Set Network Assessment Cost From Scope and Delivery Work

Say Where Discovery Ends

Tell the prospect: We can discuss the business problem and whether our service looks suitable. To inspect the environment and produce findings you can act on, we'll agree a separate assessment scope and price.

That gives both sides a decision. A fit conversation can establish the proposed outcome and who can authorize the work. It doesn't need to become an unbounded sequence of configuration reviews, troubleshooting, and redesign.

Picture a prospect asking you to inspect an unfamiliar application before you quote managed support. Ask what decision the inspection must support. Then have the technical lead establish what can be assessed, what access is required, and who has the relevant expertise. Don't promise the result from the sales call alone.

Define the Deliverable Before the Price

Write the assessment as a project with the same discipline you would use for other client work. Specify the systems and locations included, the agreed methods, the information the prospect must provide, and the output they will receive. List exclusions that affect the decision, such as remediation or specialist testing outside your capability.

Use this explanation: You'll receive findings for the systems listed here, the limitations of the checks, and a review of the next actions. Repairs and implementation aren't included in this assessment price. We will quote those after the findings are agreed.

Have the technical lead confirm the scope, permission, and method before work starts. Identify who can approve access and who will coordinate with the incumbent supplier. If access isn't available, record what cannot be established and agree how that affects the work.

On MSP Mastery, Andrew Herbert recommends checking data availability and integration connectivity alongside provider cooperation. He recalls a project delayed while credentials were unavailable. That's one practitioner's account, and a useful readiness check before you reserve technical capacity.

Cost the Whole Assessment

Estimate labor for preparation, information gathering, analysis, writing, technical review, and the client readout. Include travel, specialist input, and other relevant direct costs where they apply. Use the actual people who will do the work and their burdened costs, rather than treating the sales engineer as a free resource.

The model's US blended project rate is $185 per hour, and its project gross-margin target is 50%. At that rate and target, the direct-cost allowance is $185 multiplied by 50%, or $92.50 per billable hour. That's an allowance for all direct costs included in the calculation, not an extra amount available after labor.

Gross margin means revenue left after the direct cost of delivering the work. To price a defined scope at the model's 50% target, divide its estimated direct cost by 0.50. A 50% markup on cost would be a different calculation and would not produce that margin.

Use the $185 rate as a planning reference, not an automatic quote for every assessment. A specialist task, different delivery costs, or a different scope needs its own calculation. The target also isn't a break-even line for the whole business: sales and overhead still have to be paid.

Choose Paid Work or a Defined Sales Investment

If the prospect needs a substantial diagnostic deliverable, my preference is to quote it as paid work. Present the scope, price, prerequisites, and acceptance criteria together. Give them a useful result without making it conditional on buying the managed agreement afterward.

If you choose to provide some assessment work without charge, put an internal spending and effort limit against a defined scope. Name the person who approves that investment and the person who can authorize more. Set the limit from the work and sales capacity you can fund, rather than borrowing a universal free-assessment duration.

The internal record should show the cost even when the prospect pays nothing. Keep the commercial presentation equally clear. On a podcast, Erick Simpson recommends making deliberately waived work visible, including showing its charge and waiver. That's his communication suggestion, not proof that a waiver improves conversion.

You can say: We are including this limited review at no charge. It covers the items listed here. Further investigation or corrective work needs a separate approval and quote.

Keep the Managed Fee Intact

The model's pricing rule is to avoid discounting MRR to win a client. Concessions go on a bonus item. Its usual onboarding concession is quoted and then waived for the signed agreement. A prospect assessment is a separate scoping decision; it doesn't require cutting the ongoing managed fee.

Don't bundle a series of free assessments and fixes into a cheap recurring proposal and assume you'll recover the cost later. Cost the ongoing delivery work and the acquisition work separately. If you approve a one-time concession, record exactly what it covers and who authorized it.

For the prospect who asks for the monthly price to fall because the assessment is paid, use a direct reply: The assessment pays for the work and findings in this scope. The monthly fee pays for the ongoing service we have costed. We'll show you both before you decide.

Stop Scope Growth Before It Becomes Delivery

When the assessment uncovers something outside scope, record the finding and the effect on the remaining work. Ask the technical lead whether the agreed assessment can continue safely and usefully. Take any proposed additional investigation or remediation back through approval before doing it.

Give the team a short set of named responsibilities.

• The sales lead confirms the prospect's intended decision and presents the assessment offer.
• The technical lead accepts the methods, scope, prerequisites, and limits of what the assessment can establish.
• The project owner schedules the work and tracks effort against the approved scope.
• The owner or budget holder approves any unpaid sales investment and any increase to it.
• The assigned engineer records findings and limitations without quietly turning assessment into remediation.
• The sales lead reviews the deliverable with the prospect and separately quotes any proposed next work.

Take the next assessment request to the technical lead before promising a free visit. Put the intended decision, deliverable, effort, and price on the same page. Then offer the prospect a choice your team can actually deliver.