BOOMED - but no rate increase!

[northernladuk]

But suppliers don't just put their prices up. There is always pressure on suppliers to cut prices from pressure from the client. I would be willing to bet that increases in price based on same scope are very rare.

Another thing they do NOT do is blackmail their clients mid contract. Holding your client to ransom just because they know the systems and have them over a barrel is not professional. You are not adding extra value, scope or benefits. You are doing what was expected. If the market or circumstances change then feel free to present these arguments and negotiate at the right time.

Granted this is business and there is room for wiggle but there are right and wrong ways of doing it IMO.

[Old Greg]

I got a 33% increase at my last renewal for the following reasons:

They know how good I am now and didn't before.

I have project specific knowledge now that they can't replace.

I had something else nearly lined up and they left it very late.

I was very courteous about it.

[BolshieBastard]

But suppliers don't just put their prices up. There is always pressure on suppliers to cut prices from pressure from the client. I would be willing to bet that increases in price based on same scope are very rare.

Another thing they do NOT do is blackmail their clients mid contract. Holding your client to ransom just because they know the systems and have them over a barrel is not professional. You are not adding extra value, scope or benefits. You are doing what was expected. If the market or circumstances change then feel free to present these arguments and negotiate at the right time.

Granted this is business and there is room for wiggle but there are right and wrong ways of doing it IMO.

NL, I've had experience of running a retail operation and I can assure you, suppliers do put up their prices even when there is downward pressure somewhere in the chain. One supplier's price cut is another's price rise.

I have to disagree with you about mid term rate increases. Clients do it frequently. When working at Barcrap once and during renewal discussions, I'd been assured there was no rate cut pending for me. 4 weeks after signing the renewal, Barcrap told all contractors via the intranet, not face to face there was to be a 20% rate cut across the board with 4 weeks to take it or leave.

I told agent \ Barcrap I would talk about a rate reduction at next renewal. Barcrap wouldnt entertain it, the agent wouldnt push it as they said they didnt want to 'upset' Barcrap so, you'll forgive me for being a little jaudiced about your comments on this one, even if we normally agree.

i personally wouldnt ask for a mid term increase unless ALL factors were very heavily weighted in my favour. Maybe I should have done in my 3.5 year stint at one client, maybe next time I will.

[escapeUK]

Prices go up ever year in manufacturing too. If they dont pass these increases on you end up losing money and going out of business.

Fuel goes up, tax goes up, salaries goes up, raw material goes, outside services go up. So why should your contracting rate stay the same?

I told agent \ Barcrap I would talk about a rate reduction at next renewal. Barcrap wouldnt entertain it, the agent wouldnt push it as they said they didnt want to 'upset' Barcrap so, you'll forgive me for being a little jaudiced about your comments on this one, even if we normally agree.

So you walked then?

[Gentile]

I did used to have an email address bertiebigbollox@....

I'd like to think you were kidding, but I suspect you're not. I was once sent an unsolicited e-mail by an agent about some role, and instead of using the "BCC:" feature he'd inadvertently placed all of the recipients' addresses in the "To:" field. It was quite an eye-opener to see the 'profeshunal' addresses some people use for their business communications.

[escapeUK]

I'd like to think you were kidding, but I suspect you're not. I was once sent an unsolicited e-mail by an agent about some role, and instead of using the "BCC:" feature he'd inadvertently placed all of the recipients' addresses in the "To:" field. It was quite an eye-opener to see the 'profeshunal' addresses some people use for their business communications.

A few years back, the MD at client co was interviewing for a young receptionist. He got an application via e-mail from someone with an e-mail address like sexygirlrach@ she was obviously short listed.

[The Agents View]

Of course you are more valuable now. You now have intimate knowledge with the systems,

Which is what you were hired to do, at the rate you originally agreed.

have probably showed that not only can you do the job on paper, but you're actually bloody good at it in practise.

Which is why you were hired as a contractor, and not a permie in the first place - a proper specialist, who has been there, and done the same project a number of times - hence the premium of taking on a contractor

You are a known quantity, if they let you go they may get someone else in for the same money who is rubbish, or if takes them a month to get up to speed. If you divide that month cost into a year it easily pay for a nice rate increase.

You think that because a client knows you, you are worth more? Flip that round. You know all the processes and procedures, the systems, the people, where everything is - so the job is easier for you now, so it should cost less.

Oh, you don't like that idea??

Taking all this aside, all businesses put their prices up every year, so do suppliers, if only to cover inflation. As a contractor you are no different.

Costs do go up. That's right....what's the annual inflation rate at the moment? 2.8% isn't it?? Yet you lot all seem to be suggesting rate rises of £50-£100 per day...... Unless you're on some kind of very special rate - that equation doesn't add up.

Also - as an established supplier to a client, you should be expecting the amount of money per unit sold, to be going down - as it's more expensive to produce new business, than it is to service existing.

[darrenb]

I agree to an extent but all businesses increase their prices from time to time and not always annually ie every 90 days, 6 months or as soon as their costs go up.

I think this is a key advantage of being a contractor. You set your own rate and see who accepts. Whereas if you're a permie, you're stuck with whatever the business gives you from the kindness of its heart. So in a recession, as a permie you are going to watch supermarkets, landlords, accountants, hairdressers, nearly everybody raising their prices to cover their suffering, while you're stuck with whatever 2% raise the company claims is the rate of inflation, or nothing at all if they decide on a wage freeze. (Or even a 10% cut if you're a permatractor in a bank. The point is, you've got to be able to set your own rate.)

[Gentile]

On the subject of rate negotiation, tbh I've never been on one of these gigs that seem to exist where you get extended indefinitely. The longest contracts I've been on have lasted about nine months tops, and there were at most two short extensions from the initial contract period before the work I was there to do was finished and I moved on to my next client/project. I'd never try to renegotiate my rate on those sort of gigs mid-gig. I personally wouldn't be interested in working on a contract basis for any one client for any longer than that (it would feel too much like a permie role for me, but with none of the debateable permie benefits), but I guess if I was hypothetically to do a two to three year stint with a single client, that'd be a long enough period to take into consideration the added value that a seasoned, tried-and-tested worker provides, versus the risk inherent in taking on any unknown entity. Asking for a reasonable rate increase at a certain point within that kind of long contract would be reasonable enough in my book.

[Old Greg]

Which is what you were hired to do, at the rate you originally agreed.



Which is why you were hired as a contractor, and not a permie in the first place - a proper specialist, who has been there, and done the same project a number of times - hence the premium of taking on a contractor



You think that because a client knows you, you are worth more? Flip that round. You know all the processes and procedures, the systems, the people, where everything is - so the job is easier for you now, so it should cost less.

Oh, you don't like that idea??



Costs do go up. That's right....what's the annual inflation rate at the moment? 2.8% isn't it?? Yet you lot all seem to be suggesting rate rises of £50-£100 per day...... Unless you're on some kind of very special rate - that equation doesn't add up.

Also - as an established supplier to a client, you should be expecting the amount of money per unit sold, to be going down - as it's more expensive to produce new business, than it is to service existing.

It's a new contract so a new negotiation. And a known (good) quantity has a value above an unknown quantity with its inherent risks.