Note from Jennifer: You haven’t missed a post from me earlier this week, I got swamped and didn’t send one. Work got in the way as well as homeless weenie dogs. Our rescue is taking in 12 dogs this weekend from a hoarding case so there has been lots of work getting that set up. So I decided to update an older post that I think is always timely. I’ll get back on track next week with a new post. 

A potential client contacted me with a seemingly great project and asked for a call to talk more. We set up a time and had a great call – nice people, regular work and great clips. At the end of the call, they ask me to send over my rates and then we could start working together. A few hours after I hit send, I get back an email saying that my rate of $400 for a blog post was four times more than they paid and asked if I would be willing to take the lower rate. 

Because the difference between my rate and their rate was so vast, I didn’t even bother to negotiate. If it had been closer, then I would have asked for a little more money or negotiated the scope down to keep my hourly rate closer to my target. But in this case, it was an easy decision to walk. Check out this post about why you should walk from a low paying client and tips on how to do it without burning bridges. Since your contact typically isn’t the one setting the freelancer budget, I stay very professional because it’s possible that next month the same editor will be working at another company with a healthy budget. 

The whole thing cost me money – probably close to $250. I spent close to 90 minutes (my hourly rate is $150) on the potential client – the initial emails, researching their company, reviewing their current content, and then a 30 minute phone call. That would have been fine if the issue was that me and the client weren’t a match skill or personality wise, because that’s something you can only discover in a call. 

But before we ever picked up the phone to talk, the client knew that they were going to pay $100 per post and no more. And I knew that I was not going to take a gig writing technical blog posts for $100. So the 90 minutes wasn’t spent discovering anything new, it just revealed something that a simple email could have discovered. And it could have saved both me and the client time and frustration. Not to mention that it was awkward for both of us. And because I am a terrible negotiator, I’ve actually taken lower paying work when I don’t find out till I’ve already met the client. 

Qualifying Clients Right from the Start 

After several frustrating incidents like the one above, I realized I needed to change my process and only get on the phone with clients that I knew were in my ballpark in terms of rates. Not only did I waste time on the unnecessary calls, it really sapped my energy and added frustration to get my hopes of a great new client, only to find out that we were never going to be a match. I’ve learned that the less I feel frustrated, the more energy and optimism I feel towards marketing. 

Now when a potential client contacts me from my website/LinkedIn or responds to an LOI, I respond with an email similar to the following:

Hi Mark, 

Thanks so much for reaching out. Your project sounds very interesting and right up my alley. To make sure we are in the same ballpark in terms of rates, could you tell me your rates and a little about the projects you need help with (length, #of interviews, type of writing)? 

Assuming we are a match in terms of rates, I would love to chat with you this week to see if we are a match to work together. I am available Thursday morning (8am to 11:30am EST) or Friday all day from 8am to 5pm EST. 

I look forward to hearing from you and hopefully working with you in the near future. 

If they respond back with questions asking me about my rates, then I use the process outlined in this post to give them a ball park rate. I always stress this is just an estimate at this time. 

If they respond with a rate that is close to mine then I say something to the effect of “Great. We are in the same range and can discuss the details later.” While I recommend always negotiating a rate, this isn’t the time and place to do that. I wait till after the phone call when I’ve agreed that they are a good fit and they want to work with me, then I ask for 10 to 20 percent more than their offered rate. Check out this post for details on why you should always ask for more money and how to do it. 

And while I work on project rates, it’s fine at this point if they tell me 75 cents a word for blog posts or $1 a word for case studies. We can talk about specific payment structures later. Their answer tells me what I need to know at this point – we are in the same range and can get into the nitty gritty later. My experience tells me you don’t want to go too deep into the negotiation or details at this point, since you are just pre-qualifying them. 

Is it rude or unprofessional to ask about money in a first email? 

No, you are a business. And as a business owner you must decide which clients are a good fit for your business. While rates are not the only thing you should evaluate when taking a new client, it’s an important issue and often a deal breaker. 

Yes, there might be an occasional client who gets turned off by this direct question up front. But I’ve not had anyone get pissy and I’ve only heard one story of a client who got upset. And if a potential client has a problem with me asking rates up front, then we aren’t a match for working together. 

Could you be turning away clients who might pay more after they find out you are awesome?

Sure. Possibly. But a client isn’t usually going to pay something many times over their budget. We are awesome. But not awesome enough for someone to pay $400 when they budgeted $100. And even if they hire you for a project, they are likely not to become long term clients because you are so far out of their budget.

Yes, sometimes a client will go back and revise their budget, but it’s rare. And if I really want to work with a client for reasons other than money then that’s a different story and I’ll take the risk of wasting my time. But to me the 1% chance of this happening isn’t worth it for most clients at this point in my career.

 I’ve learned that emotional toll on myself of turning down a client that I’ve met online and devoted time is something I need to factor in as well. It’s not easy for me to do at that point. I find it draining and sometimes makes me question my career choices, even though I know it’s par for the course. But I’m much more bold and businesslike through email and LinkedIn so it’s easy to turn down and not let it faze me. 

Yes, qualifying rates right off the bat is a little uncomfortable. Yes, you are going to want to skip this step. But every single time I jump right on the phone, I get burned. You are saving time (which is money) and frustration by asking the question up front. A professional client understands that you are a business owner and will likely be happy to not waste their time if you aren’t a match rate wise. 

Do you prequalify clients before getting on the phone?