Live the Brief. Price the Process.
Hiring a consultant? A clear brief is the real first appointment.
If you’re seeking consultant fees without a clear and comprehensive brief, you’re not comparing apples with apples — you’re comparing
assumptions.
Every project starts with a brief.
At least, that’s the theory.
In reality, many briefs are incomplete, aspirational, or quietly ambiguous—good enough to start a conversation, but not good enough to fairly compare proposals or develop robust, coordinated solutions.
If you want genuine apples-with-apples comparisons, and if you want consultants to respond with confidence rather than caveats, the brief
has to do more than describe intent. It has to define the problem.
A brief is not a wish list
A clear and comprehensive brief:
- Defines what is decided and what is still open
- States the assumptions others are expected to rely on
- Sets boundaries around scope, program, and responsibility
- Defines coordination issues, processes, and aims.
Without this clarity, fee proposals can’t be meaningfully compared. One consultant prices risk conservatively, another assumes it away, and a third absorbs it quietly—until it reappears later as delay, variation, or stress.
What looks like a fee difference is often just uncertainty priced in different places.
From a clear brief to better solutions
When the brief is properly defined, consultants can stop guessing and start designing.
Clear briefs allow teams to:
- Test options against known constraints
- Develop solutions rather than hedge positions
- Coordinate disciplines earlier and more effectively
This is where real value is created—not in chasing the lowest fee, but in solving the right problem well.
Live the brief, not just issue it
A good brief shouldn’t stop evolving once a project starts—but it should evolve deliberately.
Living the brief means:
- Revisiting it when decisions change
- Using it to distinguish scope creep from genuine change
- Treating it as the reference point for all design effort
When the brief is lived, changes are visible and managed. When it isn’t, they’re absorbed quietly—until something breaks.
Price the process, not just the output
This leads to a harder question the industry often avoids:
Are we actually able to clearly define our own process?
Many proposals describe deliverables in detail, but remain vague about:
- How many design iterations are assumed
- How coordination effort is managed
- What happens when programs compress or assumptions fail
If the process isn’t defined, it can’t be priced properly. And when it isn’t priced, it’s usually subsidised.
Pricing the process creates fairness:
- Clients understand what they’re paying for and why
- Consultants stop gambling on goodwill
- Projects gain predictability instead of friction
Better briefs don’t automatically mean higher fees
On poorly defined projects, clarity may reveal real risk—and fees may rise accordingly. That’s not a failure; it’s honesty.
On well-defined projects, the opposite often happens:
- Fewer redesign loops
- Less rework
- Faster decisions
- Lower total effort
The outcome isn’t cheaper thinking—it’s better value.
Live the Brief. Price the Process.
Because if we want apples-with-apples comparisons, we need briefs—and processes—that are actually comparable.
Can we help?.
We offer a front-end service to build engineering teams. This service helps align the project brief, the design process, and the fee structure before consultants are engaged. It allows clients to compare proposals on a like-for-like basis, makes assumptions and risks visible early, and reduces downstream rework and variation. In short: we help teams live the brief and price the process—so projects start with clarity instead of hope. See the link to engineeringwise
