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We often treat proposals as beginning-of-relationship documents only. Once approvals go through, they get filed away and easily forgotten. The proposal then becomes a dusty reference point you only dig out when someone has a question.
But, what if your proposal should evolve as your client relationship does?
The engagement you priced 18 months ago probably bears little resemblance to what you're actually delivering today, yet somehow the fee hasn't budged. Sound familiar?
Working this way leaves money on the table. This isn’t a lost upsell opportunity, this is about covering your costs of the work you’re already delivering.
So what's the fix? Regular, systematic, repricing of your portfolio.
This article covers the three standard repricing triggers you should already be using, the hidden cost killer most firms ignore entirely, and the structural solution that changes how you think about pricing altogether.
The Three Standard Repricing Triggers
Inflation and Base Price Resets
Inflation and base price resets are annual adjustments that protect your margin. This is necessary but will never be sufficient for profitability growth. Make these an annual task at minimum, pick a date each year, and stick to it.
One exception worth noting: supplier cost changes. When your software vendors increase their prices, communicate this immediately and transparently rather than waiting for the client’s annual review. Make it clear to your clients on Day 1 that this is how things will work. This is also good reason to show software costs separately on proposals, so it’s super clear when your suppliers' price rises vs your firm’s fees.
Volume-Based Repricing
Changes in your client’s activity volumes should drive volume-based repricing. This is actually a good thing for your client, because even though they’re paying more, it’s a clear sign they’re growing. Employee headcount, transaction volumes or new entities are some of are the classic usage and complexity drivers that are chronically under-measured in our industry.
A systematised rhythm for volume-based repricing looks like this:
- Monthly for payroll-related changes
- Quarterly for transaction volume shifts
- As it happens when you spot something has changed (extra fee added to a software subscription, new entity created)
Key point: this shouldn't be an annual exercise. If you've not done it for a while, there might be a few surprises as you play catch up. In general though, it’s better to make smaller changes more frequently rather than leaving it and making one massive change. Kick off these conversation with positive framing like “congratulations, your business is growing”.
Volume based repricing should be regular and predictable, and your clients should be made aware that this is how you work right from the start of the engagement.
Scope Expansion (New Services)
Scope expansion is where you add services beyond the original engagement. This is the easiest trigger to justify and, paradoxically, the easiest to underprice. Watch out for “while you're at it” requests that seem like a nice favour for a loyal client but diminish your margin.
These three triggers are reactive, and the bare minimum for keeping your invoicing up to date. But there's a fourth trigger most firms miss entirely, and it's the one that's silently killing your profitability.
The Silent Killer: Complexity Creep (Not Volume)
Ron Baker puts it well: “Complexity is a choice. Pricing should reflect it.” Most firms price outputs, but the real cost is driven by friction, and the gap between expectation and reality is your unpaid overtime.
Picture two clients with the same fee, the same employee count, and the same services. But, one takes your team three hours to process monthly, and the other takes eight. Why?
The answer is complexity. Not the complexity of the work itself, but the friction, exceptions, and invisible labour required to deliver the same output.
What drives complexity?
- Poor client systems and record-keeping
- Decision latency (slow responses, delayed approvals)
- Stakeholder misalignment (too many cooks, unclear authority)
- High change frequency (constant pivots, revisions)
- Emotional labour (hand-holding, reassurance, conflict management)
- Exception handling (one-off requests, non-standard processes)
The core question that arises when you’re dealing with complexity creep is “did the client do what we asked them to do?”
Why complexity persists
Complexity often persists because we don't give feedback, but, do we even know how to give feedback effectively? Most professionals weren't trained in this, and we’re not very confident giving it. If you’re not comfortable giving feedback, your other option is to absorb the cost rather than have a difficult conversation, but that’s not going to keep you profitable.
The fact is, feedback isn't criticism, instead, what you’re looking to do is clarify your mutual expectations. This type of feedback should be timely (not saved for annual review) and specific, tied to outcomes.
Example language: "When we don't receive data by the 5th, it compresses our review time and increases the risk of errors. Here's what we need to make this work better."
Should complexity be addressed in annual reviews too? Yes, but real-time feedback gives your client a chance to change a behaviour before it becomes a habit.
And if the client can’t change the habit? You should consider accounting for complexity in your fees.
From Service to Product: The Structural Solution That Removes Complexity
Productising your services is the most effective way to eliminate complexity at the source.
Services are ambiguous; products have clear boundaries. Services invite scope creep; products have defined inputs and outputs. Services absorb client chaos; products require client readiness.
When you productise, you change both your delivery and the client relationship from reactive to structured.
What productising looks like in practice
- Systemise delivery through clear templates, standardised forms, and repeatable processes.
- Automate repetition to eliminate low-value manual tasks.
- Communicate clearly about process expectations, timelines, and client responsibilities.
- Define consequences for when clients don't hold up their end.
- Build in feedback loops with regular checkpoints where you can course-correct.
The double win
Clients perceive you as more professional and premium. Your delivery becomes easier, more predictable, and more profitable. And crucially, productising creates a standard of behaviour that makes feedback conversations far easier to have.
When you move from service to product, you can charge more whilst your costs go down. You're pricing a system, not just your time.
Pricing Is About Communication: Start with Value, Not Cost
Price is justified by value, not determined by cost. The value conversation should start with "scope of value" (desired outcomes) before "scope of work" (deliverables).
Questions to ask first:
- What are you trying to achieve? (Not "What do you need done?")
- What does success look like in 12 months?
- What's the cost of not solving this problem?
- What's this outcome worth to your business?
Then work backwards to what deliverables support that outcome, what process will get you there, what you need from them to make it work, and the investment required.
When you start with value, complexity charges make sense, feedback becomes collaborative, and price increases are about protecting value delivery, not covering costs.
The Living Proposal Framework
Annual reviews should cover a value check-in (are we still aligned on desired outcomes?), base price inflation adjustments, volume trend analysis, scope changes from the past year, and a complexity audit.
Ongoing monitoring should track monthly or quarterly volume changes, real-time scope additions, complexity red flags (missed deadlines, poor data quality, endless revisions), and your feedback rhythm.
You want the conversation to shift from cost justification to and more along the lines of “To deliver this outcome, here's what needs to change in our working relationship, and here's the investment that reflects.”
Repricing Isn't Awkward - It's Professional Leadership
Repricing only feels uncomfortable when you've waited too long to do it and when it’s a surprise to the client. But, when you build the right systems (clear proposals and terms, regular reviews, honest feedback) these conversations become a natural part of how you run client relationships.
The four triggers covered here aren't edge cases. Inflation erodes your margins quietly. Volume and scope shift without anyone announcing it. Complexity creeps in and never creeps back out unless you do something about it. Staying on top of these isn't about squeezing more out of clients, it's really about staying sustainable enough to keep serving them well.
Proposals aren't static contracts, they're living agreements. Productise your services, systemise your reviews, communicate proactively, and repricing stops feeling like a difficult conversation.
Start simple. Review your top 10 clients. Identify who's drifted beyond their original scope or become a complexity drain. Start there, fix the issues and see how your margin changes, and then roll this out to the rest of your client base.
Want the How-To? Join the webinar & get the Repricing Resource Pack
Jon and Simon will be getting into this topic on our next webinar, where you’ll get the full how-to and our additional resources for repricing. Join the webinar for:
- Why proposals go stale and what to do about it
- The four repricing triggers and how to fix complexity creep
- How to address repricing triggers without having awkward conversations
- A live demo of Socket's repricing features including the new Price Monitoring module
Plus, get our practical guides on how to gather data for systematic repricing, and how to communicate price rises in a clear and friendly way.
Thursday, 26th March | 1pm GMT
