As a Virtual Assistant, I am in several online communities that cater to Virtual Assistants (VAs) and Online Business Managers (OBMs). One question or discussion that I see time and time again is about rates.
- CLIENT: Why do VAs cost that much an hour?
- CLIENT: Why don’t US VAs charge the same low rates as overseas VAs?
- VA: When I give clients my rates, they always ask for a breakdown of the tasks as though this somehow diminishes the need for me to charge my rate.
- VA: The client wants to haggle my rates and also wants additional services on top of my regular duties. How should I address this?
Time and time again, the answer is relatively the same. Charge what you are worth.
The clients who understand value will get on board and the rest can go elsewhere and find cheaper work and then pay for what they lost in value and experience in the end.
I thought about it in a different way, because I am a Virtual Assistant and biased to why we should charge what we are worth, so I decided I would try to think about it in a different way. Here’s what I came up with.
Different Perspective – Plastic Surgeon Example
A client smashes their face into a door and breaks their nose. The nose will heal, but their face will never look the same again without plastic surgery.
Plastic Surgeon #1 can correct your face and have you looking like yourself in no time. Their credentials:
- 10 Years of Experience
- 50 Nose Jobs Completed
- 30 Minutes Surgery Time due to experience and repeatedly completing this procedure
- $2500 – Total Cost
Plastic Surgeon #2 can also correct your face, but may take a little bit longer due to being a recent graduate. Their credentials:
- 2 Years of Experience
- 1 Nose Job Completed
- 120 Minutes (2 Hours) Surgery Time due to lack of experience and not being as familiar with this procedure
- $1500 – Total Cost
Which surgeon do you want working on your face? The face that you have to present to the world. The face that your clients see when they visit your business whether online or in-person. Think about it?
Who in this scenario should be paid more? Does paying for the hours worked still make sense to you?
If a client can’t understand this scenario, then they are not the types of clients that you want, especially if they are in a service-based business and charge their own customers set prices.
Want to learn more about the types of clients to avoid? Click here.