Chapter 3
Price the complete engagement
Finish this chapter with a delivery-cost floor and add-on matrix you can use immediately to price the complete engagement, while avoiding accepting undefined work that destroys margin and delivery quality.
What you’ll get
- A completed delivery-cost floor and add-on matrix, not a list of abstract ideas.
- One explicit decision rule for price the complete engagement.
- A 45-minute execution sequence you can repeat yourself or hand to a teammate.
- A quality gate that tells you whether to move forward, run one small test, or revise the input.
Use this chapter as a working session
Open the document, spreadsheet, or Tapmy workspace where this decision will live. Replace sample language with the exact offer, buyer, channel, price, and evidence you have today. If a fact is missing, label it as an assumption and assign the smallest test that can resolve it.
| Time | Work | Concrete output |
|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Collect buyer words, traffic data, sales conversations, support questions, and current page copy. | A short evidence list with source and date. |
| 10–20 min | Make the single decision this chapter is designed to resolve. | A one-sentence decision and reason. |
| 20–35 min | Build the delivery-cost floor and add-on matrix with real names, numbers, links, and owners. | A usable operating asset. |
| 35–45 min | Review it from the buyer’s point of view and run the quality gate. | A keep, test, or revise decision. |
Estimate delivery cost
Include:
- sales and qualification time;
- kickoff and project management;
- production time;
- revision allowance;
- contractor or software costs;
- licenses and assets;
- payment and administration;
- risk buffer for normal variation;
- taxes and obligations relevant to your business;
- profit and capacity constraints.
Hourly math can inform your floor even when the client sees a package price. Price communicates scope, not permission for unlimited work.
Identify effort multipliers
Write the variables that change price: number of deliverables, length, complexity, turnaround, revision rounds, stakeholder count, source-material quality, licensing, and required access.
Offer add-ons that remain operationally clear
Useful add-ons are discrete: extra format, faster approved turnaround, additional revision round, source files, or implementation support. If an add-on changes the entire process, it may need a separate package.
Decision gates
| Evidence state | What it means | What to do next |
|---|---|---|
| The input is specific, current, and tied to a real buyer action | The delivery-cost floor and add-on matrix is ready to use. | Put it into the Tapmy journey and measure the next observable behavior. |
| One important input is assumed | The direction is testable, not yet proven. | Run the smallest test that can confirm or reject that assumption. |
| The asset serves several audiences, offers, or goals | The scope is too broad. | Narrow to one buyer, one job, one offer, and one reporting window. |
| The result depends on a claim you cannot show or deliver | Trust and delivery risk are higher than the upside. | Rewrite the promise around a supportable outcome. |
Quality standard
- The delivery-cost floor and add-on matrix names one buyer and one job.
- Every number has a timeframe, currency, or denominator where needed.
- Every link and handoff has an owner.
- The next action is visible without rereading the chapter.
- The decision can be measured through customer behavior.
- No claim is stronger than the evidence.
