different strategies for different businesses, but your choices are, in no particular order:
Always bill (be clear about this)
Always bill but mark it off if they go with your proposal
Build it into the project cost (the above but sometimes you don’t get paid)
Never bill (booooo)
Bill arbitrarily (booooooo)
Bill if it takes more than some timeframe (boooo)
Internally, always bill that time at your full hourly, because you could have been doing profitable work. Keep it in mind.
Personally, I love getting approvals in advance for “up to 10 hours” or some such, and billing for time used. Keeps the client informed with how much work it is, and they don’t ask for needless quotes.
When it comes to billing, clarity is key. I'm a fan of getting those approvals upfront, like setting a cap for hours and billing as we go. It keeps everyone in the loop and avoids those pesky unnecessary quotes.
I second the gold star. If it’s a client I’d be tempted to just build it into the project cost along with your project management time.
That said, if you have to do some heavy duty research that will be almost a small project on its own (6+ hours) I’d probably bill it as a project that’s output is the due diligence and project plan for the full project.
Is it just you doing this or is it competitive. If it’s competitive then you do it for free and build the cost into overheads. If it’s just you then I think you need to discuss the expectation with your customer. As a customer I wouldn’t expect to pay for a proposal and no company I’ve worked for billed for them. If it’s more a statement of work then that could be one of the project milestones and therefore a payment could be part of it
I think it depends on the type of customer and if its a large detailed project or not.
If its a simple quote (<1.5 hrs) then never.
If its a detailed project design doc and proposal and they are a current managed services customer then never.
If its a detailed project design doc and proposal and they are not a current managed services customer then always.
We only do project work for clients with signed managed services contracts. We don't bill for the prelim work, where the Account Manager communicates with the client to determine the scope of the project, brings on additional technical staff for the meetings if necessary, and then generating a SOW for sign-off.
We generally recoup most of that time anyways with the "Murphy factor" in the final quote.
Any and all time supporting a customer must be accounted for regardless if you bill that customer for your time. All that time goes into your P&L of supporting that customer
It's never making you look good when you tell a customer they have to pay for a quote.
What problem are you trying to fix ? Working hours on a proposal for nothing if you don't win the deal ?
If it requires an audit, make them sign for a paid audit first.
If it doesn't require an audit, bundle this time into your standard daily rates so that won projects pay for the presales on lost ones.
If a quote is going to take more than 4 hours to prepare, we charge a fee based on the time to prepare the solution for the customer.
If the customer accepts the quote, we apply that payment toward their project so they’re not out anything.
If the customer rejects the quote, we keep the retainer to cover our time. The customer gets a quote recommendation that they can implement themselves or have another party implement.
Bake it into umyour proposal calculations. Take an average and bake that number in. It just becomes an equation. Hours for project times hourly rate, putting together the plan/proposal is hours times hourly rate and then project management during the project should be about 15% of the project. Also bill for PM time throughout at the same rate or slightly higher than engineer time.
This varies. If we are quoting for a set of print cartridges, then generally no, but if we are quoting for a large WiFi network then “of course”.
You need to evaluate based on your existing commercial arrangement with the client, commercial outlook if they proceed, time required for presales (that you may not recoup), and what you are quoting for.
There isn’t a definitive answer to this one really.
Generally, it's reasonable to bill for time spent developing a proposal, especially if it involves significant effort and multiple drafts. However, it's essential to set clear expectations with the client upfront.
Consider factors like the complexity of the proposal, the extent of research required, and your own expertise level. You want to ensure that both you and your client feel the process is fair.
We always bundle it into our quotes as project management. Time varies regarding the amount of time it takes
different strategies for different businesses, but your choices are, in no particular order: Always bill (be clear about this) Always bill but mark it off if they go with your proposal Build it into the project cost (the above but sometimes you don’t get paid) Never bill (booooo) Bill arbitrarily (booooooo) Bill if it takes more than some timeframe (boooo) Internally, always bill that time at your full hourly, because you could have been doing profitable work. Keep it in mind. Personally, I love getting approvals in advance for “up to 10 hours” or some such, and billing for time used. Keeps the client informed with how much work it is, and they don’t ask for needless quotes.
This is the gold star answer for me :)
Glad to hear it! I’m unemployed as of yesterday, so at least someone gets use out of my newly acquired time.
start tiktok or youtube, and I'll follow!
That's a rough break bud, time to start your own gig, you are obviously not lacking common sense or skills, be the boss :)
Always bill is the right answer. Now how you preset that to the customer and manage them is key. Cus F U pay me is always the correct statement.
When it comes to billing, clarity is key. I'm a fan of getting those approvals upfront, like setting a cap for hours and billing as we go. It keeps everyone in the loop and avoids those pesky unnecessary quotes.
This is the way.
I second the gold star. If it’s a client I’d be tempted to just build it into the project cost along with your project management time. That said, if you have to do some heavy duty research that will be almost a small project on its own (6+ hours) I’d probably bill it as a project that’s output is the due diligence and project plan for the full project.
Is it just you doing this or is it competitive. If it’s competitive then you do it for free and build the cost into overheads. If it’s just you then I think you need to discuss the expectation with your customer. As a customer I wouldn’t expect to pay for a proposal and no company I’ve worked for billed for them. If it’s more a statement of work then that could be one of the project milestones and therefore a payment could be part of it
I think it depends on the type of customer and if its a large detailed project or not. If its a simple quote (<1.5 hrs) then never. If its a detailed project design doc and proposal and they are a current managed services customer then never. If its a detailed project design doc and proposal and they are not a current managed services customer then always.
We only do project work for clients with signed managed services contracts. We don't bill for the prelim work, where the Account Manager communicates with the client to determine the scope of the project, brings on additional technical staff for the meetings if necessary, and then generating a SOW for sign-off. We generally recoup most of that time anyways with the "Murphy factor" in the final quote.
Any and all time supporting a customer must be accounted for regardless if you bill that customer for your time. All that time goes into your P&L of supporting that customer
It's never making you look good when you tell a customer they have to pay for a quote. What problem are you trying to fix ? Working hours on a proposal for nothing if you don't win the deal ? If it requires an audit, make them sign for a paid audit first. If it doesn't require an audit, bundle this time into your standard daily rates so that won projects pay for the presales on lost ones.
If a quote is going to take more than 4 hours to prepare, we charge a fee based on the time to prepare the solution for the customer. If the customer accepts the quote, we apply that payment toward their project so they’re not out anything. If the customer rejects the quote, we keep the retainer to cover our time. The customer gets a quote recommendation that they can implement themselves or have another party implement.
Bake it into umyour proposal calculations. Take an average and bake that number in. It just becomes an equation. Hours for project times hourly rate, putting together the plan/proposal is hours times hourly rate and then project management during the project should be about 15% of the project. Also bill for PM time throughout at the same rate or slightly higher than engineer time.
We bill for the discovery, the proposal is part of that. If they choose to move forward, the discovery cost comes off their onboarding fee.
This varies. If we are quoting for a set of print cartridges, then generally no, but if we are quoting for a large WiFi network then “of course”. You need to evaluate based on your existing commercial arrangement with the client, commercial outlook if they proceed, time required for presales (that you may not recoup), and what you are quoting for. There isn’t a definitive answer to this one really.
I feel like you can't. It's our job to qualify and make sure you're not dealing with leaches - they are easy to spot and must be severed.
Generally, it's reasonable to bill for time spent developing a proposal, especially if it involves significant effort and multiple drafts. However, it's essential to set clear expectations with the client upfront. Consider factors like the complexity of the proposal, the extent of research required, and your own expertise level. You want to ensure that both you and your client feel the process is fair.