7 Ways to Influence SAP Independent Consultant Rates [Newsletter]

Table of Contents

Independent Consultant Rates

 

You may have heard a phrase like this before “my client has a tight budget”, or we are seeing a lot of downward pressure on consulting rates out there.  Or perhaps you are a very senior SAP Freelance consultant and have traditionally been able to get very high rates, but have not been willing to ‘come down’ to get off the bench.

 

SAP Consulting RatesAre Independent Consultant Rates Really Tight?

 

Initial Negotiation Positions

Don’t feel like you’re alone.  We’ve all been there.  Want to know a little secret.  Those are all just negotiation tactics or initial negotiation positions.  It can be very frustrating to break into SAP, or to have to take a lower rate or to try to get a higher rate

SAP Consulting Rates By Module

 

I get asked, by a lot of different consultants, including freelance consultants, what module to get into or what sort of rate they can get.   As it happens, I also get asked by a lot of customers what they should pay for a SAP Consultant.  I also attend a lot of SAP conferences and training and have a little background in SAP (23 years).  Thinking through all the above, what jumps out is the following:

 

  • Oftentimes, SAP is ahead of the market, meaning they are selling a product that may not have a wide customer base, but does round out the product suite in some small way.  Hedge management comes to mind.  Often times, a new product is filling a small whitespace in a small but highly attractive industry.

  • Many of the core SAP functional modules that are now called commoditized are not really commoditized.  This means, for example, that the finance module, definitely one of the core modules, still requires much more than simple commodity SAP FICO skillsets, i.e., IFRS changes.  This holds true across all the traditional core modules, be they MM, SD, or HR. 

Maximize Your Consulting Rates

 

If you take those two facts and mix them, you find there are 7 ways to maximize your rate as an independent consultant.

 

  1. Your first strategy, is, of course, to master the fundamentals as defined by SAP, typically by doing some sort of SAP training and getting some hands-on consulting experience.

  2. Your second strategy is to learn the special issues faced by particular industries, such as Catch Weight Management within the Wholesale Food Distribution Industry.

  3. Your third strategy involves doing what you might call market opportunity analysis.  By this, you need to do some digging to find out what industries SAP is strong in, i.e., Professional Services, and then figuring out what the remaining opportunity is.

  4. Taking the example of Professional Services, you might conclude that learning MRS or Multi-Resource Scheduling, would be a good idea as it used by firms such as the “Big 4” and will therefore become an indispensable organic capability for firms such as these.

  5. You will have ‘do time in the trenches’, meaning being on a project.  But of much more value to your client will be your knowledge of the ‘other’ solutions SAP and SAP partners may have to offer besides what was in-scope initially. 

    It is very common to run across a requirement that appears to require a development, when, in fact, a solution exist somewhere else in the SAP universe.  

    For example, are you up-to-speed on the latest offering for creating fully integrated webstores?  Ever hear of WCEM or the recent acquisition of Hypolux?  If you’re working in finance, you will want to know what impacts there are when you sell on-line, in a multi-national environment, in multiple currencies, legal environments and differing tax regimes. 

  6. You will need to have a “core” module, perhaps CRM, as well as having a comprehensive knowledge of the various integration points between CRM and the other modules (last count, more than 230).

  7. Finally, you need to know of the existence of as well as how to leverage, the various SAP tools and services to deliver a higher value, differentiated service.
Want to know what you must make as a consultant?  Use our Consulting Rate Calculator to figure it out
Try Our Consulting Rate Calculator and Know What Rate You Must Make

 

What Do You Know About SAP Services

 

What does that last one mean, exactly? Do you know the full range of SAP support services, such as Going-Live Checks, Early Watch Alerts, or how to build or interpret a solution map?   How about SAP Solution Manager?  Are you able to translate a SOW (Statement of Work) into an initial scope using the Solution Manager?  Can you estimate the number of SAP BW resources needed on a project based on your past experience and knowledge of the current proposed project?  If you’re working in one of the consultancies, and they have their own methodology or tools, can you articulate the differences between that methodology and the ones SAP provides and make recommendations as to how to proceed?  If not, time to hit the books.

 

SAP Career Coaching Newsletter

 

If you want to keep up with the latest developments regarding Independent SAP Consultant Rates by knowing what SAP Customers are actually looking for, you might be interested in a SAP Market Intelligence Newsletter, which is unique in the marketplace as it is based on actual data.

 

Subscribe to SAP  Market Intelligence

 

People Who Read This Also Read:

Get Our Guide to Becoming a Top Gun SAP Consultant

Get SAP BW BI BO HANA Consultant Rates Market Survey Results

Understanding SAP Consulting Rates

Understand SAP BW and Your Fully Loaded Cost Rate

Understand SAP Program Manager Consulting Rates

 

Topics from this blog:
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Lonnie D. Ayers, PMP

About the Author: Lonnie Ayers is a Hubspot Certified Inbound Marketing consultant, with additional certifications in Hubspot Content Optimization, Hubspot Contextual Marketing, and is a Hubspot Certified Partner. Specialized in demand generation and sales execution, especially in the SAP, Oracle and Microsoft Partner space, he has unique insight into the tough challenges Service Providers face with generating leads and closing sales using the latest digital tools. With 15 years of SAP Program Management experience, and dozens of complex sales engagements under his belt, he helps partners develop and communicate their unique sales proposition. Frequently sought as a public speaker in various events, he is available for both inhouse engagements and remote coaching.
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He also recently released a book "How to Dominate Any Market - Turbocharging Your Digital Marketing and Sales Results", which is available on Amazon.

View All Articles by Lonnie D. Ayers, PMP

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