Just a quick background - I have one client at the mo, no previous bookkeeping experience and have passed my level 2 manual and computerised courses.
I was charging advertising my hourly rate as £8 to £10 per hour but the ICB have suggested that I charge £12 to £15 an hour. I think that this is a bit much to ask for as I have not a lot of experience so I am going to aim for between £10 and £12 an hour.
I have taken my hourly rate off of my website and so hopefully I might start to get a few calls.
If someone calls me and asks how much I charge, what should I do:
- should I try to meet with them
- take as much info over the phone as possible and arrange to send them a quotation
- or tell them that I charge roughly between £10 and £12 an hour but that I would need more info from them to give them an exact amount
If someone does seem generally interested, how do I decide whether to charge them £10 or £12 an hour. I am thinking that if they are prepared to use an excel based cash system, that I charge at the lower end, but if they want me to use VT, Sage, Microsoft Office etc then I charge them a little more?
If I do say £12 an hour and they seem hesitant, should I drop my hourly fee down to win their business?
Sorry, if these seem like silly questions, its just something that I have never done before and I think that when the time comes, I dont want to be flustered, plus I dont want to over or under charge them.
At the moment, unfortunately, my sales skills aren't quite up to my bookkeeping skills, so absolutely any ideas or pointers would be great
Personally I would prefer to meet with someone in person to get all the details I need to prepare a quote. Although I could get this over the phone I find it easier to gauge the real interest face to face, you can also start to build a relaitionship easier. I would generally want to avoid talking prices there and then, rather I would like to get all of the information I need and probably prepare a full quote for them and drop it off to them, following up with a phone call a few days later if I heard nothing.
I would probably avoid dropping your prices straight off (I know, this from the guy who charges a tenner) but maybe reinforce the benefits and remind them that having you will actually save them money.
You're USP should be your professionalism, or in the services you offer, not the price.
Kris
-- Edited by kjmcculloch on Tuesday 18th of August 2009 04:58:23 PM
The views expressed in this post are my own personal (HRA protected) views, and are not representative of any organisation I have any involvement with.
I'm in a similar situation in so much as I have just started seriously trying to get clients.
I acquired my first in April after a local leaflet drop and acquired my second yesterday from my website (like I said i haven't done any serious campaigns yet)
I tried all sorts. I agree that showing charges on advertising and websites may put people off so I am going to remove the prices off mine.
I am currently charging £12.50/ hr and calculate my estimate based on 25-30 item entries/ hr. What I am trying at the moment is to advertise a discount for new clients off my standard charge for a 3 month period (or pro rata if not monthly) which I am hoping will sound more attractive. My strategy is that they will get to know me and hopefully will by then be so used to not having to worry about their books they keep me on when it goes up. I am also offering 10% discount for one bookkeeping period for each new client they might introduce. If it works I'll let you know
I think the best bet is to offer the free consultation and get a face to face. People interact better that way and the first impressions work both ways. If you ask them over the phone they will always under estimate the volume of work they have. It shouldn't matter what system they want you to use either - your time is your time and you aren't any less qualified.
Bottom line is (Like you, I found) that doing the books is the easy bit. Getting and selling yourself is the hardest part. Bill
I would advise its best to get a face to face meeting and have a good look at their books or bag of receipts first. The first few clients are a case of trial and error with regards to what rate to charge, I would say £10 - £12 hour hour is reasonable, but decide on your hourly rate, because if you say `between £10 - £12` this would suggest that you are not confident. You have to show that you are professional and confident particularly when discussing charges.
I charge an hourly rate but I have recently spoken to a firm of francised accountants who are looking to out source work, and they have suggested that a fixed rate scheme would be best, so I am thinking about how I could put this into practice.
Sorry Terri, I'm not hijacking your thread, but Julie I'd be interested to hear about your experiences when you do this. It's something I've been giving more than a passing thought to doing. It'd be great to hear how it goes.
The views expressed in this post are my own personal (HRA protected) views, and are not representative of any organisation I have any involvement with.
Terri - we've spent a long time developing our pricing system. It's based on value pricing where value is built in the sales/marketing and then a fixed fee agreed depending on the individual circumstances. This can include risk, frequency, volume and service levels. Our bookkeepers have found pricing this way can double or treble recovery rates.
Bill - are you basing your operations on posting 25-30 transactions an hour? With a transaction being a sales/purchase invoice or a receipt/payment.
Imagine a situation of quoting a fixed fee of £100 a month for a job with a transaction count of 200 a month and processing at 100 transactions an hour. That's £50 an hour recovery rate, much better than restricting yourself to an hourly rate.
-- Edited by BobHarper on Sunday 23rd of August 2009 10:31:10 PM
