Outcome-priced engagements. The honest answer.
Some prospects ask whether Automoat does outcome-priced work. We do, sometimes — late-stage, with a clean attribution model and a scope-locked KPI. This page is the explainer we send when that question comes up.
A Strike Goal is a named outcome attached to a price.
In standard Automoat engagements, fees are fixed by phase: Sweep is fixed-fee, Install is fixed-fee, Retainer is monthly. Scope is locked at the end of the Sweep and we work to the standard until we hit it.
A Strike Goal structure does something different: it ties a portion of fees — sometimes all of the Install fee — to hitting a named operational outcome by a named date.
Same tiger team. Same work. Different payment structure.
Within [N] days of kickoff, [named metric] will improve from [baseline] to [target], measured by [method]. Engagement fees of $[X] are due on hitting the target. If we miss, no engagement fees are due and Client retains all deliverables.
Strict criteria. All five must hold.
- 01
Late-stage in sales.
Strike Goal terms come after the Sweep is complete and scope is locked. We do not offer them cold.
- 02
Single named metric.
One KPI. Baseline measurable today. Target measurable on the date. No ambiguity about what 'hitting it' means.
- 03
Clean attribution.
If revenue or productivity changes for reasons we can't isolate, the metric is wrong. Strike Goals attach only to KPIs the work directly moves.
- 04
Scope-locked.
Once a Strike Goal is signed, the workflows in scope cannot be added to or subtracted from. New scope = new SOW.
- 05
Client commits to instrumentation.
If we can't measure the baseline cleanly today, we can't write a Strike Goal. No measurement, no outcome pricing.
Honest disqualifiers.
If the named KPI depends materially on factors Automoat doesn't control (market, sales effort, headcount), no Strike Goal.
Strike Goals are the exception, not the default. Standard fixed-fee engagements are how 90%+ of work runs.
Strike Goal terms require trust in scope and instrumentation. We don't accept them at first contact.
If scope is locked, scope is locked. Adding workflows mid-engagement voids the Strike Goal.
Why we don't lead with this.
Outcome pricing reads well in marketing copy and performs badly as a default. Offered up front, it shifts the conversation from the operational change the work requires to a negotiation about who carries the risk. The criteria above — a locked scope, a measurable baseline, clean attribution — only exist after a Sweep. So we discuss outcome terms at that point, not before, and this page stays off the main navigation for the same reason.
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