2 builders who never spoke to each other

Charge for the estimate and the thinking

Turning a vague brief into a defined list of deliverables is the expert part of the job, so giving it away free both costs you the hours and devalues the advice, since the same recommendation attached to an invoice actually gets acted on. Sell a paid scoping session with a real deliverable such as wireframes and prioritised story cards, and let the buyer take it elsewhere if they want. Set the precedent before the project starts, because a client who never paid for thinking will refuse to pay for it later.

The method

1. 01

   Refuse to produce estimates for free: turning a vague brief into a defined set of deliverables is expert work, so sell it as its own deliverable.

2. 02

   Charge for the estimate itself on anything larger than about a week of full-time work, since producing the deliverable list is the consulting.

3. 03

   Sell a paid roadmapping session before you estimate, because an estimate you were not paid for gets little effort and leaves you guessing about the project.

4. 04

   Charge a fixed price for an upfront scoping session on any sizable project, run it on site if you can, and hand over a real deliverable such as wireframes and a prioritised stack of story cards.

5. 05

   Charge for consultative advice given before the contract is signed, because free advice is discounted by the person receiving it while the same advice attached to an invoice gets acted on.

What it returned

• 25

  Clients pushed back on invoices that itemised meetings and project management alongside 25 hours of development at $100 an hour and 15 hours of design at $80.

• Dunn tells buyers they are free to hand his paid roadmap to any other developer, but he will not spend the hours producing it without being paid.

• Dunn contrasts unopened free ebooks with paid ones, and describes an attorney who mailed him an invoice for a single exploratory phone call.

• James sold a paid roadmapping session while still only working through the free email course, and says the material gave him the confidence to double his rate for new clients.

Sources

• 3 Reasons You Should Be Roadmapping - Double Your FreelancingBrennan Dunn · doubleyourfreelancing.com · Reason #2: Increase the value of your time · 2016-04-12
• 6 Tips To Help You Create Better Estimates - Double Your FreelancingBrennan Dunn · doubleyourfreelancing.com · Don’t offer free estimates · 2012-03-13
• How To Convince Your Clients To Pay You Hourly - Double Your FreelancingBrennan Dunn · doubleyourfreelancing.com · How I get my clients to pay hourly · 2012-03-18
• Student Success Story with James Dixon - Double Your FreelancingJames Dixon · doubleyourfreelancing.com · What are some big successes you’ve had recently? · 2015-06-12
• The Definitive Guide To Project Billing - Double Your FreelancingBrennan Dunn · doubleyourfreelancing.com · My Recommendations · 2013-07-30
• Value-Price, or Value-Anchor? - Double Your FreelancingBrennan Dunn · doubleyourfreelancing.com · When to use value-based pricing · 2015-04-20