Know your worth. Value Your time and expertise.
Recently I had a client consultation that was going incredibly well, the client had asked me to provide both telephone and email management, liaise between staff and customers, organising all jobs/cancelations and bookings, deal with difficult customers and staff when needed and run their social media campaigns for them, basically run their business for them. I loved the idea of it.
The hours suited me and as a professional Virtual Assistant this was the exact kind of client I was looking to attract.
Then came the discussion of rates.
He wanted me to do all this for half my usual hourly rate.
He told me that I charged way too much and I should think about lowering my rates if I wanted to get clients.
Now I am self-employed, running a business and I value my time and my expertise and although I liked the idea of the work I had to decline.
I know my worth and I know that even at my rate the client would have been getting a good deal as I am by far not one of the most expensive VA’s out there, however this is the price I put on my time and effort and I do it for a reason.
The time and effort I give my clients is 100% and they will get the best possible service for that price, and this is what I believe I am worth. Of course, it is always good to negotiate a bit and that is why I also offer discounted fixed priced retainer packages for set hours however these are still a fair rate for the services provided.
Rates and charges is always the most difficult bit to discuss. This is often for two reasons –
1, the client usually wants to get the best value for money
2, the provider wants to give the best services for the rate.
I am not an employee of the company I am a freelance contractor and therefore my higher hourly rate doesn’t mean I am costing you more than someone would be if they worked for you as an employee at £10 per hour. An employee would be entitled to:
Holiday pay,
Maternity leave,
Sick pay
Equipment provided i.e. desk, stationary, computer,
Guaranteed hours
A whole host of other benefits that the employer would have to provide.
These benefits cost the employer and as a freelancer I am not entitled to claim from my clients. The overall cost of having an employee to do the kind of work I was asked to do will undoubtedly cost the employer a lot more in the long run.
Now I am very sure that that client will find a freelancer to do the work at that rate as unfortunately there are plenty out there that do not value their on their time and expertise and are willing to be exploited. But in all honesty, is that client going to get the profession service that they would have got by hiring someone who would have charged more and given that bit extra because they value their time and expertise that much more, or are they going to get the very basics if not a substandard service, after all you pay for what you get.
Know your worth and value your time and effort.
