One of the reasons my co-authors and I included a chapter on pricing in our book was that we were seeing too many talented freelancers losing too many ideal projects due to simple mistakes in the pricing process.
For example, a few months ago, I received a call from Mike W. (not his real name) asking for my advice. “Steve, could you help me? I have received a request for a quotation from a travel company here in town. They want a price on writing a new brochure.”
“Glad to help, Mike,” I said. “But isn’t it five o’clock in your time zone right now? What time did you say you’ll get back to them?”
“Ah,” Mike began, sounding sheepish. “Well, the request came in last week. I’m just getting around to quoting them now.”
Good luck, I remember thinking. Unfortunately, the chances of Mike getting the job were very slim. At this point, the client had probably assumed he was not interested in doing the work and had likely found another writer.
The opportunity was gone.
When should you send a price quotation after you’ve received a request to do so from a potential client?
I strongly suggest you prepare and send the quotation the SAME DAY. You want to take advantage of the momentum and the client’s desire to get the job done.
But what if you’re crazy busy with other projects and can’t get the quotation done that day?
I recommend you do it anyway.
Get that quotation to the client the same day — even if it’s already late in the afternoon — even if the client says it’s okay to send it to him tomorrow — even if your computer crashes and you have to write the darn thing out by hand — send the client your quote the same day. Your chances of getting the job go up dramatically when you do.
Of course, sending the quotation is only half the battle. You still have to land the project.
Assuming the client doesn’t contact you right away, how long should you wait before you pick up the phone to follow-up on the quotation you sent? The next day? Later in the week? Never?
My answer may surprise you.
You should follow up on a quotation the same day as well.
That’s right. You want to take full advantage of the momentum. Your potential new client is already in motion to hire a freelance professional; otherwise he wouldn’t have discussed the project with you in the first place. So make sure you keep the ball rolling – rolling toward the client saying yes to your quotation.
When quoting and following-up, timing is everything. The next day is usually a day too late.
Image courtesy: Damon Duncan on Flickr
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Steve Slaunwhite is the co-founder of TheWealthyFreelancer.com and co-author of The Wealthy Freelancer: 12 Secrets to a Great Income and an Enviable Lifestyle.
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Steve,
You’re right on with this. In fact, I even go so far as to attempt to “lock up” the project in the same day as well, which has worked well for me personally. At the very least, I establish a specific time frame under which the client will give me a decision on utilizing my services for that project.
Great stuff.
Great advice! Especially in the translation business, where the clients want the job done yesterday.
Steve,
Great advice. I have to admit that I’ve been somewhat spoiled by working a lot with design agencies who already have the client in process building a web site. I often haven’t had to think about them going away (only whether they’d choke on my estimate). I’m going to take your advice to heart. Thanks.
I wonder about that – wouldn’t such a policy make you seem too eager to land the job and therefore place you at a disadvantage in subsequent negotiations over your pricing?
Yogi, I see your point and have been tempted to feign the “I’m so busy, I’ll delay a bit and you’ll see how much you want me and how, well, I kinda’ want you but don’t need you.”
But it’s not a good tactic. I agree with theSteve and friends. Show them you want it and show them you want to satisfy them. By being responsible in getting your business, I’m showing you I’m responsible in delivering your business.
I myself have put out RFPs/ tenders/etc and have granted the business to a given vendor before another vendor has done anything more than a first phone call. I’d never even call back the latter vendor. Why would I?
I’ve done it both ways (being so busy it takes a few days and responding immediately) and my results are much better with the latter strategy. On top of that, I feel exhilarated by getting the quote out so fast and generally have a better relationship with the client if I end up landing the contract.
This is such great advice. I actually just read this section in the “The Wealthy Freelancer” and realized I’ve been doing it all wrong. I’ve let a lot of quotes go out to long and then I think, “why didn’t I hear from them” or “why didn’t I get the job”? This is one of those steps that I started doing right off, I actually used the suggestions on a quote today and the prospect looks promising. Thanks for the great advice.
I have to agree; this is great advice. I was watching a discussion on Twitter about this very topic a couple weeks ago. The twitterverse in my stream collectively agreed getting a proposal out within a week was a good rule of thumb. I had a smile like The Cheshire Cat at that news. I know I get work simply because I’m first in.
Here’s the best part about getting the first job. I usually get repeat business. Why would I wait to tap into a new revenue stream?
I agreed with this yesterday, and have had second thoughts. Firstly, let me say that I truly believe in fast response, and in being authentic. Also, by doing what’s best for the client you ultimately do what’s best for you.
But part of the skill of customer-focused selling is to realize when the buyer’s defined needs may not really be what’s in the buyer’s best interest. In that case, just firing off a quote is not the answer. It may get you some quick biz today, but it won’t help you or the customer in the long run.
I felt so strongly about this that I also posted some thoughts on my blog http://bit.ly/drhvHV , and I’m enjoying this discussion. Thanks!
I am just getting back to freelance writing and marketing after a 15 year break. How do I set competitive fees & how do I find out what those are in my market? I live in a small town so I can’t survey competitors or be a fake client (which I think is wrong anyway). I ‘ve been told if you want to make an annual salary of “X”, then calculate an hourly rate based on that calculating in all other overhead & business expenses. That seems so arbitrary because I could say I want to make $300K this year but I doubt I would win many jobs at that rate. I prefer flat rates for clients (the range idea mentioned above is a good idea too). Can anyone give me some guidance on how to calculate fees for jobs?
Wendy – I agree with you. Setting your fees by calculating what you’d like to earn and working backward from that number never works. On paper, it’s a sound idea. But it doesn’t quite work like that in the real world, as you noted.
Instead, you need to do some research to find out what the professional-level fees are for the types of projects you want to work on. And if you focus on a particular industry, your research needs to focus on that niche. The idea is to use this field intelligence to create a master fee schedule, which is nothing more than a list of projects you can work on along with an approximate fee range for each. When you need to quote a project, you start by referencing your master fee schedule. Based on level of difficulty, scope, size, and other factors, you then quote a flat fee within that range. Of course, you’ll need to qualify that fee by stating what’s included (scope of work, number of revisions, etc.).
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