Those of us in professional services business are very familiar with the concept of hourly rate. Some companies have daily rates for their people. It is an accepted norm to have a rate sheet for based on the levels of people. While this concept works and helps in transacting business, my strong belief is that each professional needs to move away from the hourly rate mentality.

Come to think of it, the client is not paying for every hour that we spend on the project. In fact, if they did, that’s an insult to our intellect. They do pay for the value that we pack in an hour. What if we start thinking about the value that we can add in an hour, in a day or throughout the life of the project and forget completely about the hourly rate that the company charges the client. What if we come up with our own value rate. The amount of value that we intend to pack in an hour – quantified. Obviously this will be a far greater number compared to the hourly rate that is being charged.

If all our project team members start thinking in this fashion, I am sure our clients will experience a WOW in every project.