Barbara,

>Absolutely, David. And as I said, the NEXT project may be one it applies to. Certainly I used a similar argument on the project BEFORE this - I just didn't have it formally laid out. Next time I'll be able to use the argument and even call it "Value Based Pricing" which will sound MUCH more important (read expensive). < grin >

You may not want to actually call it "value-based pricing" when talking with the client. But you might consider this approach:

Client: How much will this cost?
You: How much is it worth to you? For example, if I can deliver this solution to your specifications, how much would it save you over the next 24 months?
Client: Oh, about $40 - 50,000 at least in manual labor saved.
You: And are you calculating in the increase in profits as a result of better reports for analysis and management decisions? And what about the increase in sales, due to your salespeople having up-to-the-minute access to customer purchasing trends?
Client: I'll have to think about that.
You: OK, I'll study these specifications and get back to you soon...

At this point, even if the project will only take you 100 hours or less to complete, you can easily justify charging from $30,000 on up, and the customer can't really honestly say it's too expensive, since he's actually making money on the deal.

(At least that's the way I imagine it might work) :-)