HOW WE PRICE EMBEDDED ENGAGEMENTS
Why Our Embedded Engagements
Are Priced on Outcomes
Not hours. Not a timesheet. A base fee plus a bonus tied to results we agree on together before we start.
73% of clients now favor value based or outcome driven pricing over traditional hourly rates.
Nexus Expert Research, 2026THE PROBLEM WITH HOURS
Slide decks do not move the needle.
Outcomes do.
We do not deliver slide decks and leave. That has always been the SIG approach. Pricing by the hour rewards busy work over results, and it puts all the risk on you, the client, before anyone knows if the engagement will actually work.
The industry is already moving this direction. McKinsey now earns about a quarter of its global fees from outcome based pricing rather than billable hours, because clients are asking for it. TheStreet, 2026
This applies specifically to Embedded Engagements and Statements of Work, the projects with a defined scope and a measurable finish line. Advisory Retainer and Peer Advisory stay as a flat monthly retainer, because that is ongoing coaching, not a scoped project. Workshop Facilitation and Training stay at a day rate or per person, because the output is the session itself.
WHERE THIS APPLIES
Advisory Retainer
Stays a flat monthly retainer. You are buying ongoing access and honest guidance, not a project with a finish line.
Peer Advisory
Also a flat monthly retainer, for the same reason. The value is the conversation, every month.
Free Resources
Our assessments and workshop facilitator guides are free, no account required. Use them whether or not you ever hire us.
Embedded Engagements and SOW
This is where outcome based pricing applies. Real scope, real KPIs, real finish line.
HOW IT WORKS
A base fee, plus a bonus tied to results you can verify
Clients now expect consultants to own meaningful portions of implementation risk, and to stay engaged through execution rather than handing off a report. TheStreet, 2026 Here is how we structure that.
Base Engagement Fee, about 65%
Covers discovery, delivery, and the roadmap or build itself. Paid at kickoff and at the midpoint of the engagement.
Outcome Bonus, about 35%
Paid when one to three pre-agreed, measurable KPIs are hit within an agreed window after go-live.
This split is a starting point, not a published rule. The final split gets negotiated per engagement based on risk and confidence in the KPI.
WHAT COUNTS AS AN OUTCOME
Real examples, not vague promises
Specific, quantifiable KPI definitions are what make outcome based pricing work. Here is what that looks like for the engagements we run most often.
| Engagement | Example Outcome Metric | Measurement Window |
|---|---|---|
| ART Launch | Program Predictability Measure hits an agreed target | First 2 Program Increments post launch |
| Value Stream Build | Measurable reduction in end to end cycle time | 90 days post go live |
| Team Performance Program | Improvement in Team Performance score, measured with SIG’s own Agile Workshop Assessments | 90 days post engagement |
| Strategy to Execution | OKR or goal cascade adopted, confirmed by leadership alignment assessment improvement | 90 days post engagement |
A note on outcomes. Every metric on this page depends on a close working partnership. We need access to your people, your data, and your leaders, and we need a team that is genuinely willing to learn and change how it works. Where that is in place, outcomes are very achievable. Where it is not, no pricing model fixes it, so we agree on the KPIs, the access, and the shared commitment together before we start.
CLIENT RESULTS
Words from the people we have served.
These are leaders who stayed in the work with us, not people who sat through a presentation. That partnership is what made the results real.
“Stephens Insight Group has been a differentiator. Highly principled, they started adding value on day one, and our transformation has gained momentum and maturity through their contributions.”
Program Management Leader
Global Fortune 500
“Stephens Insight Group brought consistency and clarity at a critical time. Their calm, steady presence helped us navigate this transition with confidence.”
Digital Chief Operating Officer
Global Fortune 500
“The team was nearly crying with relief from the clarity that Stephens Insight Group provided!”
VP, Data Center Services
Global Fortune 500
Results like these start with one honest conversation about what you are trying to move and how you would know it moved. Bring us the messy version. We will help you turn it into a KPI worth betting on.
Start Your TransformationReady to tie your next
engagement to real outcomes?
Start with a conversation about what a base fee plus outcome bonus could look like for your project.