Free framework
What will your clients pay for next?
Defensible
Judgment and relationships AI can’t replace.
Emerging
Work AI just made newly possible.
Compressing
The work survives. The margin doesn’t.
Exposed
AI-native competitors can sell it directly.
Two questions put each of your service lines on a grid. Each zone then has its own question, from whether the line’s price has kept up to what new service could sit next to it.
Download the worksheetEach zone has its own question.
Start with the line that brings in the most revenue. The top row holds its margin; the bottom row is where margin comes under pressure. Exposed means a few years of pressure, not gone tomorrow.
Defensible
Are you charging what it’s worth?
A defensible line gains value as AI makes the work beneath it cheaper, so check that its price has kept up. The pricing ladder shows the steps from hours to outcomes.
Emerging
What could you build here?
Look at what companies already sell, at a published price, next to the lines you have. The AI Exposure Index lists them for eight industries, each with a seller and a price.
Compressing
Could you price, package or deliver it differently?
A compressing line usually survives with a new price, a package or a different way of delivering it. The three ladders cover all three.
Exposed
Which way forward fits it?
An exposed line has four ways forward: defend it, repackage it, move clients to something they already budget for, or run it for cash. You pick between them with five questions.
Five questions for an exposed line.
Ask them in order and stop at the first answer that settles it. Cost comes first, because a line you can’t deliver at a price that holds up isn’t worth defending.
1. Can you still make money at the new price?
If no: Run it for cash
2. Does someone have to answer for it if it goes wrong?
If yes: Defend it
3. What breaks if the client buys it elsewhere?
If nothing: Move clients, or run it for cash
4. If the line went away, would the client still call you?
If yes: Move them to something they already budget for
5. Is the complaint about the work or the price?
If the price: Repackage it
| Ask | If | It points to |
|---|---|---|
| 1.Can you still make money at the new price? | No | Run it for cash |
| 2.Does someone have to answer for it if it goes wrong? | Yes | Defend it |
| 3.What breaks if the client buys it elsewhere? | Nothing | Move clients, or run it for cash |
| 4.If the line went away, would the client still call you? | Yes | Move them to something they already budget for |
| 5.Is the complaint about the work or the price? | The price | Repackage it |
If two answers fit, take the smaller commitment. From smallest to largest: run it for cash, move clients to something they already budget for, repackage it, defend it.
Is a new service worth building?
6 clients who’d pay, times $2,000 a month, times 12 months, comes to $144,000 a year.
Price it from what those clients pay you for the line today, then hold your number against where you want the firm to be in two years.
Then ask whether you could deliver it now: who would own it, what data it would run on, and who would run it. If you could, try it on real client work. If not, that’s your list of what to fix first.
Questions
Ask two questions of each service line: how hard is the work to copy, and how much of it can AI do? Work that’s hard to copy holds its margin. Work that’s easy to copy comes under pressure, and the more of it AI can do, the sooner AI-native companies can sell it to your clients directly.
Four things: defend it, repackage it, move clients to something they already budget for, or run it for cash. You pick between them with five questions, asked in order. The first is whether you can still make money at the new price.
From the lines you already sell. The AI Exposure Index lists new services that companies already sell at published prices, for eight industries. Size a candidate with clients who’d pay × monthly price × 12, then ask whether you could deliver it now.
Yes. Everything on this page and on the worksheet is yours to use. If you’d rather work through it with someone, that’s what we do.