Charging for taking briefs / initial calls to determine scope of work

[porridgeandwasp]

I have been freelancing for a while but I used to work for my main client on a permanent contract basis so I haven't had to deal with this before....

I have just taken on a new client. I have had an initial 20 minute telephone call where she called me (via a referral), I chatted through my services, she told me what she needed in brief and then she went away to think about it. She then came back and said yes we would like you do to some work for us.

Following this I had an hour long telephone call where the client and I discussed how she likes to work, what she wants to me deal with specifically and she also passed on important pieces of information which I will need to carry out my work. After this call and before I could start the actual work I had to set up various files / list of contacts etc so my new client is set up on my system.

My question is, do I charge for the hour long call / the back end admin to set the client up so that I have all the information to start the actual work?

I wouldn't.

Once they've established that they would like to use you I'd issue a contract including your terms of payment.

I don't charge for consultations for prospective clients. It's just an easier way to get them through the door.

I think unless you already made it clear what the cost would be then you shouldn't charge. It's really not like it would be that much anyway compared to the potential earnings of having a long term relationship with this client.

I agree with everyone else - I don't charge for initial meetings/set up costs either.
I don't charge my existing clients if I speak to another part of their business about a new piece of work either.

I suspect it would put people off chatting to you about potential projects if you charge them for every scoping discussion.

Don't charge. But make sure you're charging enough for the actual work i.e. your day rate isn't just your salary but covers this kind of overhead too.

I'd call this kind of thing business development and in my work as a consultant I can spend anything between an hour to a day one this kind of exploratory work that may or may not lead to an actual contract. I don't charge for it and the consultants I know don't either. I've had one occasion where I spent over two full days working on a proposal with a potential client and they paid me a reduced day rate for doing it because it was a lot of work - we got the contract but were up against several other companies.

But, what I do is include it in how I calculate my day rate i.e. my day rate is my salary, plus the overheads that an organisation would have to deal with (including business development), etc.

I also keep a note of how much time I spend on business development so it doesn't get out of hand.