08
The $80 paid first call
Discovery calls are eighty dollars. The fee is small enough to not matter to a serious buyer and large enough to filter out the rest. We refund it if we are not the right fit.
Placeholder method entry. Rewrite the body before launch.
A free discovery call is the most expensive marketing channel an agency can run. It pulls in tire-kickers, students, and competitors, and it teaches buyers that your time is worth zero. We charge eighty dollars for the first hour. The fee is paid up-front, and refunded if we decide within fifteen minutes that we are not the right fit.
Eighty dollars is not a barrier to a CTO scoping a six-figure engagement. It is a barrier to someone who wants free advice. The first call is, accordingly, very good — both sides arrive prepared.
Why
Pricing is filtering. Free calls filter for cost-sensitivity, which inverts the qualification we want. A small paid fee inverts it back, and signals that we expect the conversation to be useful enough to pay for.
How we do it
- Booking page on Microsoft Bookings, paid via Stripe at the booking step.
- Pre-call form: stack, current pain, budget range, decision timeline.
- We respond in writing within twenty-four hours of the booking with a one-page brief of what we plan to cover.
- If the call is not a fit, we say so in the first fifteen minutes and refund.