Contracting/Contractors (long)

[Phil Brittenham <pbritten -at- TECHREPS -dot- COM>]

Hi all -

 As one who has been a freelancer and a customer of freelancers and is
currently  manager of a contractor staff, I have given a lot of thought to
why customers are sometimes willing to pay more for a contractor-provided
person than for a freelancer.  The explanation on this list is too often
that contractors are just greedy.  Unfortunately, for every greedy
contractor there is also an incompetent freelancer, and these aberrations
really don't address the question of why some customers consistently pay
substantially more for the same service.

The answer, it seems to me, is that they don't.  When customers came to me
as a freelancer, they wanted a qualified individual for the term of the
project. When customers come to me as a contractor, they usually want teams
of people who will be available on a continuing basis.  They want someone to
assure them that these individuals are realiable and compatible with their
work styles and corporate "culture," and if they have an odd project
requirement, they want me to find someone who can do the job.  They want
these people managed on their site, and payroll and all the little problems
taken care of.  More than that, they want someone to be responsible for
delivering these things and someone to be accountable if they are not
satisfied.  And if they don't want all these things right away, they want
the option for them later on.

As a customer of freelancers, I ran into a lot of freelancers who wanted the
big money but had no interest in providing any extra service.  I heard more
excuses why jobs didn't get done on time than a second grade teacher hears
why homework didn' t get turned in. (The best came from an editor's friend
that I tracked down after several weeks of trying to reach her: "Didn't you
know she's rich?  She got tired and went to Italy to rest.)  I also had some
very professional support and was willing to pay a premium for it, but it
was always a risk to bring in an untried freelancer, no matter how highly
recommended.   Given the time I invested in freelancers, I would today
probably take the same work to a good contractor at several times the cost
just to get rid of the headaches, but mainly to minimize the risk and cost
of a poor selection.

My point is not to criticize anyone or to restart the contractors vs
freelancer argument, but to note that from the customers' perspective, there
may be values involved in using a contractor that freelancers don't usually
provide, but could.  I suggest that a freelancer wishing to charge at
contractor rates look at the services that contractors provide in their
particular markets and then use some creative approaches to offer some of
those same services and thereby warrant a higher price.  (These servicesvary
by market - in some regions, the ability to provide warm bodies is all that
seems to be required.)

For instance, if you do a lot of rush work, wouldn't knowing some word
processors  who love to work nights and weekends be useful  for your
customer?  Wouldn't some contacts with graphics people come in handy from
time to time?  If you have a family emergency or illness, do you have backup
to step in for you?  Do you have trusted colleagues you could call in if the
job gets too big for you?  Would you take reponsibility for finding relaible
help for the customer when you're busy with other clients?  You can become a
valuable resource in this way without actually becoming a contractor.  Could
you offer this service to contractors in your area and turn them into your
customers?

From the customer's perspective, I think that if you want more, you have to
offer more.  If you've asked yourself or your customers what you could add
to your services to increase their value to  them (and your income), you're
headed in the right direction. If not, then you're probably content being
all you can be in the freelancer army because customers aren't just giving
money away.

phil

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