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Hello TPC folks 🙂
Off the back of the really great Let’s Talk yesterday discussing all things Burnout, I’ve got a question I’m hoping some of you may have experience of dealing with.
How do you manage a client who wants you to work at a ’project’ rate (ie heavily reduced) but also wants to know they have a hefty amount of your time dedicated to them per week so you can cover additional responsibilities?
After yesterday’s call, and reading through all the great information being shared below I’m starting to think this is the kind of situation where being a little bit picky as in Adarsh Nalam’s great article is wiser than taking it on.
Has anyone got experience of figuring out boundaries in this situation that were acceptable to the client?
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Hey Caoimhe Kelly, I’m glad you liked the piece. I think I understand your concern and have attempted to offer clarity below.
First, for me, a project rate is usually higher than a retainer because of the unpredictability and the fact that it adds to your schedule temporarily instead of being a part of your routine. That’s the first factor.
Second, if it’s a project that will give you additional skills, a foot in the door to a new vertical/company, or lead to more work, then it helps to weigh the upside along with the likelihood of the upside.
Considering your question, let’s assume you’ve done both of the above. It may be helpful to document the additional responsibilities, the exact amount of (hefty) time they require, and how they will measure success. A detailed scope of work might help. A clear brief and scope should answer the following questions:
1. What is required?
2. Why is it important?
3. How will you measure success (soft and hard metrics)?
4. What is the deadline?
5. What are the milestones?
6. What is the review/approval process?
It would help if you also had a few service level agreements in place, such as the time taken to review and send feedback, because we’re freelancers and not humanoid smartphones that people can turn to when they like compulsively. We would never ask someone to pay us a higher rate for lesser work, so it’s absurd for clients to ask to pay us less for more. Also, suppose you flip the statement ”hefty amount of your time dedicated to them per week so you can cover additional responsibilities”. In that case, you get ”have the client set aside a hefty budget dedicated to you per week so they can cover additional costs”. I’m sure you see how odd that sounds.
If you take them on, and I completely understand the need to do so in some circumstances, you will want to develop/complete the following documents so that you’re at peace:
1. A client qualification grid (so you can see whether you should take on the business)
2. A detailed scope of work
3. An agreement with all caveats detailed (this should also include conflict resolution mechanisms)
4. A reporting format with metrics, milestones, and deadlines
Please let me know if you find this helpful. I’m happy to set aside time for a quick chat as well.
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Hi Adarsh Nalam, this is so helpful – thank you! I absolutely see your points above and had been mulling over how best to proceed. The steps you’ve described have given me a much better framework for quantifying the pros and cons and moving forward.
In truth, I probably know this isn’t the right project for me right now, but I’m learning that it’s difficult to justify turning work down even when its not the best fit, so going through everything you’ve outlined really helps reinforce the business case to myself which is as important – if not more – than figuring out how best to reply!
I’d love to take you up on the offer of a quick chat, I’ll send a dm.
Thanks again!
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Hey Caoimhe Kelly, you’re welcome. I completely understand the point about your inner voice. That’s something I dealt with recently and would be happy to share my experience when we speak. If it helps, you’re not doing yourself a disservice by declining paid work but helping your mind to work to a standard you’d like it to meet. It may help to let the client know that you only have the time/resources for a small piece of the work and that you would be happy to do that portion at a discounted rate.
That said – and this is my approach – whatever decision you make, don’t sweat it once you decide. Just follow through. If you didn’t take it, you were looking out for yourself. If you took it, you were taking on some pain for the possibility of relief. Both are perfectly human decisions.
Nothing is really as bad or as good as it seems. As Daniel Kahneman says, ”Nothing in life is as important as you think it is while you are thinking about it.” You’ll either have a pleasant experience or you’ll have content.
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Thanks so much, Adarsh Nalam it’s good to know I’m not the only one grappling with an inner voice! Also, I’m writing that Daniel Kahneman quote on a post-it right now – such a great thing to remember!
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You’re very welcome, Caoimhe Kelly. Good on you for reaching out. I’d say the inner critic/voice is a feature of the human condition (bless us). I thought that about the quote too. His book ’Thinking Fast and Slow’ is full of these incredible aphorisms.
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Hi Caoimhe,
a very good question, one that is filled with a lot of angles.
First, let’s understand how you portray yourself. Are you a subject matter expert that is going to create value for your client ? or you a jobbing contractor that takes whatever rate is acceptable as you desperately need the work?
The psychology and positioning is different and the same. We all need to pay bills and most of us are 3 paychecks away from destitution ! But your client need not know any of this
I have found that setting your rates for yourself is very important. I charge a higher day rate for short time i.e 1 -2 days a week. if full time then I bring it down a bit to show a discount for volume. For longer-term projects I give a total fee, broken down into sections and months.
Capitalising on Adarsh’ note.
The first thing is to get your terms of reference agreed with the client before accepting to do anything. As a professional, you will know what the value of your expertise is to the client. Your proposal should read back the terms of reference and your deliverables.
Time and materials aside I would estimate the value vs the cost. then propose your price in whatever way seems practical adding some contingency for negotiation.
Apart from this don’t do any more work until the proposal is agreed. Be prepared to walk away if it doesn’t work for you.
In answer to your question
This is business not personal! it’s your business and you are the CEO so behave like one. Confidence and assertiveness go a long way. Sometimes you have to adopt a different persona similar to an actor to perform the task at hand.
if the client wants to lowball you then be prepared to walk away. Do not compromise your professional integrity. In my experience, if you drive a hard bargain, you drive respect.
if you agree to a heavily reduced ”project rate” then the client will undervalue you, you will feel compromised and not necessarily produce your best efforts, as you won’t want to give the gold service.
I hope this helps, happy to have a chat any time on tactics and positioning, etc
Best regards
Damien
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Hi Damien, this is really helpful! I think you’ve hit the nail on the head when it comes to confidence and assertiveness. There’s a lot within the proposed project that falls under my service offering, but there’s also a lot that would usually be a development partner’s role. that’s not to say it’s something I couldn’t cover but it is a large additional ask that doesn’t justify the discount requested. Knowing this, there’s still that inner voice telling me I’d be crazy to turn down paid work! But I think I’m seeing that if I start out that way it will be difficult to turn it around.
It’s that remembering I’m the CEO of me rather than defaulting to the beleaguered employee!! thank you very much for the needed reminder!
I’d love to reach out via dm too to chat. Thank you!
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Hi Caoimhe, I’m glad you found yesterday’s Let’s Talk useful- Nicola MacPhail, Cara de Lange, Annelise Lepage, Paulina PoÅ‚oÅ„ska, Brian O'Connor, Johny C [仲倪], Yasmin Gregory, Zarir 'Zed' Vakil, Damien, Stephen Fleming, Duncan Dalzel-Job, Lucy Warman, Kim Katz, Alan Stein, Shamir, Alexandra Levy, Maria Evans PhD, Kate Moerel– might be able to give some advice?