How to Package Your Consulting Services

Consulting packages are bundles of sessions and deliverables sold at a fixed price for a defined outcome, rather than time sold by the hour. They make it easier for clients to say yes, because they can see exactly what they get, and they make your income more predictable. If you want to earn money giving advice online, moving from "book an hour" to "choose a package" is one of the highest-leverage changes you can make.

This guide walks through how to design packages, how to price them and how to present them on a marketplace such as ConsultChat, where clients book 15, 30 or 60-minute sessions and pay at booking.

Why packages beat hourly booking

Hourly consulting has three problems. Clients compare your rate with everyone else's rate rather than with the value of the result. You get paid less as you get faster. And every booking is a fresh sales conversation.

A package answers a different question: "What will it cost to get this problem solved?" A client who needs a CV rewritten, a pricing model built or a Shopify store audited does not care whether that takes you 40 or 90 minutes. They care that it gets done and that they know the total up front.

Packages also stop the drift of "just one more quick question" eating into unpaid time, because the scope is written down before anyone starts.

Step 1: Start with one outcome, not your whole skill set

Most consultants try to build consulting packages around everything they know. Resist that. Pick the problem clients bring you most often and describe the finished state in one sentence:

• "A LinkedIn profile that gets recruiter messages within 30 days."
• "A 12-month cash-flow forecast your bank manager will accept."
• "A clear decision on whether to register for VAT, with the numbers behind it."

If you cannot describe the outcome in a sentence, the package is not ready. Clients buy outcomes they can picture.

Step 2: Build three tiers

Three tiers work because they give the client a frame of reference. The middle option sells most, so design it to be the one you most want to deliver.

Tier	What it contains	Typical use
Starter	One 30-minute session, a short written summary	A single decision or a sanity check
Standard	Two 60-minute sessions, a written plan, one follow-up chat	Solving one defined problem end to end
Premium	Four sessions over a month, a plan, review of the client's work between sessions	Implementation support and accountability

Keep the gap between tiers meaningful. If Standard is only 20% more than Starter but delivers twice as much, most clients will trade up, which is what you want. If Premium is five times the price with vague extras, nobody will choose it and it will look like padding.

Step 3: Price the package, not the hours

A simple method:

1. Estimate the hours in each tier honestly, including preparation and the written deliverable.
2. Multiply by the hourly rate you would otherwise charge. (If you have not set one, read how to set consulting rates first.)
3. Add 15–25% for the certainty you are giving the client. A fixed price is worth more to them than an open-ended one.
4. Round to a clean figure: £240 reads better than £237.50.

Worked example: a marketing consultant charging £90 an hour builds a Standard package of two 60-minute sessions, roughly 90 minutes of preparation and a one-page action plan. That is about 4 hours of work, or £360 at the hourly rate. With a 20% certainty premium the package lists at £430, rounded to £450. The client sees one number and a clear outcome; the consultant earns more per hour than before.

If you are self-employed, remember that package income is still taxable trading income. HMRC's guidance on working for yourself sets out when you need to register and what records to keep.

Step 4: Write the scope so it protects both sides

Each package needs four lines, in plain language:

• Included: the number and length of sessions, the deliverables, the response time for messages between sessions.
• Not included: the obvious extras clients ask for. "Does not include writing the content for you" saves awkward conversations.
• Timeframe: "All sessions to be used within 6 weeks of purchase."
• What I need from you: the documents, access or answers the client must provide before session one.

This is not legal boilerplate. It is a description that lets a client self-qualify, so the people who book are the people you can genuinely help.

Step 5: Fit packages to a session-based marketplace

On ConsultChat, clients book individual sessions and pay at booking. The platform holds the payment until the session is delivered, then credits your wallet. You can still sell packages within that structure:

• Describe the package in your profile and set your session rate so that the tiers add up to the price you want. A Standard package of two 60-minute sessions simply becomes two bookings at your 60-minute rate.
• Use the 15-minute option as a paid discovery call. It qualifies the client, and it is far more likely to convert to a full package than a free chat.
• Name the packages in your bio so clients recognise what they are buying when they pick a session length. Our guide to writing a consultant profile covers how to lay this out.

Because every completed session generates a verified review, a package delivered over several sessions builds your profile faster than one-off bookings.

Common mistakes

Too many packages. Three consulting packages per service line is plenty. Six confuses people and they leave.

Discounting the top tier. Premium should carry the highest margin, not the lowest. You are selling attention and accountability, which are scarce.

Pricing from fear. New consultants often price packages so low that they resent delivering them. If you are still finding your first consulting client, start at a fair rate and raise it after five completed packages rather than starting at a rate you cannot sustain.

No review point. Revisit prices every six months. If more than eight in ten enquiries convert, you are too cheap.

Putting it into practice

Pick one outcome this week. Draft three tiers, price them using the method above and write the scope lines. Then test the Starter tier with real clients for a month before polishing the rest. Consulting packages are living documents; the first version only needs to be clear, not perfect.

If you are ready to earn money giving advice online with a clearer offer, create your free consultant profile on ConsultChat and list your first package today.