Dear Bloggers, You Get What You Pay For!

Written on April 20, 2009 by Lisa Morosky

I had a conversation with a potential client a week ago. The conversation went something like this:

Him: “I see that you’re qualified and can do what I need you to do. But can you bring down your hourly rate? I’m between you and someone in the Philippines, and she’s $3.00 an hour.”

Me: “Unfortunately, I’m not going to lower my hourly rate. I’m actually already low for virtual assistant standards. Not only do I deliver great services at an already affordable price, but I actually over deliver.”

Him: “I don’t know how you can stay in business then when equally as good VAs are charging much less overseas.”

Obviously, he chose to hire someone overseas. And that’s okay. For some people, cost is just the deciding factor. But as that conversation ended, I thought to myself…you get what you pay for . How can someone be motivated to go above and beyond for you, when you pay them a ridiculous rate? Wouldn’t you rather work with someone who’s in your industry and understands, right off the bat, what you need done? I’m not trying to compete with international virtual assistants who charge obscenely low hourly rates. Our living situations are completely different, and our skill set is too.

Last night, I saw some frustrated tweets from this potential client. His virtual assistant didn’t understand the tasks he needed done and he spent a majority of his time just explaining what to do. His results have been disappointing.

I hate seeing things like that happen because it shines a negative light on virtual assistants as a whole. As with most things in life, you really do get what you pay for when it comes to hiring a virtual assistant. VAs with higher rates have higher rates for a reason. They’re qualified and they’re easy to work with. Consider taking a chance on someone who’s a bit more expensive and see if you get better results!

http://www.fivetonineofficesolutions.com Cynthia

Coming from a manufacturing background, I am very familiar with the notion that the only thing that matters is the $$, and if it’s cheaper offshore, then we should buy it there. Unfortunately, there are often hidden costs associated with this in terms of quality.

Part of our job as VAs is not to defend our rates–because the client who cannot see that there may be problems with that $3 per hour work is not likely to be swayed–but to educate our clients about what we offer vs. what they are buying offshore.

We need to be ambassadors for our profession, informing anyone who will listen that the bottom line is not money, but quality and service, and if that could truly be found overseas, we would all be working for $3 per hour.

Sorry for the ramble–I’m a little passionate about this subject.
Lisa Morosky

Thanks for the comment, Cynthia. I definitely agree – if money is someone’s bottomline, there’s probably no swaying them. Nor should we be wasting our time on swaying them either, I would say. That’s time being taken away from other clients and marketing efforts.
http://www.newyorkparkingticket.com lawrence berezin

Lisa,
Bravo! Well said. Competing on price is a last resort; and it rarely works over the long haul.

You and I are in the personal services business (lawyer business) where relationships with your clients really matter. You’re not going to feel very good working for someone who tries to beat you up on your fee, unreasonably.

I love my wife’s attitude when she makes someone up as a beauty consultant. Her montra is, “If you want me to meet you Saturday morning at 5:30 a.m. to make you up, then I have to feel good about my fee.”

Great, thought provoking post

Have you ever given in and competed on price? If so, under what circumstances.
Lisa Morosky

Hi Lawrence, thanks for the comment!

Your wife’s montra is right on I think. You really do have to know your own worth.

I don’t think I’ve given in on my prices thus far. Once you start to lower your rates, it’s a slippery slope. If you cave once, people start to assume that you’ll continue to cave. I think there are plenty of ways to compete in the market, without lowering your prices. Launching temporary promotions, continuing your own personal and business development so clients can see your worth, getting referrals from current clients…all those come to mind.

I think knowing your competition is important too. Those $3/hour VAs aren’t my competition for the VA market. Honestly, my competition are bloggers who think they can do everything in their own business without some help!