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nattysrubi
Community Member

Specialized profiles confusing clients

Has anyone else experienced issues with clients unaware that there are specialized profiles that may carry different pricing structures?  I've had a few clients now complain about pricing as my main profile has a lower price than my specialty ones.   When invited, they are expecting me to quote at the main profile price.  I even had one client leave me because she felt that I had cheated her over this.  

 

Perhaps the issue is that I put the lowest-priced skilled profile as my main one?  This was done with intention as I was unsure how searches would work and what the prospective clients would see first.  

 

I am considering scrapping the various profiles and downsizing back to the original one.  I like the concept of having multiple profiles, but it might not be worth the effects that it is having on the prospects.  

8 REPLIES 8
petra_r
Community Member


Nathalie C wrote:

Has anyone else experienced issues with clients unaware that there are specialized profiles that may carry different pricing structures?  I've had a few clients now complain about pricing as my main profile has a lower price than my specialty ones.   


What is really confusing to clients is that the hourly rate on one of your specialized profile is a third higher than the highest you have ever charged on either profile. Your rates on both your profiles are all over the shop from $30 to $60. That just looks "odd" at best and like you really don't know what you're doing at worst.

 

I sort of  get charging different rates for different skills (although I do not), but not really having a profile rate so much higher than what you accept or have ever worked at. 

Hi Petra,  Thank you for your reply.  

 

There is definitely a lot of inconsistencies, now that I look closer.  I did a search of myself using a company account and I can see what people are seeing now.  In some cases, the same term is used on all three profiles so searches are pulling up the wrong profile.  I need to do a huge cleanup.  Thank you.  

 

You mention that my rates are all over the place.  That is by design.  You cannot possibly bill the same for every single project that comes through.  Even if you didn't have a wide variety of skills, there are still going to be those 'quick and easy' jobs versus the 'more labour intensive' ones. 

 

A good example is data cleansing a file cannot be considered equal to implementing a complete SaaS data solution.  Both are valued at extremely different ends of the spectrum. 

 

I noticed that you bill by the project which is easier to cammoflauge the true hourly value behind each project.  A good example in your line of work is comparing the value behind a medical or technical translation to that of a children's handout. 

 

Again, thank you for the insight.  


Nathalie C wrote:

You cannot possibly bill the same for every single project that comes through.  Even if you didn't have a wide variety of skills, there are still going to be those 'quick and easy' jobs versus the 'more labour intensive' ones.  A good example in your line of work is comparing the value behind a medical or technical translation to that of a children's handout. 


See, that's where I don't get it. A more labour intensive job takes more time, so it costs more than an easy job at the same rate.

 

For an easy translation I may take a third of the time than a really difficult technical one, so it costs less at my standard hourly rate.

 

Say the easy translation takes me an hour, the technical translation takes me 3 hours. So at the SAME hourly rate, I get paid 3 times more.

An hour of my time is an hour of my time.

 

I am telling you how it looks from a client perspective.

As you are already experiencing pushback, you may want to at least think about it.

 

And at any rate, setting a profile rate so much higher than what you have ever billed at is a bad look in addition to the rates being all over the shop (for whatever reason).

I, as many other would agree, appreciate your candid responses and I will make changes based on your observations.  

 

Correction on the ' labour intensive' job.  I meant to say a job that is more challenging or more knowledge-intensive.  

 

Thanks again!

roberty1y
Community Member

Nathalie C said:

 

I am considering scrapping the various profiles and downsizing back to the original one.

 

If I remembrer rightly, I was told I couldn't do that - once you add a profile, you have to keep it. You can edit all the profiles so that they are all the same, but when a client sees one of them, they will only see the jobs you have done in that category. I prefer to have all my jobs visible to any client. I just make sure every proposal I send in is fixed to display my general profile to the client, because that is the one that shows all the jobs I have done.

I believe you are right.  You vaguely remember the same thing, however, it looks like we might have the option to do so now.  I haven't tried to delete it yet, so who knows if it'll force me to create a new replacement right away.  I'll give it a try and update it here once I know for sure.  


Nathalie C wrote:

I believe you are right.  You vaguely remember the same thing, however, it looks like we might have the option to do so now.  I haven't tried to delete it yet, so who knows if it'll force me to create a new replacement right away.  I'll give it a try and update it here once I know for sure.  


You can delete 1 of your 2 specialised profiles, so you end up with 1 main, and 1 specialised total.

tlbp
Community Member


Nathalie C wrote:

Has anyone else experienced issues with clients unaware that there are specialized profiles that may carry different pricing structures?  I've had a few clients now complain about pricing as my main profile has a lower price than my specialty ones.   When invited, they are expecting me to quote at the main profile price.  I even had one client leave me because she felt that I had cheated her over this.  

 

Perhaps the issue is that I put the lowest-priced skilled profile as my main one?  This was done with intention as I was unsure how searches would work and what the prospective clients would see first.  

 

I am considering scrapping the various profiles and downsizing back to the original one.  I like the concept of having multiple profiles, but it might not be worth the effects that it is having on the prospects.  


This is a communication problem that you must manage. The clients aren't going to try to interpret three different payscales and figure out where their needs fit. You will have to be very upfront when responding to invites and get the issue of cost out of the way before moving forward.

 

And, yes, a lot of clients may fall out of the funnel when they learn that your fees are higher than expected for their gig. But, it is unlikely that they would pay the higher fee had htey realized it before sending the invite, so you haven't really lost a qualified lead. 

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