Telling the client the price
I have encountered very few partners who enjoy discussing money with the client. I know one partner - now a managing parter - who kept (and perhaps still keeps?) a list of billing targets in his top pocket. But he is unusual. It is ironic that a profession which has the closest form of naked capitalism I can think of (selling time for money) as its basic metric finds it so difficult to establish, communicate and defend price.
I believe the problem is that the typical partner sees the (a) internal costing and (b) pricing for the client as 2 separate processes which need to take place before we interact with the client. So our preferred style is to absorb information, consider consequences, calculate internal costs and then establish a price which we believe that is both fair and the client will pay. Then we tell the client. Usually via email.
This is poor practice for any salesperson. A client wants to know how much something might cost at the time he is considering making the decision. The cost forms part of the decision-making process, so needs to be discussed with the professional who will provide the service (i.e. you). In an ideal world the client would respond to your carefully-worded email sent 24 hours after the meeting with a well-crafted reply. In the real world they may not read your response for some days, in which time they have met other people, considered other priorities and forgotten the rapport which you had built with them.
The solution is to raise the price issue upfront, when you initially talk to the client, because even if the client doesn't mention it, you know they are thinking about it. You can then frame the price in terms of the work they want done, and explore other options which would change the price.
If you find the whole idea of discussing price uncomfortable, you should read the white paper on "The 10 step process to discussing money with the client." Once you get the hang of it it becomes both lucrative and useful in building client loyalty.
