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As a consultant, offering a limited money-back guarantee was a huge boost to my business. I'd offer something like "if after 2 weeks, you don't like my work, we
by SatvikBeri 8y ago
As a consultant, offering a limited money-back guarantee was a huge boost to my business. I'd offer something like "if after 2 weeks, you don't like my work, we can cancel the contract and you don't have to pay anything."
By doing this I was able to charge literally twice as much – one of people's biggest concerns with a freelancer is that they have very little idea of how skilled you actually are. And no one ever asked for a refund.
(I was also pretty careful with my client selection though – I'd bring this up towards the very end of a negotiating phase, to avoid adverse selection.)
- ChicagoBoy11 8y agoSo smart to not advertise it and instead just reveal it to customers you knew had a lower risk!
- seanwilson 8y ago> As a consultant, offering a limited money-back guarantee was a huge boost to my business. I'd offer something like "if after 2 weeks, you don't like my work, we can cancel the contract and you don't have to pay anything." > By doing this I was able to charge literally twice as much – one of people's biggest concerns with a freelancer is that they have very little idea of how skilled you actually are. And no one ever asked for a refund. Not doubting you but how were you able to tell that was the influencing factor? Did anybody hint they were concerned they might not be happy with the final product? Do you ask for any money upfront? I've heard of some people asking for 100% upfront with a refund guarantee. I'll usually get some portion upfront and the rest on completion so they know they can withhold something if they're not happy.
- SatvikBeri 8y agoWell, I can't know for sure. I went from charging $X/week and getting lots of resistance to charging $2X/week with the guarantee and getting almost no resistance, and several clients specifically mentioned the guarantee. I didn't ask for anything up front then, but I probably would now that I have an established career and more options (although I'm not consulting anymore.) Edit: also, $2X was honestly well above my market rate at that point, I charged that much initially because I was already booked. But that's more evidence that the guarantee tactic worked.
- seanwilson 8y agoYou should consider charging fixed costs instead of hourly as well. It's easier for clients to make a business decision of your cost when they've got a guaranteed outcome.
- mfoy_ 8y agoSpeaking as a consultant, that introduces a new host of headaches and problems...
- seanwilson 8y agoI'm a consultant too and hourly has many problems as well. The core issue with hourly is it means you earn less if you work faster and smarter. This disincentive is very bad for you and the client. Also, the client is going to hold you to your estimate anyway and once you start getting close to it you're both going to get stressed and not do your best work. The client will start securitising your time sheets, you'll start eating hours to avoid angering the client, and you'll both waste hours every week on timesheets and billing. That's all time you're not putting into the project. I'm not saying fixed price is always the best option but I prefer them. The only time I've been burned by them was when I wasn't the one deciding the fixed price. If you're suffering from scope creep and bad estimates, there's ways to fix that.
- ibobriakov 8y agowhat are some good scope creeping remedies per your experience?
- SatvikBeri 8y agoI actually tried that! Then a project took 5x as long as I expected, mostly due to problems outside my control. Never again.
- seanwilson 8y agoWhy did it take 5x longer and why was it outside of your control? Could you have changed the terms about which part was fixed price to fix this?