How Much Does a Strategy Facilitator Cost?
Most of my engagements fall between $15,000 and $80,000. A focused one-day session sits at the low end. A three-day strategy redesign with a big team sits at the high end. Travel is billed separately.
Whatever your budget, I’ll tell you plainly what it would take.
Typical Professional Fees
Around $15,000: A focused session
One day with a small team on a narrow question you already know well. Good for kicking the tires on a decision before you commit.
$40,000 to $50,000: A typical strategy offsite
Two days with a team of six to eight, built on a select set of core facts. This is where most strategy offsites land.
Up to $80,000: A full strategy refresh
Two to three days, a robust fact base your team builds with my guidance, and follow-up support. You leave with defined initiatives, owners and the resources to make them happen.
You Can Find a Cheaper Facilitator
You definitely can.
If you want the lowest-priced meeting emcee you can find, I’ll save you the hassle: look elsewhere.
I charge more because I do more than keep the meeting on track. I bring the thinking and peer-level challenge that gets your team to a good answer, not just an answer.
Four Ways to Answer a Strategic Question
Every leadership team faces questions it can’t put off. Where should we grow? How do we respond to a competitor move? Are we set up to win? There are four ways to get an answer.
Work it out yourselves
It looks cheapest, but only if you count your executive team’s time as free. Try the math: add up what your leadership team costs per day, then multiply by every meeting that ended where it started.
Hire a pure facilitator
You get structure, order and a tidy record of what the team said. That can get you to an answer. It won’t necessarily get you to a good one.
Hire a consultant to answer it for you
You get a thoughtful answer, handed over in a deck. But your team didn’t build it, so they don’t own it. They aren’t ready to act on it. And they learn nothing they can use on the next big question.
Facilitation that brings the thinking
This is what I do. Your team builds the answer, so they own it. I bring the problem-solving and pattern recognition to make sure it’s a good one. And I bring the human side of decision-making: what gets a team unstuck and stops the swirl.
Strategy Consulting Fees vs. Facilitation
I spent ten years at McKinsey. I know what a consulting firm's answer costs. I also know what often happens to it once the consultants leave: it sits in a folder while the team goes back to old habits.
A consultant's work ends when the answer is delivered. Mine ends when your team has an answer it believes in and is ready to act on. Compared with paying a firm to answer the question for you, it's the better investment.
When the Framework isn’t the Strategy
CLIENT STORY
A team that provides security services to other parts of a large government organization had worked with a facilitator on its last three-year strategy. They walked through a SWOT analysis, turned every bullet into a task and assigned owners. The result was more than 20 disconnected tasks. Almost none of them got done.
The team knew something was wrong, but couldn't say what. This time, we didn't jump to priorities. We explored. We tested ideas, dropped some and came back to others. Two clear strategic ambitions emerged, tied directly to the mission.
The team left with real energy, and it didn't fade by Monday. Eighteen months later, they're still energized about their two big priorities. They have the clarity to move ahead with confidence, and the flexibility to shape the details around the resources and market developments they face.
What’s Included
There’s no package. I design every engagement around your question and your team, and I only include what earns its place.
Thinking About the Problem
Framing the right strategic question, or questions
Defining the facts you actually need, not the nice-to-haves
Helping your team turn data into a point of view
Frameworks built for your situation, not borrowed from a textbook
A clear summary of your team's answer: simple, concrete and specific
Thinking About the People
Knowing which biases show up in decisions like yours
Ways of running the conversation that flip your defaults, test your assumptions and help the team think differently
Managing the Room
Every voice gets heard, not just the loudest
Tension gets named and worked through, not avoided
When the plan breaks, the session doesn't
Nothing important is left to chance in the preparation
What Shapes the Fee
How hard the question is
How hard the group is: its size, its history and the tension in the room
How much fact-finding and follow-up support you need
Travel, which is billed separately
“Marja is focused, committed, never distracted. She is not just a thought-partner, but an impact partner. She runs at 150% driven by purpose and passion.”
“Marja is a perfect enhancement to a leadership team looking to move away from being stagnant and into real movement forward. In our work with Marja she provides relevant and timely feedback and pushed our group to think about innovative approaches to our planning.”
“You did a great job steering our team into productive planning and conversation both leading up to and during our company retreat. This allowed us to be efficient with our time and get the most out of our retreat investment.”
Common Questions About Fees
Do you publish a day rate?
No. I set one fee for the engagement, not by the hour. I deliver an answer, not the activities.
Is travel included?
No, travel is billed separately. I'm based in the Twin Cities, and Minneapolis–St. Paul International (MSP) is a major hub airport, so getting to you is usually easy.
Can we start smaller?
Yes. I often work in phases, and I'm happy to plan the work around a real budget. Each extra session adds travel, so we'll find the split that makes sense for you.
Can we do this virtually?
The planning, yes. The facilitation itself is live and in person. A few people can join remotely, but it limits what the group can do together.
Will you work with our contracting process?
Yes. I'm flexible on terms and happy to work within your process.
How do payments work?
I usually invoice in equal monthly payments over the time we work together. The last one comes when I deliver the final piece of work.
How far ahead should we book?
Most clients book two to nine months ahead. If your question can't wait, ask. I've stepped in on short notice before.
Do you bring a team?
No. It's just me, from the first call to the final summary.
Tell Me Your Situation
Tell me what your team needs to decide. I’ll tell you what it would take to get to a clear answer.