Tried a flat rate model instead of hourly for 3 months. Here's what happened.

I switched my small web agency to flat rate pricing back in March after getting sick of tracking every 15 minute block. Revenue actually went up 12% because clients stopped sweating small changes and started asking for more work. Has anyone else made the jump and seen weird side effects like clients suddenly wanting to add features at 9pm?

3 comments

3 Comments

mark_fisher489d ago

Friend did this and clients started texting at midnight lol.

wadeyoung9d ago

Sounds like they went from 9 to 5 to 24/7 real quick. Once clients know you're not sleeping they'll treat it like a hotline for every minor thought they get at 2 AM. That's the thing nobody talks about though @mark_fisher48. Most people focus on looking responsive, but they ignore the psychology of setting expectations. If you answer a client at midnight once, they'll assume that's normal and get upset when you stop. Better to set a hard boundary upfront, like a voicemail that says "messages received after 6 PM will be answered the next business day." Saves everyone the headache later. Your friend might want to train them back slowly, maybe reply at 8 AM to all those late night texts and pretend they just woke up. It's a pain but it works long term.

gonzalez.phoenix9d ago

My cousin runs a design agency and flat rate actually forced him to put a cap on scope from the start. He saw a 20% drop in late night requests because the contract clearly said "revisions are limited to two rounds per project." Clients didn't push back because it was written down before they paid a dime. Most people skip that upfront work then blame the pricing model.