11

At the time of answering an email, I quoted a company overseas by X/hr based on the assumption that I would be building with ABC technology stack.

During discussion over the phone, it turns out we will be using XYZ and ABC technology stack.

Working with XYZ and ABC will require things outside of "coding", meaning it takes time to research to find best practices, quality assurance, documentation etc.

How can I explain to a client I meet next week that the hourly rate I quoted will be higher? How much higher would be justified?

In short, I feel that my rate is quite low and feel like I should correct it.

KJW
  • 461
  • 2
  • 7
  • 4
    When they informed you of the change, you should have said "okay, I'll revise the quote and send it over to you" – virtualxtc Feb 08 '14 at 03:26

2 Answers2

12

There is nothing wrong with adjusting your quote. You need to understand and really believe that. If you don't, it can be heard in your voice (if you are on a call) or it can be seen in body language.

You quoted an amount based on an assumption from an email. You had limited information on the scope of the project and based on what information was given to you, you felt the original quote was appropriate. However, after further discussion you found that the scope changed to include other aspects that will consume additional time and resources. Based on the change of scope, the rate will change.

The best advice I can give you is that it's okay if a client thinks that you aren't being fair in your rate change. The best thing you can reply to them with is that the scope and terms changed, and your quote is tied to those. If they don't want a quote change then they need to be verbose about their project requirements from the beginning. You can't give an accurate quote without all the information.

If they protest about it, be firm. This is your time and energy being spent, and you don't get those back.

captbrogers
  • 520
  • 3
  • 7
2

I'm not sure I get your question right : you gave to your prospective client an hourly rate. This hourly rate may be too low in absolute, but I don't see any reason that the rate may change depending on the technology you will need to use. What can change is the number of hours you will spend on the tasks : if the technology is complicated, then you need more hours, but there is no reason to change the price of the hour.

The problem here is that the client will have difficulties to understand why a given task need so much hours to be completed (the real reason is that you don't know very well the technology that must be used, but you probably don't want to tell that to your client).

I think that for this time there is not much you can do. You can see this project as an investment on a new technology, since the next time you will work with it, you will not need the extra time for documentation, etc.

Sylvain Peyronnet
  • 231
  • 1
  • 4