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Comment by jll29 | Hacker News Reader

That's what a (Master-level) plumber charges per hour in Germany. By offering such discounted rates, people consider you 'less valuable' a priori.

I have indeed heard anti-"IT" sentiments in the UK, where managers often come from outside disciplines (e.g. "politics, philosophy and economics" type of oxbridge degrees). Some of these people adjust quickly and pick up technical skills naturally, whereas others couldn't insert a 9 V block battery into a toy without a YouTube video after a decade of "IT" exposure. But they also do not know what something is worth without a clear explanation, so your value is bound by your ability to articulate it.

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Fair. Thank you. You’ve just inspired me to fire off a round of emails announcing a 500% rate increase, listing the pretty significant accomplishments I have achieved for each client, and underlining the point that their businesses would likely not exist were it not for my support over the many years I have worked with them. I don’t exaggerate - many of them would never have got off the ground without me dragging them through the startup thorns and driving their first few years of technical sales.

Either they’ll like it, or I’ll just quit technology, as the resentment just keeps growing.

If you scare off 80% of your recurring clients, you've drastically lowered your workload without penalty.

If you scare off just 50% of your recurring clients, you've halved your workload and are making more money.

The downside is if you scare off more than 80% of your recurring clients.

Unless there is a massive recession, I would consider scaring off more than 80% an opportunity to spend time prospecting for better clients. I can’t speak for the UK, but I really suspect you can find them.

Also don’t forget that some fraction of the clients who balk at the increase from their anchor-bias price will come back to you after they see the low quality they get from other vendors at that price. Just be gracious when they leave.

I work in the UK and it's a fair estimate that a good percentage of senior managers haven't got a clue when it comes to IT and technology in general. Having said that, people aren't necessarily stupid: if the pitch is right, they would adopt the solution and pay decent consulting rates. The biggest problem is that both groups do struggle to meet each other.

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