A diagnostic from a large firm typically runs into six or seven figures, over months. What varies more than the price is what’s left afterwards: a report, or a structure that keeps answering.
Why is the range so wide?
Because the price tracks the size of the team assigned and their time, not the outcome. Two proposals with the same scope can differ by an order of magnitude on team seniority alone.
What adds cost without improving the outcome?
Scheduled interview time, the production of interim material, and alignment meetings. None of the three shows up in the final outcome, and all three show up on the invoice.
How do you compare proposals honestly?
Ask what keeps working after it ends, and who can answer a new question without hiring again. That’s where proposals stop looking alike.
A fixed price with a declared envelope isn’t generosity: it’s what makes comparison possible. Uncapped senior hours are the opposite of a budget.