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Implementing Value Pricing: A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms
Praise for Implementing Value Pricing A Radical Business Model for Professional Firms "Ron Baker is the most prolific and best writer when it comes to pricing services. This is a must-read for executives and partners in small to large firms. Ron provides the basics, the advanced ideas, the workbooks, the case studies—everything. This is a must-have and a terrific book." — Reed K. Holden founder and CEO, Holden Advisors, Corp., Associate Professor, Columbia University "We've known through Ron Baker's earlier books that he's not just an extraordinary thinker and truly brilliant writer—he's a mover and a shaker on a mission. This is the End of Time! Brilliant." —Paul Dunn Chairman, B1G1®"Implementing Value Pricing is a powerful blend of theory, strategy, and tactics. Ron Baker's most recent offering is ambitious in scope, exploring topics that include economic theory, customer orientation, value identification, service positioning, and pricing strategy. He weaves all of them together seamlessly, and includes numerous examples to illustrate his primary points. I have applied the knowledge I've gained from his body of work, and the benefits to me—and to my customers—have been immediate, significant, and ongoing." —Brent Uren Principal, Valuation & Business Modeling Ernst & Young® "Ron Baker is a revolutionary. He is on a radical crusade to align the interests of service providers with those of their customers by having lawyers, accountants, and consultants charge based on the value they provide, rather than the effort it takes. Implementing Value Pricing is a manifesto that establishes a clear case for the revolution. It provides detailed guidance that includes not only strategies and tactics, but key predictive indicators for success. It is richly illustrated by the successes of firms that have embraced value-based pricing to make their services not only more cost-effective for their customers, but more profitable as well. The hallmark of a manifesto is an unyielding sense of purpose and a call to action. Let the revolution begin." —Robert G. Cross, Chairman and CEO, Revenue Analytics, Inc. Author, Revenue Hard-Core Tactics for Market Domination
519 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2010
97 people are currently reading
565 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
November 3, 2016
My edition of this book has 365 pages. That is 363 too long. No, really. The premise of the books is that accounting companies charging their customers for created value stand to earn much more than those that charge by the hour. I agree with this statement. But believing that this premise will carry a 360-page book is naive at best and environmentally irresponsible at worst.
To understand where my frustration is coming from, consider this. Ronald Baker does not begin explaining *how* to implement value pricing before Chapter 27 (p. 230). And when he does, all he manages to do is draw up a list of random questions - How do we help make their business more valuable? Who referred this customer to us? Do we have any serious competitors? - that any sensible human would produce after reflecting on the subject matter for fifteen minutes.
How do you fill a book with content then? I'm glad you asked. Ronald Baker uses this book to summarize all the non-fiction books he has ever read. Literally. The famous authors like Peter Drucker, Dan Ariely, and Clayton Christensen as well as random wise men like Yogi Berra, David Ogilvy, and Voltaire - they all have a quote or two.
But what I found especially galling was Ronald Baker's penchant for going meta. Most of the individual chapters in the book end with "Summary and Conclusion" section. So first, you read a three-page summary of Peter Drucker's knowledge worker theory, and then there is a half-page long summary of the summary.
Oh, I almost forgot. Ronald Baker also includes some "case studies" and hypothetical examples, supposedly to illustrate the summaries he is producing. The protagonists of these case studies always follow the same script: they replace timesheets with value-based pricing and as a result end up earning more money. To me, however, the dullness and verbiage of those passages managed to drive only one point across - accountants make for terrible storytellers.
Sarcasm aside, the few mildly interesting ideas that one can still stumble upon in this book are largely borrowed from the iconic book on the subject: The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing by Thomas T. Nagle, John E. Hogan, and Joseph Zale. You would save yourself time and money if you just buy that book instead.
To understand where my frustration is coming from, consider this. Ronald Baker does not begin explaining *how* to implement value pricing before Chapter 27 (p. 230). And when he does, all he manages to do is draw up a list of random questions - How do we help make their business more valuable? Who referred this customer to us? Do we have any serious competitors? - that any sensible human would produce after reflecting on the subject matter for fifteen minutes.
How do you fill a book with content then? I'm glad you asked. Ronald Baker uses this book to summarize all the non-fiction books he has ever read. Literally. The famous authors like Peter Drucker, Dan Ariely, and Clayton Christensen as well as random wise men like Yogi Berra, David Ogilvy, and Voltaire - they all have a quote or two.
But what I found especially galling was Ronald Baker's penchant for going meta. Most of the individual chapters in the book end with "Summary and Conclusion" section. So first, you read a three-page summary of Peter Drucker's knowledge worker theory, and then there is a half-page long summary of the summary.
Oh, I almost forgot. Ronald Baker also includes some "case studies" and hypothetical examples, supposedly to illustrate the summaries he is producing. The protagonists of these case studies always follow the same script: they replace timesheets with value-based pricing and as a result end up earning more money. To me, however, the dullness and verbiage of those passages managed to drive only one point across - accountants make for terrible storytellers.
Sarcasm aside, the few mildly interesting ideas that one can still stumble upon in this book are largely borrowed from the iconic book on the subject: The Strategy and Tactics of Pricing by Thomas T. Nagle, John E. Hogan, and Joseph Zale. You would save yourself time and money if you just buy that book instead.
December 24, 2022
Intellectual weightlifting for the modern professional. Every day will be leg day.
July 26, 2019
Excellent book. Some challenging concepts. The beginning of my journey of understanding value pricing.
July 12, 2020
Este libro cambió por completo mi visión del pricing. En el sector legal, en el que me muevo, predomina el modelo de venta de tiempo, horas facturables y medición del rendimiento del equipo en función a horas. Ese modelo genera incentivos perversos por todos lados afectado el ambiente de trabajo, la relación con clientes y priorizando la rentabilidad sobre el propósito de las organizaciones. Los invito a conocer el mundo del value pricing y encontrar en esta metodología centrada en el valor percibido por el cliente una empatica forma de establecer fees y honorarios. Me ha servido mucho.
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February 4, 2022This book should come with a warning label: Reading this book may cause a Ron Baker Headache. Now, before you put the book down, let me explain: I ’ m not talking about a headache in a bad, migraine - y kind of way. Think of it more like what you get when you have an ice cream on a hot day, or drink a milkshake too fast
The fi rst Ron Baker book I came across was The Firm of the Future
alternative billing
Changing the predominant business model of the professional fi rm from “ We sell time ” to the radical “ We sell intellectual capital,
Value billing is not used because billing takes place in arrears, after the work has been done, whereas pricing takes place up front, before the work is begun. I hope you will seriously consider your choice of words.
I ’ m willing to be occasionally wrong. But what I hate most in life is to stay wrong . — Paul A. Samuelson
Now compare this practice with other industries — this process of adding capacity after revenue is backward. If you think of any other industry or company — from Intel and General Electric to FedEx and Microsoft — capacity is almost always added before revenue.
knowledge shared is knowledge that is effectively doubled throughout the organization. That is why former Hewlett - Packard CEO Lew Platt said, “ If HP knew what HP knows, we would be three times as profi table. ”
cost - plus pricing
E ffi ciency focuses on doing things right. Effectiveness concentrates on doing the right things. Productivity is about doing them both at the same time
Productivity and effi ciency are always a ratio, expressed as the amount of output per unit of input.
Thomas Sowell and his masterful book Basic Economics
What is the goal? Is it simply to crank out more work per labor hour?
by setting a nice comfortable fl oor under their earnings (via the hourly billing mechanism), they have commensurately placed an artifi cial ceiling over their heads as well.
The fi rst Ron Baker book I came across was The Firm of the Future
alternative billing
Changing the predominant business model of the professional fi rm from “ We sell time ” to the radical “ We sell intellectual capital,
Value billing is not used because billing takes place in arrears, after the work has been done, whereas pricing takes place up front, before the work is begun. I hope you will seriously consider your choice of words.
I ’ m willing to be occasionally wrong. But what I hate most in life is to stay wrong . — Paul A. Samuelson
Now compare this practice with other industries — this process of adding capacity after revenue is backward. If you think of any other industry or company — from Intel and General Electric to FedEx and Microsoft — capacity is almost always added before revenue.
knowledge shared is knowledge that is effectively doubled throughout the organization. That is why former Hewlett - Packard CEO Lew Platt said, “ If HP knew what HP knows, we would be three times as profi table. ”
cost - plus pricing
E ffi ciency focuses on doing things right. Effectiveness concentrates on doing the right things. Productivity is about doing them both at the same time
Productivity and effi ciency are always a ratio, expressed as the amount of output per unit of input.
Thomas Sowell and his masterful book Basic Economics
What is the goal? Is it simply to crank out more work per labor hour?
by setting a nice comfortable fl oor under their earnings (via the hourly billing mechanism), they have commensurately placed an artifi cial ceiling over their heads as well.
March 24, 2014
Comprehensive edition on value pricing. Would have loved more concrete examples of how to ensure profitability.
June 5, 2022
Fascinating perspective on pricing services with interesting real world examples.
February 22, 2025
While a little rambling, verbose and preachy, this might be one of the best business books I've read. Ron Baker provides a roadmap to professional service firms to transition to fixed, value-based pricing. But the book goes beyonds that and touches on overall business strategy for firms. I will re-read this again.
December 15, 2017
Game changer for me. As an engineer that transitioned into management, this book introduced me to new concepts that can be but into action and helped me articulate some of my experiences.
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April 16, 2017Indepth and well worth the read. I promise you that you will get more from the book if you read it more than once.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews