Do not covet your ideas… by John LeMasney via 365sketches.org
A few colleagues have learned that I always offer my first hour of consulting with a new client for free, and have given me lots of advice:
- But what if you only ever get one hour out of them?
- You should never give away your skills, it devalues you.
- People will take advantage of you.
The reasons that I give my first hour of consulting for free to new clients considers these and many other issues. I’ll discuss them here.
I may only get one hour out of a client, but if that’s the case, I was not likely going to get a lot of business out of them anyway, and they are likely to speak well on my behalf to their friends and colleagues if it goes well. If even one referral comes from any client, it is at least worth an hour of my time.
I have spent many hours volunteering my time doing my consulting, presentation, and training work, and it has come back to me a thousand times over in referrals, new paying work, experience, and good-faith networking. Volunteering also happens to bring me joy and happiness,all by itself. I am focusing more now on paying work these days, but I will never regret the volunteer hours I have put in.
I welcome people to take advantage of me, or try to. I think that if someone sits with me and sees what I have to offer them, I can make an impression that makes them think of me the next time they need graphic design, technology support, a presenter, a media consultation, etc.
Perhaps the most important reason for the first-hour-free clause is that I may not wish to continue to work with someone after hour one, and they may not wish to work with me. Everyone has their philosophies, concepts, experiences, and values, and they may sometimes make for uncomfortable partnerships. I’d rather not have to ask for money from someone who does not wish to work with me, and I’d rather not take money from someone who I’d rather not work with. It’s more important that we be able to amicably walk away, saying “I’m sure you will find success, thanks so much for your time!” with smiles on our face, cheer in our heart, and money safely remaining where it was.
This philosophy also acts as a standing discount on the remainder of our work together, meaning that if I work with someone for two hours, it’s as though they had a 50% off coupon.
So if you are wondering if I can help you, remember that you can find out for free, no strings attached, for the first hour that we work together. I promise.
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Learned this the hard way a long time ago from others and now me…
If you’re naive enough to give out answers to peoples’ issues, you will NOT get them as clients!
Contacted them and they said that they’re ‘all set’.
Some colleagues found out that the free advice was adapted by the client to solve their issues.
Voila! No new clients 🙁
It’s not different than when I heard of stories of tech-related job interviews where companies sneakily ask the interviewees about ideas. Those companies then implement the interviewee ideas. Didn’t know much about the IT field and going-ons but met many IT industry people that it’s more common than one thinks!
“Perhaps the most important reason for the first-hour-free clause is that I may not wish to continue to work with someone after hour one, and they may not wish to work with me.”
The BEST reason to waste the ‘free’ hour… finding out that the relationship possibly won’t work out and to avoid any BS in the future.
I hear you. It’s important to note that if I was not doing anything anyway, the free hour is an opportunity to help someone. It’s an easy way for me to get a sense of the problem, find out if I want to do the work, find out if my very small shop is capable of it, and to give some sense of the scope and cost of the project. I’ve had enough one hour free conversations turn into a month of work that I will likely always take that risk. I appreciate your insight and feedback!