Worth (Y)our rates?

Having recently seen articles and anecdotes about professional rates, and our having to defend them - "you've put in the effort to build the experience & knowledge - they're paying for that pain, and for your skill in knowing where & how to apply that expertise." - as one author put it.

I'm reminded of an experience in July, 1995. Driving overnight from Washington D.C. to Biloxi Mississippi for one month of upgrade training for work - driving, because the gov't was paying 33 cents per mile (up to the cost of a flight), driving at night because the A.C. in my ancient Oldsmobile didn't work (and it's July), and excited to be driving because I planned to hit New Orleans, then cut back and drive Route 10 from N.O. all the way to Destin, Florida...visions of sugarplums danced in my head, as it's among my top 3 favorite drives of all time, the Gulf Coast.

I could almost feel the air on my face, the sights of the shore on one side, those gorgeous giant willow trees and old stately & romantic mansions on the other, my highway songs on the cassette player, and clear blue skies above it all.

"Boom!" and "boom, boom, boom, boom"....smashed out of my beautiful Gulf Coast daydream and thrust back into the darkness of 0200, I slow the car way down and drift onto the shoulder some miles out of Blacksburg Virginia on highway 81. The "booms" slowed to more like very loud smacks, and I stopped to jump out and confirm what I had already guessed had happened - more than half of the belt / tire tread had completely separated from the front left tire, and was bashing against the inside of the fenderwell with each rotation of the tire. I still had air in the tire, it was too dark outside to change it with the spare, and I could limp it to the next fuel station or truckstop - limp, as in about 10 MPH...with the slap, slap, slap, for I suppose 45 minutes...in the heat of mid-July night...and the engine starting to overheat. It sucked. I cursed myself for not having flares or a flashlight as I limped the car through this dark mess created of my own neglect - I knew better, but drove around like this anyway, no safety gear.

Finally, I made it to the next fuel station, changed the spare tire under the glorious lights, and just before going into the station for coolant for the engine, and Combos pretzel snacks and drinks for me, I rolled up all four power windows and locked all the doors, before I jumped out & slammed the car door to run inside...immediately realizing that in haste I'd left the keys, in, the, ignition. Because...I can be incredibly stupid like that.

So, okay, the nice man in the convenience shop / gas station called a nice locksmith who came out in the middle of a Friday night in Southern Virginia (I'd figured they'd all be drunk and unavailable by then), and he slim-jim'd the door open, and I smiled and asked "What's my tab, Sir?"

He replied: "Forty-five dollars." Now, for you more current model-years of humans, 45 bucks in 1995 is $90.00 in today's money: to illustrate 1995 - 45 each: McDonald's "$1 Dollar Value Menu" Items; 12 each: Packs of cigarettes; 26 each: Gallons of gasoline. 22.5 each: Gourmet meals at the Ft. Myer, Virginia chow hall. And over 1/2 of one Days pay for yours truly at the time. Stupid is expensive :-)

$45 U.S. Dollar Bucks for his Knowledge, Skills, Tools, and Availability. Of course I happily paid the man, even thanked him, he saved the day.

Now, he didn't call me stupid or point out my plethora of shortfalls that led to our wonderful meeting, and I didn't blink for one second at the $45 U.S. Dollar Bucks.

But if I had challenged his rate, he might say:

"You're driving a dilapidated beater halfway down the whole East Coast, in Summer, with no A.C., overnight, with no flares nor flashlight, and...just when you had solved most of your self-created problems, you master-minded yourself into a whole brand new one. Now the bill is $90 U.S. Dollar Bucks - because explaining this all out to you took twice as long as it took to drive over here and unlock your car, you dumb little hillbilly."

And...he could have accomplished three more lock-outs within that same time span.

The challenge for those who have to defend / negotiate our deserved rates, we have to demonstrate the value of our experience and hard-won skills toward solving the clients problem, results we anticipate for them via our input, and in some cases, what their anticipated outcome might look like without us.

I've come to learn that there are loads of experts who are generously sharing the best ways to communicate the benefits of (y)our Knowledge, Skills, Tools, and Availability - and I'm drinking from the firehose.

I will share some of the best of these lessons that I'm gathering with you here soon, and hope you share with me as well. And, if we decide to take a long roadtrip - let's take your car.