So you love helping other local business owners, but just how much free time/advice should you give away before charging for your time?
How often have you been approached for your advice, opinion, or recommendations? It feels good, doesn’t it? You feel vindicated, recognised, accepted, valued. Or at least it does until it doesn’t and suddenly you realise that you are feeling used, and unappreciated.
One too many requests have happened in the last week or month and you are becoming known as the go-to for advice, you feel like you are not being treated as an expert, but as a push-over who will help anyone for free, not the expert whose time is worth a lot of money.
Airlines (when we can fly again) ask us to put our own oxygen mask on before assisting others, or maybe this year we are reminded to put on our own PPE before helping someone. If you do not look after yourself and control your giving, you will eventually wear yourself out and be no use to anyone.
Every single one of us will have a different limit; for some five minutes maybe too much, where for others 5 months is too little. What I would like is that after reading this you take some action so that you know what time you are willing to ‘donate’ and be in control of that giving.
In business, people who sell services are much more likely to be asked for advice, they are the experts after all, and all they are giving is their time, so that’s ok, isn’t it? But in reality, time is our most precious resource, we can’t get it back and we can’t get more of it.
We very rarely ask people who sell tangible products for a free sample. Imagine going into a shop and saying, “just want to take this for a moment, or forever as I can’t give it back, but hey, that’s ok – you are a nice guy and I know you are happy for me to have it!” It just doesn’t happen.
So why is it different in the service industry? Well, because it’s our way of ‘showing’ someone the service so they can ‘experience’ what it would be like to have it. Just like trying on an item of clothing in a store, you want to see if it fits and makes you feel good, and if it ticks all the boxes you end up buying it. The same applies to people asking for help, in most cases, they are ‘trying you on’ for size and like clothing, they won’t always like the fit, or it simply does not suit them.
So, having accepted we need to sometimes give away our time for free to gain customers, there are a few key questions to use to build a giving policy that you are happy with. Firstly, answer these questions:
· Why do I want to give?
· To whom do I want to give?
· What do I want to give?
· When do I want to give?
· What is the maximum time I want to give in a week or month?
After you have the answers to the above, consider how you will change your policy for the five following groups of people:
· Loved ones
· Clients
· Colleagues
· Prospects
· Others
You may find you don’t want to tweak your policy and have a standard one for all, or it may be completely different when looked at within the context of ‘who’ you are dealing with. Let’s go further and consider this in more detail.
Why do I want to give?
Become clear on your why – there are two main parts of this, one is driven by your values and one by your motivations.
Knowing your core values will influence all parts of your policy. You will not feel so comfortable helping someone whose core values conflict fundamentally with your own. You may have a sliding scale of help for different people depending on how well they fit your values, or be available at different times of the day for different people.
Acknowledge your motivations – I love the buzz I get when someone asks for my help, it makes me feel recognised, and a part of something. That is my ego speaking, understanding what it is that motivates you to help will enable you to make sensible logical decisions rather than wearing yourself out giving to everyone.
BNI members will recognise the phrase “Givers Gain” – the understanding that if you are open to giving, people will be more open to helping you in the future, even in a “pay it forward” way.
To whom do I want to give?
Again, this is personal. Look at the people who are asking you for help and advice, and maybe those who are not, but that you want to help. Consider your role in relation to them for example if they are clients, have they paid for this advice? is what they are asking reasonable for the fee and service you are providing? If they are prospects, do they need this information in order to make a buying decision? If either of these is true, then this advice is not really free – but paid for either upfront or as a future investment. Your values will also determine whom you want to give to – it may be a charity close to your heart, or maybe people in your immediate circle.
What do I want to give?
Be careful of two things, giving away more than you can afford and giving the wrong thing to the wrong person. Firstly, if you are constantly giving to one person, are you creating a state of dependence in that other person so that they are unable to function without you? Secondly, are you working towards a state of independence or interdependence? Do not create more victims with your giving.
Value your giving – how much is your time worth? It is not just your hourly rate we are looking at here, but the value to the recipient, the value of any opportunity you may have lost because you can never get that time back or the value you might have gained by helping someone who is in a position to help you back. What I have said maybe a little mercenary for some, it feels a little uncomfortable to me writing it, but the cold reality is that time is money. It is not always the most important factor to consider but one to be aware of.
If you are in the business of selling your time, and you are consistently giving lots of your time away for free, it will no doubt have an impact on how you make a living, how well you can support your family, and so on. Don’t think of yourself as a selfish person if you have to say no.
Also, think about this. If you are giving away all your good stuff, what will people pay you for?
If you are in professional services, check your Professional Indemnity Insurance, giving away advice for free is still giving advice – you could still be liable to an insurance claim if you give the wrong advice, or if someone acts on their interpretation of your advice with unfortunate results. Unfair, I know but pragmatic.
When do I want to give?
Do you have set times, how does your home/work balance fit into your giving policy? How do your family, colleagues, or team feel about how much of your time you are giving? Add slots for gifting your time into your diary and if someone asks outside of these times, politely explain that you will be free to talk at this set time. Most people will be grateful.
I have probably given you many questions and not enough answers? I started with the question ‘How much free advice should you give away before charging for your time?’ but as the question is so personal, it is the classic answer of ‘how long is a piece of string?’ My only real answer is; it depends.
Hopefully, you now understand what questions you should be asking to draw up your own giving policy. If you feel you are struggling with giving away too much time and would like a chat, book in a virtual coffee with me on the link below (and yes, this is me giving away ‘some’ of my time for free!
