Arkon
Industry · Business services

Commercial systems for services firms — built on outcome clarity, sophistication-aware positioning and senior-relationship moat.

For mid-market services firms running a project + retainer mix — consulting, engineering, design, technology services. Where the moat is senior-relationship and the leakage is in rate-card, utilisation and scope.

5 minutes · €0 · No credit card

What we see

Patterns recurring in services-firm mid-market

Drawn from the engagement-shape, outcome-focus and buyer-sophistication priors that recur across consulting, engineering, design and technology services.

Outcome-pricing under-capture — risk transfer not priced

Time & materials default leaks the value of guaranteed outcomes; outcome-anchored deals routinely command 1.4-1.8x the equivalent T&M envelope.

Transformation segments under-priced vs cost-cutting peers

Same hourly rate spans high-WtP transformation work and price-sensitive cost-cutting work; mix-aware tiering recovers the gap.

Senior-relationship moat is people-level, not firm-level

Top-of-funnel depends on partner relationships; institutional sales muscle below partner-level is the structural under-build.

Rate-card geographic blindness

Single rate-card across geographies — same fee for Stockholm and Munich and Madrid where WtP and cost base diverge by 20-40%.

Billable utilisation often masks rate-card decay

Senior consultants at 55-65% utilisation; mis-staffing on early-career engagements pulls realised rates 10-15% under list.

Scope-creep capture rate often <50%

Change-order capture sits at 30-45% vs 60-70% benchmark; tooling + change-order discipline closes most of the gap, not negotiation.

These patterns aren't universal — your audit reveals which apply to your business.

What the platform does

Three modules carry the most weight in services

All five modules are available; these three move the numbers first for most services firms.

Value Proposition

Value Proposition

Sharpen what you're for — to whom — so the right customers self-select in.

Sophistication × outcome-focus segmentation · transformation premium · positioning sharpness for buyer self-selection.

Learn moreSoonfrom €149/mo
GTM & AG

Go-to-Market & Account Growth

Choose the right routes to market, tighten the motion that turns activity into revenue, and grow each account beyond first sale.

Sales motion mix (relationship + inbound + referral) · senior-relationship moat institutionalisation · account-portfolio coverage.

Learn moreSoonfrom €149/mo
Pricing

Pricing

Recover pricing potential your team is leaving on the table.

Outcome-pricing capture · rate-card geographic calibration · scope-creep change-order discipline · transformation-vs-cost-cutting tiering.

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What this looks like in practice

From today's EBITDA to target — a services-firm view

Every module surfaces a bridge like this. The bars are the levers; each lever connects to the data, the mechanism and a confidence flag.

Strategic Baseline · services firm, project + retainer mixIllustrative · representative buyer profile
BridgeΔ +€4.2m
Current EBITDA€6.2m
Target EBITDA€10m

Sample business-services bridge — directional, generated from a representative buyer profile. Your audit produces yours.

Why this, not another tool

Three things this is not

vs. AI-flavoured tools

  • Methodology-grounded — every recommendation traces to a specific lever, citation and confidence flag.
  • Reasoning visible — the bridge shows how today’s number connects to tomorrow’s, lever by lever.
  • No black-box scoring · no buzzword wrapping.

vs. consulting firms

  • Always-on platform · not engagement-bound — re-runs every month at zero marginal effort.
  • Pricing transparent from page one · no scoping calls, no SOW theatre.
  • Senior-consultant-test bar enforced on every recommendation.

vs. Excel + ad-hoc

  • Multi-source triangulation — CRM · ERP · utilisation · benchmarks · expert interviews — not a single sheet.
  • Segment-aware throughout — engagement-shape × outcome-focus × sophistication, not a flat client list.
  • Scales — partner-led firms or 200-consultant firms, the engine handles both.

Where does your services-firm commercial system have lift?

5 minutes. €0. Reveals where your services-firm commercial system has lift — across positioning, pricing, sales motion and account growth.