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This is just a little rant. I am working with QuickBooks as a pro advisor. I get a call from a potential client who wants a simple set up service and some training. I charge by the service and would have charged him 260 dollars for the complete set up and two hours training. He starts insisting that I get paid by the hour at his set rate of 15 dollars an hour. He also insists it is going to take three days to set it up and that it must be done at his location.
I tried to explain that if he paid my standard rate it would be cheaper because 3 days at 15 dollars an hour (8 hours) would be 360 dollars. He insisted it be done in his office.
I can probably set his file up in three hours and with the additional two hours training I have invested 5 hours at a rate of close to 50 dollars an hour. (which is the national average charged for this service). This guy wants an independent contractor to work for employee wages AND has no clue how long it will take or what is involved.
I find it humerous that there is an expectation that people will just give away their services. If it is so easy to do he only feels a need to pay 15 dollars an hour I don't understand why he doesn't just do it himself.
Anytime someone mentions an hourly rate for work that I am in business to do I respectfully decline-thank you- Those customers will be the ones calling you back every time they stub their toenail. Then they want your expertise for freeeeeee.
This is just a little rant. I am working with QuickBooks as a pro advisor. I get a call from a potential client who wants a simple set up service and some training. I charge by the service and would have charged him 260 dollars for the complete set up and two hours training. He starts insisting that I get paid by the hour at his set rate of 15 dollars an hour. He also insists it is going to take three days to set it up and that it must be done at his location.
I tried to explain that if he paid my standard rate it would be cheaper because 3 days at 15 dollars an hour (8 hours) would be 360 dollars. He insisted it be done in his office.
I can probably set his file up in three hours and with the additional two hours training I have invested 5 hours at a rate of close to 50 dollars an hour. (which is the national average charged for this service). This guy wants an independent contractor to work for employee wages AND has no clue how long it will take or what is involved.
I find it humerous that there is an expectation that people will just give away their services. If it is so easy to do he only feels a need to pay 15 dollars an hour I don't understand why he doesn't just do it himself.
Considering how hard-headed and dumb this guy is, it may indeed take you 3 days to train him.
There is nothing like realizing a potential customer is going to be more trouble than they are worth early on, and declining to get involved. No doubt there are all sorts of service providers, from doctors and lawyers to lawn care people, who can tell some tales of how they would have been better to take the day off than take on a nutjob...
You guys are right, it is best to know upfront what kind of client they are.
The reason I referred to him as an idiot rather than a cheap bas***d is that he was insisting he pay MORE than what was required and just arbitrarily pulled the number of hours he thought it would require out of his buttocks.
Oh well, just needed to vent. This isn't the first time it has happened though, just a few months back a guy setting up a new temporary agency wanted help setting up and training his staff how to use QuickBooks and offered to hire me as a temp for 12 bucks an hour.
Maybe the economy is making people unrealistic about their ability to "get a deal".
You are right Heetseaker, clients like that will be on you continuously expecting the same rate. My business model depends on a continued relationship with clients as their needs grow. It is pointless to take on clients that won't be profitable.
Walk away. A man who disrespects your price so badly is not a man who will value what you do.
In fact, while I have my own billing rate/hour just to help me price assignments, I always quote a flat fee. This actually benefits both the client and me. For the client now has a budget that, as long as the scope of the work remains the same, he can rely on. And I have a financial incentive to be efficient.
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