Why we keep the first consultation free (and what that buys you)
It's not a marketing tactic. It's how we filter for the engagements we should actually be doing.
We get asked this a lot, usually with mild suspicion. Why is the first conversation free? What's the catch? The honest answer is that it's not a catch — it's a filter, and it works in both directions.
From your side, the filter is obvious: you have a real conversation with us before you spend any money. If we are wrong-shaped for your business, you find out without having paid for the privilege. If we are right-shaped but the timing is wrong, you find that out too. Whatever clarity comes out of the conversation is yours to keep, hire us or not.
From our side, the filter is less visible but just as important. A free conversation lets us evaluate the engagement before we commit. We do not work on every project we get asked to work on. About one in five free consultations ends with us telling the owner we're not the right fit, or that the timing isn't right, or that they should spend the money on something else first. We can only do that gracefully when we haven't taken any money yet.
What it specifically isn't is a sales call. There's no PowerPoint, no qualifying script, no junior account manager. The person on the call is someone who could actually do the work if it happened. We want the conversation to be useful even if you decide to take what you've learned and try it yourself or hire someone else.
If you want to know more about how we approach the conversation, the consulting page walks through it. We've kept the model the same since we launched the practice and have no plans to change it.