Pricing is straightforward because scope is variable. Not every company needs the same amount of consulting, and we don’t charge the same for a small fix and a systematic remediation program. You pay for what you actually need, not for a fixed “consulting package.”
$500 Diagnostic and Quick-Fix
This is the entry point. You get 1-2 hours with a consultant who audits your authentication, analyzes your reputation, reviews your sending behavior patterns, assesses your current tooling, and identifies what’s causing your deliverability problem.
What you actually get: direct access to someone who has diagnosed hundreds of email systems and can quickly pattern-match your problem against their experience. You’re not getting generic advice. You’re getting specific diagnosis of your infrastructure and recommendations tailored to your situation.
Many problems resolve completely at the diagnostic stage. You understand what was wrong, you implement the fix (usually a DNS record, an ESP configuration change, or a sending behavior adjustment), and you’re done. Engagement complete. Problem solved.
If the diagnostic uncovers a bigger problem, you get clarity on what the next step costs and takes. You understand whether it’s a $2,500 scoped engagement or a $5,000-$15,000 quarterly advisory. You know what you’re signing up for before you commit.
The $500 fee credits fully forward to any future engagement. If you spend $500 on the diagnostic and then sign a $3,500 scoped engagement, your total cost is $3,500, not $4,000. The diagnostic fee isn’t an extra cost; it’s a credit toward the work.
$2,500-$5,000 Scoped Engagement
If the diagnostic reveals a problem that requires more than a quick fix, you move into a scoped engagement. This is typically 3-4 weeks of focused work with specific milestones and a finish line.
Examples of scoped engagements:
- Rebuilding reputation after a major complaint spike (you need systematic monitoring, behavior adjustment, and validation that reputation is recovering)
- Implementing a segmented sending architecture (you’re separating cold outreach from marketing/transactional so reputation damage in one stream doesn’t affect the others)
- Overhauling list hygiene practices and re-engagement strategy (you have a list quality problem and need a systematic approach to identify and remove problematic subscribers)
- Systematically fixing authentication and DNS gaps (you have multiple infrastructure issues that need coordination and validation)
- Warming a new IP or domain for high-volume sending (you need to carefully ramp volume and reputation from zero in a way that doesn’t trigger filters)
- Migrating to a new ESP or sending infrastructure safely (you need to coordinate changes and manage reputation during the transition)
What you’re paying for: our strategic guidance, recommendations, and validation that your changes are working. You’re executing the changes (usually with your team, or with contractor resources if you need implementation help). We’re providing oversight and adjusting recommendations as we see how changes are working.
Scope is defined upfront. You know what the engagement covers, what the milestones are, and when it ends. No open-ended consulting. No vague proposals where you don’t know what you’re getting.
$5,000-$15,000 Per Quarter Ongoing Advisory
If you operate high-volume email, manage multiple sending streams, or want proactive monitoring to prevent crises, ongoing quarterly advisory makes sense. You get quarterly review sessions (or more frequently if something urgent comes up) to assess your email health, catch problems before they become crises, and guide major infrastructure changes.
This is the right model if any of these apply:
- You’re sending 100,000+ emails per month
- You’re managing cold outreach and marketing/transactional streams from overlapping infrastructure
- You’re in an industry with stricter filtering (finance, healthcare, etc.) where even small issues compound
- You’ve just recovered from a deliverability crisis and want systematic oversight to prevent another one
- You’re scaling email volume and want guidance on how to do it safely without triggering filters
- You have multiple sending streams with different characteristics (high volume, low engagement; low volume, high engagement; etc.) and need oversight to keep them from interfering with each other
- You’re planning major infrastructure changes (new ESPs, new IPs, expanding to new regions) and want expert guidance
What you’re paying for: continuous pattern monitoring, proactive problem detection, and strategic guidance as your business scales. We’re catching issues early instead of waiting for you to call with a crisis.
Managed Email Infrastructure (Separate Service)
If you don’t want to own and manage the infrastructure yourself, there’s a separate Managed Email Infrastructure service. We operate your email infrastructure (domains, IPs, authentication, sending configuration), manage your sending operations, and handle reputation monitoring. Highest-level consulting is included at no additional cost.
This is different from Deliverability Consulting because you’re outsourcing the entire operation. You’re not executing the work; we are. This means higher cost (because we’re taking on operational responsibility) but also zero operational burden on your team.
Why the Range? Why Variable Pricing?
Every company’s situation is different. A small cold email operation might need a single $500 diagnostic to understand and fix their problem. A B2B SaaS company managing multiple email streams across multiple regions might need $3,000 scoped work, then quarterly advisory for 12+ months. An ecommerce platform scaling volume might need ongoing advisory for years.
We don’t estimate backwards from a predetermined price. We diagnose first, then estimate based on what the problem actually requires. That’s how you avoid paying for consulting you don’t need.
Cost-Benefit in Real Situations
A $500 diagnostic that prevents a mail crisis (where 50% of your mail lands in spam and you lose customer engagement) has infinite ROI compared to the business impact.
A $3,000 scoped engagement that rebuilds reputation and gets your mail back from 40% inbox placement to 95% is usually a cost-save when you consider the business impact of low deliverability. If low deliverability is costing you 10% of your revenue, a $3,000 fix pays for itself in days.
We’ve worked with companies where the diagnostic surfaced a small fix ($500 total) that solved their problem completely. We’ve worked with companies where quarterly advisory ($12,000 a year) prevented multiple crises that would have cost them significant business. We’ve worked with companies where a scoped engagement fixed a core problem, then they needed ongoing advisory as they scaled.
We’d love to learn more about your business, email deliverability and outreach goals, and see if we might be able to help.
Whether you have questions about what we do, how Protocol works, or you’d just like to pick our brains on some of our best practices, we’d be happy to chat.
Schedule a call with our Revenue Director, Chrisley Ceme.
Pricing is straightforward because scope is variable. Not every company needs the same amount of consulting, and we don’t charge the same for a small fix and a systematic remediation program. You pay for what you actually need, not for a fixed “consulting package.”
$500 Diagnostic and Quick-Fix
This is the entry point. You get 1-2 hours with a consultant who audits your authentication, analyzes your reputation, reviews your sending behavior patterns, assesses your current tooling, and identifies what’s causing your deliverability problem.
What you actually get: direct access to someone who has diagnosed hundreds of email systems and can quickly pattern-match your problem against their experience. You’re not getting generic advice. You’re getting specific diagnosis of your infrastructure and recommendations tailored to your situation.
Many problems resolve completely at the diagnostic stage. You understand what was wrong, you implement the fix (usually a DNS record, an ESP configuration change, or a sending behavior adjustment), and you’re done. Engagement complete. Problem solved.
If the diagnostic uncovers a bigger problem, you get clarity on what the next step costs and takes. You understand whether it’s a $2,500 scoped engagement or a $5,000-$15,000 quarterly advisory. You know what you’re signing up for before you commit.
The $500 fee credits fully forward to any future engagement. If you spend $500 on the diagnostic and then sign a $3,500 scoped engagement, your total cost is $3,500, not $4,000. The diagnostic fee isn’t an extra cost; it’s a credit toward the work.
$2,500-$5,000 Scoped Engagement
If the diagnostic reveals a problem that requires more than a quick fix, you move into a scoped engagement. This is typically 3-4 weeks of focused work with specific milestones and a finish line.
Examples of scoped engagements:
- Rebuilding reputation after a major complaint spike (you need systematic monitoring, behavior adjustment, and validation that reputation is recovering)
- Implementing a segmented sending architecture (you’re separating cold outreach from marketing/transactional so reputation damage in one stream doesn’t affect the others)
- Overhauling list hygiene practices and re-engagement strategy (you have a list quality problem and need a systematic approach to identify and remove problematic subscribers)
- Systematically fixing authentication and DNS gaps (you have multiple infrastructure issues that need coordination and validation)
- Warming a new IP or domain for high-volume sending (you need to carefully ramp volume and reputation from zero in a way that doesn’t trigger filters)
- Migrating to a new ESP or sending infrastructure safely (you need to coordinate changes and manage reputation during the transition)
What you’re paying for: our strategic guidance, recommendations, and validation that your changes are working. You’re executing the changes (usually with your team, or with contractor resources if you need implementation help). We’re providing oversight and adjusting recommendations as we see how changes are working.
Scope is defined upfront. You know what the engagement covers, what the milestones are, and when it ends. No open-ended consulting. No vague proposals where you don’t know what you’re getting.
$5,000-$15,000 Per Quarter Ongoing Advisory
If you operate high-volume email, manage multiple sending streams, or want proactive monitoring to prevent crises, ongoing quarterly advisory makes sense. You get quarterly review sessions (or more frequently if something urgent comes up) to assess your email health, catch problems before they become crises, and guide major infrastructure changes.
This is the right model if any of these apply:
- You’re sending 100,000+ emails per month
- You’re managing cold outreach and marketing/transactional streams from overlapping infrastructure
- You’re in an industry with stricter filtering (finance, healthcare, etc.) where even small issues compound
- You’ve just recovered from a deliverability crisis and want systematic oversight to prevent another one
- You’re scaling email volume and want guidance on how to do it safely without triggering filters
- You have multiple sending streams with different characteristics (high volume, low engagement; low volume, high engagement; etc.) and need oversight to keep them from interfering with each other
- You’re planning major infrastructure changes (new ESPs, new IPs, expanding to new regions) and want expert guidance
What you’re paying for: continuous pattern monitoring, proactive problem detection, and strategic guidance as your business scales. We’re catching issues early instead of waiting for you to call with a crisis.
Managed Email Infrastructure (Separate Service)
If you don’t want to own and manage the infrastructure yourself, there’s a separate Managed Email Infrastructure service. We operate your email infrastructure (domains, IPs, authentication, sending configuration), manage your sending operations, and handle reputation monitoring. Highest-level consulting is included at no additional cost.
This is different from Deliverability Consulting because you’re outsourcing the entire operation. You’re not executing the work; we are. This means higher cost (because we’re taking on operational responsibility) but also zero operational burden on your team.
Why the Range? Why Variable Pricing?
Every company’s situation is different. A small cold email operation might need a single $500 diagnostic to understand and fix their problem. A B2B SaaS company managing multiple email streams across multiple regions might need $3,000 scoped work, then quarterly advisory for 12+ months. An ecommerce platform scaling volume might need ongoing advisory for years.
We don’t estimate backwards from a predetermined price. We diagnose first, then estimate based on what the problem actually requires. That’s how you avoid paying for consulting you don’t need.
Cost-Benefit in Real Situations
A $500 diagnostic that prevents a mail crisis (where 50% of your mail lands in spam and you lose customer engagement) has infinite ROI compared to the business impact.
A $3,000 scoped engagement that rebuilds reputation and gets your mail back from 40% inbox placement to 95% is usually a cost-save when you consider the business impact of low deliverability. If low deliverability is costing you 10% of your revenue, a $3,000 fix pays for itself in days.
We’ve worked with companies where the diagnostic surfaced a small fix ($500 total) that solved their problem completely. We’ve worked with companies where quarterly advisory ($12,000 a year) prevented multiple crises that would have cost them significant business. We’ve worked with companies where a scoped engagement fixed a core problem, then they needed ongoing advisory as they scaled.
Our Revenue Director, Chrisley Ceme, is leading the Triggered Outbound program.Chrisley’s gone deep on this strategy and can walk you through:
- How Triggered Outbound fits with your outbound goals
- What triggers are available (and what’s possible within our platform)
- Pricing, onboarding, and getting started
