Productivity Associates Incorporated (PAI) employs an extremely rare open pricing structure that guarantees PAI and its customers are teammates. It is uncommon today to find a company willing to disclose its costs. But PAI does just that, setting itself apart as an organization that wants to be forthcoming, work openly with its customers, and build a mutually beneficial relationship. With its open-book philosophy, PAI and its partners develop synergy.
An open pricing philosophy is so unusual, that you may wonder how it works. I liken this to hiring a general contractor to build a home. Some contractors charge a fixed price. For instance, you may pay them $500,000 to build and deliver a completed home. The contractor then seeks bids from subcontractors for labor and materials to get the home built. You are not informed about the prices the subcontractors are charging. In this model, the contractor has an incentive to use cheaper materials, and poor quality workmanship, as his profit is determined by the difference between what you pay him, and his costs to get the home completed. This structure does not align the contractor’s goals with your own, and there is no transparency.
On the other hand, you and your general contractor may employ a cost-plus structure. Under this type of contract, you pay the contractor a fee for overseeing the construction of the home, and then you pay for the actual cost of building the home. As each of the subcontractors bid on the job, you and your general contractor work together to decide which to accept. In this system there is full transparency, and you and your contractor can work together to determine what sort of cost and quality trade-offs you want to make. The general contractor does not have a motivation to cut costs, and your incentives are aligned.
The goal of Productivity Associates is to partner with you, much like the contractor in the second example. PAI discloses all relevant cost and profit figures in order to build a trust, and partner to grow together. Beyond that, when you work with PAI, we team with you to ensure you stay within your budget.
PAI’s open-book pricing philosophy demonstrates by actions, that we stand behind our stated goal to partner with you for the long term. In this mutually supportive partnership, we cultivate trust and are successful only when we grow together.