2000 the Professional's Guide to Value Pricing

by Ronald J. Baker

Book Overview

This guide shows professionals how to price their services for greater profit. It provides the information needed to evaluate the economics and ethics of alternative billing methods. Professionals are... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0156069938
• ISBN13: 9780156069939
• Release Date: January 2000
• Publisher: Harcourt Professional Publishing
• Length: 460 Pages
• Weight: 1.44 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.0" x 9.0"

Customer Reviews

The most important book to hit our profession in many years

Run, don't walk, to order your copy of this book. Ron Baker does for pricing our services what Montgomery did for Auditing.What a novel idea, to get paid for the value of the services that we provide to our clients.Ron Baker's goal, as he so aptly describes it, is "to trash time sheets forever". Keeping track of time is the biggest waste of time ever perpetrated on professionals. Accountants have become slaves to the concept of "the almighty hour". We are not selling hours but intellectual capital.Ron takes you through every step necessary to start your trip to successful value pricing. You will learn exactly how to present this to your existing clients. You will also learn how to use a change order when there turns out to be hidden surprises that no one anticipated. He will explain the concept of service guarantees as an excellent way of gaining new clients and show you in detail how to draft service agreements to use. The book comes with a CD-Rom that has many forms and agreements referred to in the book.I don't know too many people who are thrilled about the idea of having any work done for them without knowing exactly what the cost will be. It's like boarding an airplane in Los Angeles, flying to New York, and being told your fare will depend on how many minutes you're in the air.Ron Baker is truly one of the very few original thinkers in the accounting profession. Listen to him; learn from him, and I promise you that you will improve your professional life and most important, your bottom line as well.

Wish I had read this book 20 years ago

I bought this book on a trial basis, due to its cost. It came on a Friday, and I scanned it that night. I wrote the check next morning. This book changed my attitude about my profession. I was ready to quit. Burned out, tired, frustrated, and angry.Within one month, I had identified 5 major clients and had more than doubled the revenue from those clients. My staff is happier because they feel they are being treated as professionals and generating fees more in line with their abilities. We have "dismissed" several non-productive clients, and haven't missed the revenue. We work fewer hours at more enjoyable work and actually make more profits. It has positively affected my home life as well.

This book will change your life

Having read the previous edition of this book for just 20 minutes I e-mailed the author to tell him that "I have seen this book described as the most important book in the profession. Without a shadow of a doubt, it will change my life."The new chapters make this latest edition even better. Read the chapter on Total Quality Service to understand how to compete in the future. Ron Baker will completely change your views on pricing professional services. You will start to charge what you are worth with a consequent improvement in both income and self esteem.Recently I was in a group of 70 accountants who listened to the author speak on Value Pricing for just ten minutes. At the end he received a standing ovation. In my 30 years in the profession I have never seen accountants show such enthusiasm for a speaker and his subject.If you want to change your professional (and personal) life for the better buy this book.

I wish I had read this 20 years ago - Brilliant work !

Ron Baker has simply explained that in many cases if not even all cases, the client does not give a damn about how long an asignement took - he/she only cares about the "value " of the work !But how do we bill ? By time, irrespective of value ! The author debunks myths in a very clear & powerful way. Does this mean that we start to exploit our clients ? No, he clearly reinforces the value of value. He makes us see what we do through the perspective of the client & his value billing approach makes graet sense. the book contains valuable practical guides, easy to understand , about numerous billing concepts as well as examples & templates to allow the reader to put the theory into practice. I have, it works !

A Must Read For Increasing Your Revenue!

If you want to increase your revenue by working smarter, then this is the book for you! Ron Baker gives you excellent advice on how to be compensated based on the customer's perception of your value. I'm no longer billing by the hour after reading his book. I'm tired of not being compensated based on my true value! His explanations on why hourly billing does not work makes practical sense.I highly recommend this book for any professional still billing by the hour. Thanks Ron!