[BC] Making engineering pay

[Mike McCarthy]

I've been watching this rant over the weekend.

My rates reflect/reflected what the market bears and takes into account all 
the good customer stuff as well as extended projects and/or consistent 
work.  I didn't/don't undercharge the market and there were/are guys which 
made/make more than I did/do...which is fine with me.  We were/are all busy 
and I see no need to try and undercut them. I was making a decent living at 
my then hourly rate before going back to the corporate world.  I still 
do...on the side. (FWIW, my rates are going up at the end of the year for 
the itinerant client.)

The biggest issue of all which everyone seems to have missed here is really 
simple.  What is YOUR time worth after all the expenses are paid? If you 
set your prices at the rate of the other cheaper guy(s), there is a clear 
impression your quality of service and value is at the same level of the 
other cheaper guy(s).  Regardless of  what the the other guys charge, YOUR 
time/rate has value which while impacted by the others should not precisely 
determine your hourly rate, nor your quality of work provided.

It's marketing and backing up the message with better 
production/service.  That would also include demeanor, appearance, 
professionalism, achieving  mission directives/goals in the shortest time, 
etc. All the things which would/should set YOU apart from the other guys 
charging less.  Make it apparent why your services are the better 
value...even if the hourly rate is higher. Ask the customer if insurance is 
important to them.  The cheaper guy may not carry liability insurance.  Do 
you?  For a good policy...the premium is about $0.75-$1/hr. for FT work of 
one guy, including good test gear.

As an aside, I have noted the guys which tend to charge less also talk 
more....at the job site. They're more negative in opinion and in general 
carry a narrower and less optimistic perspective. You're impression of 
value to quality of service is reflected in less blather and more elbows 
flying when on site as well as wide view objectivity.  Managers see 
that...it's really obvious to them. Get in, get the mission accomplished, 
and move on..without harping on the little things.

While there will always be the guy who tries to drag the market down to get 
busy, if the rest of the market follows, everyone looses.  Including the 
stations since the quality of service will decrease and the morale will falter.

MM

At 09:51 PM 7/23/2006 -0400, Mark Humphrey wrote
>For the sake of comparison, here are the published rates of two
>well-known contract/consulting engineers:
>
>http://www.criterion-broadcast.com/cbsdol.html
>http://mwpersons.com/Rate-Card.html
>
>FWIW, my standard rate is $85/hr, but like Craig, I will discount
>10-15% for good clients or in special circumstances.  As always, it's
>a matter of supply and demand -- some contractors in this area get
>$90/hr.
>
>Mark
>
>
>On 7/23/06, Craig Bowman <craig1 at shianet.org> wrote:
>>Y'all please stay the hell out of Michigan.  I will not get out of bed
>>for $50.00 and hour.  For good clients I charge $65 an hour and for the
>>random callers I charge $75 when I can get to them.  The guy who works
>>on my boat charges $85.  I am seriously considering raising my rates to
>>that level.
>_______________________________________________
>
>Do you have a BDR? http://www.oldradio.com/bdr.htm