I used to think a client's 'quick question' was always free

A client I've worked with for two years told me last week, 'Piper, you're letting scope creep eat your profit.' She pointed out that my 15 minute 'free' calls were adding up to almost 10 unpaid hours a month. I mean, idk, I just never added it up before. So I changed my policy: any call over 5 minutes gets logged and billed in 15 minute blocks. It's only been a week, but I already feel less resentful about my time. Has anyone else set a hard line on what counts as billable advice?

3 comments

3 Comments

jasonp711mo ago

Too short" is relative for sure, but I think you're reading it a little off. The five minutes isn't about a hard timer for a specific type of work like a video clip or a meeting. It's more about the mental switch between 'this is a quick favor' and 'this is billable consulting.' In my experience, once you've been doing this a while, any five minute conversation that requires you to remember details or solve a problem is work, not a favor. Your mileage may vary, but I found billing in 15 minute blocks for those quick calls saved my sanity.

king.lisa3mo ago

Yeah but five minutes is still too short.

wren8063mo ago

Okay but too short for what exactly? Like, is this about a timer, a meeting, a video limit? The whole five minutes thing is so vague without knowing what we're even measuring.