How to Raise Your Hourly Rate (Politely)
Creatives often struggle with how to raise their hourly rates assertively and politely. How do you go from $50/hour to $60/hour? Ramit Sethi explains his three-step formula for gradually increasing his hourly rate on his blog I Will Teach You To Be Rich:
Let the client know what you’ve already done for them.
Let the client know you are going to be adding more value.
Explain why the rate is going up.
But how exactly might we communicate this to the client? Using the example of a tutor negotiating with their student’s mother, Sethi gives us the specific vocabulary to ask for more:
Hello Nancy,
Just wanted to give you a quick update on how things are going.
This year I’m going to be making a few changes. First, I’m going to be adding a complimentary review session, once a month, where Betty can come in along with a few other students and we can focus on specific tactical questions that they have about their math homework and the upcoming preparatory test that they need to work on.
Second, I also want to let you know that I’m going to be increasing my rates from $50 – $60/hour. If this is an issue, let me know – I’m happy to recommend other people at a lower price. But I believe that with the progress Betty and I have already made – plus the work that we’ve put in and the complimentary review sessions – that this continues to be a great value.
So I’m looking forward to hearing from you, and I hope things are going really well.
Sethi stresses that it’s the consultant’s job to make their client successful. Therefore serving your client should be the focus of your negotiation, not the extraction of as much money as possible.
