Throughout he shares his insider's expertise on:
* Determining market value for your services
* Establishing per diem or per-project rates and calculating overhead
* Advantages and disadvantages of various systems of fee-setting and billing
* Six major goals of every contract
* Negotiating the contract and avoiding legal pitfalls

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Howard L. Shenson has twenty years' experience as a business consultant, renowned lecturer (over 100,000 people have attended his seminars on marketing consulting and professionals services), and bestselling author. He is the editor and publisher of the Professional Consultant and Information Marketing Report.

Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 1 edition (January 16, 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471515388
• ISBN-13: 978-0471515388
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #320,349 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great for startups or exisiting businesses!, May 2, 2001

By 

Joseph Lopez "joepez" (Austin, TX) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Contract and Fee-Setting Guide for Consultants and Professionals (Paperback)

As an experienced consultant I've found this book to be extremely useful when I stumbled across it. I've recently started my own consulting practice and have found this book to contain some really useful information and steps on setting up your fees along with developing contracts. It reads very easily and walks you through the process step-by-step. Wish I had found this book while I worked for a larger consulting company, it would have helped out a number of times when trying to walk through the process, or as an education for anyone developing proposales, fees, and contracts. Highly recommend it for anyone in the consulting field (either solos or working for one of the big boys).

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What a GREAT resource!, October 31, 2001

By 

James Carter (Castro Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contract and Fee-Setting Guide for Consultants and Professionals (Paperback)

I first picked up this book at the library when starting my consulting agency. I found it so valuable as a second and third read and as a resource, that I ended up paying almost $20.00 in late fees. I should have just bought the book, as should you. I highly recommend it.

There are MANY of these types of books out there, but this is definitely in the 'Gotta have it' section. I bought it and continually use it as a resource.

The greatest part is that it covers some VERY difficult material well. I found fee setting and the interim and final reports extremely difficult to do before I bought this book.

It is important to note that this book is not just for independent consultants, but for anyone selling consulting services and other professional services.

If you are not sure whether you want it, get it at the library and take a look. Just remember to take it back!

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Real world experience, July 23, 2000

By 

Geoff Crawford (Denville, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Contract and Fee-Setting Guide for Consultants and Professionals (Paperback)

A friend and business owner once told me you can't get business knowledge from a book. I agree you need to go out and actually do it yourself, but she was wrong that you can't learn how from a book. Shenson seems to have really understood the nature of the independent consulting industry from experience. It's easy to trivialize just how much consulting depends on trust and relationships with clients. But Shenson not only reminds us of this, he also shows what to do about it and gives real world ideas of the types of strategies that work. (and ones that don't)