Pricing Transformation with Ron Baker (REFRAME WEBINAR)

Slides: https://bit.ly/4mbIZ3j Come to REFRAME 2025: https://bit.ly/REFRAME2025MIAMI Table of Contents: 00:00:00 Intro to REFRAME Webinar Series / CPE Process 00:02:14 REFRAME Live Events / Webinars 00:04:57 "Transaction Language" problem in our profession 00:09:32 About Ron Baker & Threshold 00:12:37 Ron Baker & Threshold’s Revelation 00:20:32 Carlos' COVID Story on "Financial First Responders" 00:23:40 From Value-Based Pricing into Subscription Business Model 00:37:07 The Transformation Economy 00:44:38 AI in the Transformation Economy 00:52:10 The Accounting Profession’s Brand 00:54:33 Ron Baker @ REFRAME 2025! 00:59:20 Open Q&A with Ron Baker In Today's Webinar, we got the privilege to interview Ron Baker about the Transformation Economy and how that ultimately will translate into how we price our services (the business model) Key Insight: From Billable Hours to Bold Transformations The old story in public practice goes something like this: If I’m not busy every hour, I’m not valuable. That belief chains our fees to time sheets and forces us to justify every six‑minute increment. In our recent REFRAME webinar “Pricing Transformations,” value‑pricing pioneer Ron helped us flip that script. 1. Language Shapes Value Sales coach Carlos M. Garcia contrasted the transactional vocabulary many firms still use (“We’ll reconcile your bank accounts…”) with language that focuses on client transformation (“You’ll always know exactly how much money you truly have”). Words are the tip of the spear: they either reinforce commodity thinking or signal the outcomes you can create. 2. Threshold’s Revelation Ron introduced research showing that clients happily pay a recurring fee when three elements are guaranteed: certainty, access, and relationship. In other words, price the peace of mind, not the tasks. 3. From Value Pricing to Subscription Value‑based pricing was a breakthrough; the next frontier is a subscription model that bundles unlimited access to your brain trust for one predictable fee. Think Netflix for advisory services. This is the logical extension of Ron’s mantra: “Customers do not buy units of effort; they buy desired transformations.” 4. Welcome to the Transformation Economy Goods, services and experiences are yesterday’s economy. Today, clients pay for changes in their lives and businesses. Accountants who embrace this reality can charge; and deliver at a level that reflects the true impact they create. 5. AI Is a Capacity Multiplier: If You Let It Be The panel urged firms to automate drudge work and reinvest the liberated capacity into transformational conversations with clients. Used wisely, AI becomes the lever, not the threat. Practical Takeaways Price the result, not the tasks. Align fees with the transformation clients feel, not the hours you log. Shift to subscriptions. Offer a single monthly fee for ongoing, outcome‑based access. Rewrite your proposals. Replace task lists with promises of clarity, confidence and growth. Leverage AI as a force multiplier. Automate bookkeeping; reinvest the saved hours into strategy. Brand yourself as a guide. Position your firm as the catalyst for clients’ future success. Keep learning in community. Join movements and events that push the profession forward.