April 19th 2008
Letting off some steam!
I’ve cooled off a little bit, but I must tell you, I was quite annoyed this morning when I checked my email. I woke up in a good mood because both of my daughters slept through the night, which means I got my first full night of rest in three years. That’s no exaggeration, either. But it’s beside the point.
Let me set the story up a little bit.
A couple of weeks ago, I got a lead through my website’s contact form. I called the person back and we had a great discussion. When I asked him if he’d be speaking with some other VAs he told me he didn’t have the time and wanted to get started. So, I emailed him a copy of my agreement with the understanding that he would forward more project details and we would get underway.
I didn’t receive a reply, I followed up a couple times and he finally said that he found another VA that charges substantially less than I do, and she wowed him by taking the initiative and actually doing some of the work with no prompting from him, nor an agreement or payment for it. Needless to say, he was impressed.
So, this morning when I checked my email I was surprised to see a fax of my agreement, tweaked around to serve as a basis for this person’s relationship with his new VA. I was confused, thought that he accidentally faxed it to me instead of this other person, but as I looked at the very familiar agreement, my freakin’ fax number was left on there as the number to send the agreement back to. Kind of funny, right?
Well, what I didn’t find too funny was the price that this other VA was working for. It was less than half of my hourly rate, and I charge what I believe to be industry standard. There is no way a person can run a business for that type of money, not in North America. I don’t care that another VA got the project. I’m too busy to worry about that stuff. What does bother me, though, is that people charge such ridiculously low rates to land jobs. I think it does a great disservice to other newbies to the industry trying to make it by charging the rates that they need to charge to make a living.
I believe there’s a big difference between doing this as a job and running a VA practice as a business. This isn’t the first time something like this has happened to me, and I’m okay with it personally. I have clients that appreciate the fact that when you pay peanuts you get monkeys, so I’m doing just fine. I just hate that there isn’t a governing body or something to set a rock bottom rate for VAs to charge. I don’t know, is that a good idea or a bad idea? If everyone had to charge a minimum price it would at least put everyone on level playing ground. Am I just grumpy?
6 Comments »
mary on 19 Apr 2008 at 9:30 pm #
Of course all us VAs are wondering the same thing. Though overseas outsourcing can be gotten for $3 an hour, one assumes that an American or European VA is charging a professional rate. BUT why would you do that if you’re not really a professional? Far as I can see, many people are trying to ‘make it’ working at home before they have gained any skills. Like, you hire the neighborhood kid to cut your lawn, but if you want landscaping, that’s another story. Guess the answer to all clients such as your example has to be, Oh, I understand, you’re looking for an intern!
Mark Hodder on 20 Apr 2008 at 10:01 am #
Sounds like you dodged a bullet to me! The type of client that is willing to sacrifice quality and experience to save a few dollars is probably going to the same type of client to nickel and dime you over everything.
Funny thing is with your network and experience it probably would of saved them money since you would be able to handle a lot more in lot less hours then a cheaper VA.
Maureen on 20 Apr 2008 at 7:06 pm #
You deserve to be grumpy over that – that’s poor. But I agree with Mark, you’re lucky you don’t have him as a client if that’s the way he does business.
Jaime Mann on 20 Apr 2008 at 8:06 pm #
Thanks for your comments, guys.
Mary – you’ve used a great analogy. Of course, I checked out this person’s website and it was pretty professional looking. This VA was advertising how affordable it was to work with them (trying not to disclose gender) so I think they are trying to beat out others with this low rate. If someone’s working a full time job and doing this to make extra money then I can see them charging lower rates. I don’t know. It just really bothered me to see that dollar figure because it’s almost exactly the amount an admin assistant would get paid as an employee. Another thing that sticks out is the fact that this VA didn’t have their own agreement – hence them using mine. It seems like an employer/employee relationship to me. Of course it was attractive to the client. Maybe there needs to be more education done so the public knows why some of us fetch the rates we do. Fodder for another article…
Mark – I’ve learned long ago that if someone makes a fuss about my rate from the beginning it’s just not going to work out. You’re right that with a team of wonderful VAs (like yourself) we can take a 20 hour project, split it up and get it done yesterday sometimes.
Moe – I am glad that I have clients like you who understand the value a seasoned VA brings to a business owner
I honestly do wish that fellow the best with his project, and I really hope the VA he chose to work with can deliver. He’s in business to turn a profit like the rest of us are and I completely understand his decision. I just hope his VA realizes that when you start out doing work for free it sets a dangerous precedent. And charging such low rates will make it extremely difficult to sustain a business.
Oops. Fell off my soapbox. Better run
Sally Kuhlman on 27 Apr 2008 at 8:16 pm #
Jaime, I totally agree if someone starts fussing about your rates/fees at the beginning it is not going to work out. I’ve been thinking about writing an article about what questions to ask a VA before hiring them.
I get many potential clients contacting me and their first question is, “What are your rates?”. First of all, my rates are on my Website but besides that don’t they want to know if I can even do the job they need done?
People still need to be educated on how fast VAs work. Generally, if working with a qualified VA you get a lot more in one hour than you would from an in house employee.
Wendi McNeill on 28 Apr 2008 at 7:28 am #
The virtual industry is a very competitive industry. Outsourcing may be a great hinderance to anyone that works virtually here in the US and I truly believe vice versa…some VA’s lose jobs to hiher priced VA’s it does happen. I think that the lesson well learned here is that although persistence didn’t pay off in this case it does pay off in other instances.
But being confident in your abilities and experience is just as important. Even when adversity is faced in any professional industry confidence and perserverance is key. You have proved that even as you move on better opportunities arise. Everything should be a learning experience.
This is something that our clients at http://www.charlijane.com can learn. As professionals in the speaking industry they can learn that sometimes free speaking engagements are forums that lead to better opportunities and that you just have to pick yourself up and move on.
Thank you!