I have a client that wants me to answer her business line (the number is forwarded to a cell phone she sent to me)

I'm in the process of updating my contract with her and I want something in there that states something along the lines that I will be reimbursed for answering the phone during 'off' hours.

It's not a problem while my clock is turned on and i am doing work for her, but she has a set amount of hours that she is willing to pay me per day.
She wants the phone turned on for a different amount of time.

I have no idea how to word this in my contract.

Does anyone have any experience with being 'on call'? How do you charge for this?

I've had suggestions from friends to try saying something like, "1/4 hour will be billed for every time the phone is answered after the set amount of hours is billed per day."

It's so confusing and I'm tired of feeling like I'm being taken advantage of.

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Nancy Calandra
My Virtual Counterpart

Nancy,

That is a good question. When I have talked with potential clients who want this service, I explain that this is not something that I do because of my business model. I explain that I am in and out of the office on certain days (like when I deliver Meals on Wheels or at a networking meeting) and that it would not be fair to them.

I usually recommend an answering service or letting the calls go to voice mail and then i can pick up messages for them.

Good luck!

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Kyle Sheldon-Chandler
KSC Virtual Assistant Services

You know what Kyle...that's a great suggestion!
I think I might just offer it up the same way. I'm not available at certain times but can certainly pick up the vm's at scheduled times.

Thanks!

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Nancy Calandra
My Virtual Counterpart

Her name wouldn't happen to be Miranda Priestly would it? I ask this assuming you saw "The Devil Wears Prada." Hahahaha! Love that movie. Anyway, your post made me think about that movie.

Sorry, I don't have any valuable input for you .

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Angela D. Jordan
Your Humble Assistant, LLC

Bwahahahaha!!!!
I love that movie!
And yes, sometimes it seems like that kind of relationship, but we can joke about it, thankfully.

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Nancy Calandra
My Virtual Counterpart

That is a shame you are in an uncomfortable situation. I would just let her know how you feel!

It is and thank you for your support.
Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, this client decided that she didn't like my new contract with an increased rate so she has found someone local to her to replace me.

In the meantime i get to train my replacement.

Fortunately, some other things have come along.
When one door closes, another one opens.

I'm hopeful that this is a sign of good things to come.

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Nancy Calandra
My Virtual Counterpart

Originally Posted by AJ326

Her name wouldn't happen to be Miranda Priestly would it? I ask this assuming you saw "The Devil Wears Prada." Hahahaha! Love that movie. Anyway, your post made me think about that movie. Sorry, I don't have any valuable input for you .

NICE! I was thinking the exact same thing as you were thinking.

I think you should add a clause to your contract that has place where your client would intial so they know you would be paid for those off hours.

My personal policy for something like that is to just flat out not offer it. By my business model is probably very different from yours. While I have an office phone and "office hours" I just feel as if a client would be better served by a messaging service than me in that department.

Things always seem to work out the way they're supposed to. For me, it really depends what's going on in my life at the time as to when I may expand my after hours availability. If you have kids and a family, your time is precious and less negotiable than if you were not raising a family. Just be honest, I've been in the situation before and it really strained a lot a relationships.

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Tiffany L. Mullins - InfinityBLUE Business Solutions
http://www.wix.com/InfinityBLUEva/InfinityBLUEva

I am toying with the idea of offering one "free" after hours call per month, and every incident after that will be billed at overtime rate for a quarter of an hour. So if my standard bill rate was $10 an hour, my overtime rate would be $15 an hour, and I would bill for a quarter of an hour at a rate of $15, which equals $3.75.