Hi,
I have a very demanding and particular client, her words not mine, Andrew i want a catalogue garden ie when the pic you see when you open a catalgue and i'm prepared to pay for it.
We charge £20 an hr, and me and my full time guy know our stuff however i have been told by her that some of the other chaps are not as good as James, and you should be charging me a jnr rate ie not £20 hr.
we do 2 x 4hrs x £20 for her a week. she wants 1 person hrly rate reduced which is part of my issue. My other is if we do a day for a client, should i charge the, £160 or £140, ie 7 hrs, because the worker ( me, or someone else) has 1 hr over the course of the day break time etc, or is a day 8 hrs and do you charge 8 x £xx per hr. if you charge on a hourly basis.
I have to get back to the catalogue lady early next week with some sort of compromise.
She's a pain becasue if i and my full timer work she has not problem with £20 ph but she see some of the others as juniors and she shouldn't pay as much. Do you charge a set rate who ever works ( for those with larger workforces )
Thanks
Andrew
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Replies
We are cheaper at £15 an hour but my response would be that that is the average rate eg your juniors would be say £15 and your and your main guy £25-30 per hour so its swings and round abouts if they want just the main man up the rates. We would only charge the 7 if the guys are physically stopping for lunch and leaving the site or sitting in van, if its tea on the go and a quick sandwich then keep the clocks running
Do you charge £20 per hr for two of you?
If so its way too cheap.
How much do you pay the juniors. If your turning a profit on them, then thats all good
depends on your costs im more ,but helper half the price and i take it easier? so helps me carry on day-to day if in work..
so its relative ie you at £20 doing more hrs or less with you and him at £30 and then you can keep more clients happy- and her happy!
more work - less you should charge her to a max of 20%
Letting your customer know your hourly rate will always open a can of worms as you mention above. You also get the comment 'am I paying for them to sit having a cup of tea etc'. We always price 'per job' 'per visit' 'per year'.
Colin Hunt said:
Doing this solves all problems that you're currently having Andrew.
Sarah,
James works for me self employed 5 days PW, i work with him as mich as i can, we have others ( casuals ) that do a day hr and day there. I'm a full time firefighter and own and run my garden co. This is the reason i cannot do regular days every week, and the need for staff. Its a bit of a pain but that the situation i'm in. Unfortunatal;ey i have to live with that. I wish i could personally do 5 days pw with him.
This client wants a Chelsea garden, maybe the set price was the way to do. If i'd have done that, i know what would happen and it would be one of them .... can you just do that and do that, and that. This way its a set time structure and what gets done, gets done. there are set paramitersin place. She stated she wanted 1 chap 1 day per week. We as a co. work in pairs due to Health and Safety and the old phase 2 pairs of hands are better than one. I appreciate the other person may come across as looking as Junior as he is very proactive and knows what he is doing, but i certainly don't comprimise on wage and tools in my co. We buy the best and expect the best albeit of client. I've just invested in a pair of Niwaki shears for all the boxed hedge in this garden £75. These have to be payed for....
We started at 2 x 4hrs x £20 - £160, I gave her a reduced price of £150 per week as she guarentees 1 day (8hrs) or (2 x 4hrs) per week. I don't really want 1 person for a day, it ties them up with the vehicle and other jobs cannot get done.
On the other hand, i like her garden and her, she has structure to her garden and likes the way it gets done. It just annoys me that she's loaded (or should i say her hubby is) shes got OCD and wants evrything done a very particular way. Every week we nip and tuck her box hedge as she always wants it looking A1.
Would you walk away or be honest and tell her thats the price, these are the staff, you may get the boss (me) and James or you may have James and AN Other. Always same price. Unfortunately i cannot give you James on his own.
Decision Descicions
Andrew, you'll get nowhere with this client, plus if she comes across this discussion (you've put this on the open forum and googling 'andrew michael palmer gardening' it comes up on page 1) it will only cause tension.
I would stop working on this job and move on, and NEVER state hourly rates in future.
I would just be honest and stand your ground. She is obviously happy with the standard of your work and sounds like a demanding cleint many people would steer clear of. Therefore tell her thats how your business is structured and so thats what will be happening or unfortunately she'll have to find someone else.
The fact that she or her husband may be loaded is totally irrelevant in my opinion. Clients should all be treated equally regardless of your assumptions about their personal finances.
On a seperate note it very much sounds like James is not self employed if he works for you 5 days per week.
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