propose

propose — options, never an estimate

A single number is a commodity quote. The client compares it to other numbers and you've already lost the conversation. Always offer 2–3 tiered options. Three makes you think harder; one makes the client argue, three makes them choose.

Why options

• Anchors comparison. Three options compared to each other beats one option compared to "no thanks."
• Demonstrates judgment. Picking which three options to offer is the consulting work — it shows you understood the discovery.
• Gives the client agency. They pick what kind of result they want, not whether to buy at all.

Tier the outcome, not the size

This is the move most people get wrong. Bad tiers are S/M/L of the same deliverable — "20 hours / 40 hours / 60 hours of the same thing." That's still selling hours; the client just picks the cheapest.

Good tiers are distinct outcomes — each one a real choice about how much of the problem to solve, how durably, and with what level of commitment. Examples:

• Tier 1 — diagnose and document; client implements. (Lower price, lower lift, no execution risk on us.)
• Tier 2 — diagnose, document, and implement the core. (Mid price, shared execution.)
• Tier 3 — full ownership end-to-end including measurement and handoff. (Higher price, we carry the outcome.)

Each tier should feel like a different answer to the client's question, not a different size of the same answer.

Structure

1. Outcome restated at the top — one paragraph, in their language. Shows you listened in discovery.
2. Options grouped by value tier — for each: what they get, what's excluded, what success looks like, what it costs. Use the scope format inside each tier.
3. One concrete next step — "If Tier 2 is the right shape, the next move is a kickoff call by Friday; here's a calendar link." Not "let me know what you think." Proposals that end in vague invitations sit forever.

Cap at three. Maybe two.

More than three options is decision paralysis. The client can't compare four things at once; they delay, then go cold. Two clean tiers often beats three muddled ones. If you can't articulate a real third tier, don't invent one.

Anti-patterns

• Single estimate — turns you into a vendor in a comparison shop.
• More than 4 options — paralysis; they delay; deal goes cold.
• Same-thing-different-size — you're still selling hours; you've just dressed them up.
• No next step — proposals without a concrete next move just sit.
• Hiding the price — "let's discuss on a call" reads as evasive. Put real numbers next to each tier.
• Apologizing for the high tier — naming it "premium" or "if budget allows" pre-discounts it. Present it flat.

Pair with discover (the source material for which options to offer), scope (format inside each tier), price (how to set the numbers), position (peer-not-vendor framing throughout), and engagement-shape (so each tier reflects the right shape — project / retainer / advisor / fractional).