Warning about asking for a rate bump on a long term job

I asked for a 15% raise on a project I've been doing for 2 years, thinking my good work would make it easy. The client said yes, but then cut my hours in half to keep their budget the same. Learned that just asking for more money isn't enough, you have to frame it around the value you bring and be ready to talk scope. Anyone else had a client agree to a higher rate but then try to shrink the job?

4 comments

4 Comments

the_spencer3mo ago

Yeah, that's a classic move. They gave you the rate but took away the time. Did you have a chance to push back on the hour cut, or did you just have to accept the new math? It feels like they agreed in bad faith, knowing exactly what they were doing to their budget.

jamesc793mo ago

It's the same old bait and switch, happens everywhere now.

wade_anderson3mo ago

Pushed back hard and it worked. Got them to agree to a minimum weekly hour guarantee in the contract. That way if they cut the time, they still pay for the full block. Another thing that helps is tying the rate to the project scope, not just the hours. Makes it harder for them to shrink the work without a real talk first.

kai_ramirez3823d ago

That "tying the rate to the project scope" part hit hard. My buddy had a similar thing with a studio. They gave him a weekly rate but then kept cutting the hours each month. @wade_anderson, your minimum hour guarantee is smart. He didn't push back on the hours until it was too late. They just slowly starved his time until he was working for basically nothing. Now he's way more careful about that stuff, but it cost him a few months of lost income to learn.