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Sebastian's avatar
Sebastian B Community Member

Client thinks im taking too long, hourly contract

So this client is great but keep asking me to do more and more and my hourly limit is almost done, he seems to think some tasks take less than they really do

7 REPLIES 7
Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Sebastian:

You're actually working faster and providing better value than any of the other freelancers who are working on this project!

 

You shouldn't feel bad about the work you're doing.

 

What should you do?

First of all, don't work for free.

If you run out of time, stop working.

 

If the client says something specifically about amount of time things are taking, you should be polite, of course, but don't apologize. Just explain in a straightforward way what it is you are working on and what you will be doing next.

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

re: "he seems to think some tasks take less than they really do"

 

He may not have any idea how long things take.


I think they are 2 possibilities here:

a) This client has hired 4 to 6 freelancers to do the same type of work you're doing. He knows full well that you're the best freelancer in the group and that the others on the team take longer and and cost more to get the same work done.

[or]

b) This client has not worked with any other freelancer on this type of work. So he genuinely has no idea how long things should take and his opinion about how long things take has no basis.

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member


Preston H wrote:

 

You're actually working faster and providing better value than any of the other freelancers who are working on this project!



You know that, how, exactly?

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

re: "You know that, how, exactly?"

 

In this particular situation, the original poster is actually the only freelancer doing this type of work on this project.

 

So because he is the only person working on the project, he is (by definition) the fastest and most valuable.

 

My wording in my posts here is directed at the freelancer who posted here, but my comments are also gently chiding the client for thinking he knows how long things take, without actually knowing. Had the client actually hired other people, he would have a basis for comparison.

 

The client in this case would be wise to either:

a) hire other freelancers,

[or]

b) stop making unwarranted assumptions about how long something takes that he has never done himself and has relatively little knowledge about.

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member


Preston H wrote:

re: "You know that, how, exactly?"

 

In this particular situation, the original poster is actually the only freelancer doing this type of work on this project.


Again, you don't know this.  You are pulling this out of thin air. He may be, he may not.

 


Preston H wrote:

 

So because he is the only person working on the project, he is (by definition) the fastest and most valuable.


Sorry, that is completely bizzare reasoning.

 


Preston H wrote:

 

My wording in my posts here is directed at the freelancer who posted here, but my comments are also gently chiding the client for thinking he knows how long things take, without actually knowing. Had the client actually hired other people, he would have a basis for comparison.


Again, you don't know this.  You are pulling this out of thin air. For all you know the client has years of experience hiring people to process images and knows what output per hour is "normal" for the quality the client needs.

 


Preston H wrote:

 

b) stop making unwarranted assumptions


Good idea. You might want to try it.

 

 

Preston's avatar
Preston H Community Member

Petra:

I don't blame you at all for wondering how I know many of the things I know about Forum posters and their situations.

 

It is sometimes hard for me to understand myself.

It is both a gift, and a curse.

 

For what it's worth, the original poster will be able to confirm what I have said, if he cares to comment again in this thread.

Petra's avatar
Petra R Community Member


Sebastian B wrote:

So this client is great but keep asking me to do more and more and my hourly limit is almost done, he seems to think some tasks take less than they really do


Sebastian, you need to have a chat with the client so you and he can be on the same page as far as output is concerned.

It might be better to run the contract on a fixed price basis so you don't feel time-pressure, it might make sense to have a higher weekly limit, but either way, communication is key here.

 

Maybe the client really does not know how long stuff takes, maybe you are creating output of aquality that is in excess of what is needed, either way the way forward is to TALK to your client.

 

Preston H wrote:

Petra:

I don't blame you at all for wondering how I know many of the things I know about Forum posters and their situations.

 

It is sometimes hard for me to understand myself.

It is both a gift, and a curse.


Or rather you make nonsense up as you go along.