Hi, before I start, I'm not sure if I am in the right section here or not so please feel free to redirect me if I am wrong.

Out of curiosity, how did you set your rates, hourly or retainers. I feel like at the minute there are far too many people trying to beat each others rates that the industry may suffer in the short term with the lack of quality support on offer.

I personally take a look and an interest in what other VA's in my area are charging and make sure that my own pricing policy is still working for me. I was wondering though how you all set your rates.

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Annette Mercer
www.am-officesolutions.com

First I looked a what others in my area were charging. I took into considerations, local, state and Fed taxes as well as any overhead I would have (which was not much).

Then I called a few temp agencies to see what they would charge to provide temp work to companies and factored that into the rates I had gathered.

As for retainer rates, I used pretty standard tiers and decided to add a small package for new clients.

I may charge less than some VA's but my services are "general" office and administration and I live in an area where cost of living is rather low compared to other states and areas. For more specialized services (bookkeeping, etc.) I do charge more since I would get a better wage if I were in a traditional "work" place.

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Lee Drozak
My Office Assistant

I struggled with this for a few days, but in the end, I took a look at what other VAs charge for the services I offer, took into account that I am new in the field (and that I don't do bookkeeping, which does seem to command higher rates), looked at what on site admin or executive assistants earn, and also how much I needed to earn to cover expenses, including taxes, insurance, vacation time, etc.

Something I was concerned about was setting my rates too low. For one thing, business owners for the most part are pretty savvy, and if you're the lowest price on the block, they will likely dismiss you as either unqualified, or misunderstanding of the work required (and I say this as a corporate buyer--the highest and lowest bids are generally discarded first). Also, even though I am new now, I will not be new always, and raising rates can be difficult, especially with established clients.

Of course it needs to be said that I am brand new to this, and may just be talking nonsense, and hopefully someone will correct any glaring errors in my thought process.

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~Cindy
www.FiveToNineOfficeSolutions.com

Cindy,

I agree with your logic. I would hope that people would disregard the lowest rates as these are the ones that in my opinion are likely to provide work of the lower standard.

I also agree that once rates are set with established clients it will be harder to raise those rates. I think I would consider the general raise of rates but not include the more regular clients and leave those at the 'old' rates for a complimentary period. Of course I would tell them that there will be an increase to the new rate on xx (set date).

I don't know why I would choose this action. Maybe I think I would like to be given that consideration should I be the client.

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Annette Mercer
www.am-officesolutions.com

I did a benchmark of other VAs and since I was an executive assistant, I figured out my hourly salary complete with benefits, 401k matching etc and decided my rate based on that.

I have years of experience and education and I also took that into consideration as well.

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Tamika R. Johnson, MBA, Principal
administrative partners, llc
www.administrativepartners.net | http://adminpartners.blogspot.com

I wrote a blog post on the process I used. You can find it here if your interested in taking a look. It takes alot of thought and you'll probably question your rates at times. I know I still do today.

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Deb Frawley
Gem's Virtual Office

As a newbie, I checked out sites for rates, temp agency rates and salaries being paid in my area. Hope this helps.

Dolores

I used to work for a local bookkeeping firm so I based my rates on what I was being charged out at, bearing in mind that I don't have quite as much experience (or overhead) as they did...

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Sara Parr - Above Parr PA Services

My rates are based on the going rate in the area plus overhead plus a little for many years of experience.

I recently raised my hourly rate with two of my clients. I have been charging them the same rate for over 10 years. One of them had no problem with the increase and asked why I hadn't done it sooner.

The second is a small non-profit who couldn't meet my rate so we negotiated a smaller increase for them. Unknowingly by raising my rates I had put them in a position where they had not budgeted for the increase AND they couldn't afford to hire anyone else because those rates were higher than my new rate. They have been an excellent client and I enjoy the work I perform for them. Now we are both happy!

I will charge my new rate(s) - have several levels depending on the work I'm doing - to all my new clients.

The new client I just got last week didn't bat an eyelash when I told him my rates.

Raising rates once in a while to keep up with cost of living is necessary. But, raising rates without notifying your existing client base in not good business practice. And, as I did, sometimes you need to compromise with your special clients.

Carol
CJ's Virtual Business Solutions

It is interesting to see the different approaches being used.

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Annette Mercer
www.am-officesolutions.com