Getting your price: the bait-and-switch tactic
February 26, 2005
The term bait and switch has a slightly negative connotation, but I use it anyway because it sounds good …
For small and medium sized web design projects, clients will typically want a final price for the project – it’s rare that they will let you work on a per-hour basis. Strangely enough though, clients will ask what you charge by the hour …
This is where this tactic comes in handy; the idea is to give them a per hour rate that sounds good … make them feel as though they are getting a special price. If what you charge per hour actually does sound good, then this tactic is not useful for you.
On the other hand, if you’re a cracker-jack designer, who charges more per hour because your work is that much better, or because you’re just faster at what you do, then bait-and-switch is what you need.
In a nutshell: it comes down to how many hours you actually work. Your clients will have no idea how long it will take you to complete the task! So if your rate is normally $50/hour (and $25/hour is the price that makes your client happy,) and you estimate the job will take you 10 hours. You can tell your clients that the job will take 20 hours at only $25/hour. This way, you’re able to give a more competitive per hour rate , while still making the money you want for the job.
Conclusion:
At the end of the day, the bait and switch tactic I teach, is not about ripping off your clients – you MUST provide good value. Instead it just about framing your pitch.
