Hourly rates of your competitors, both the high and low range, will help you decide where to position yourself in the mix.  As we talked about last time, if you put your hourly rate too  low, clients will assume your work is worth that rate.  You want to attract clients who know you are worth a high hourly rate and who are willing to pay that rate for your services.

In order to attract these sweet spot clients you need to determine where the upper echelon of network consultants sets their hourly rates.  Unfortunately, finding out this class of hourly rate is not so straightforward.  

Hourly rate of high margin/service contract IT Consultants
Finding the hourly rates of the IT consultants you want to compete with is much more difficult. These competitors are unlikely to publish their rates in public places.  What’s even trickier is some of them don’t even stick to their own hourly rates.  They adjust their hourly rates to the client based on price sensitivity.  

To find out the hourly rates of this group:

  • Ask your business partners that may have worked with other IT consultants in the past
  • Ask accountants, management consultants, or attorneys what they think the going rate for LAN support is
  • Ask your contacts that are deeply niched non-competing technology providers what they charge
  • Inquire with the Chamber of Commerce and economic development offices  
  • Ask around at user group meetings and networking events
  • Ask for previous IT service invoices from new small business accounts
  • Look in CRN and VAR Business - occasionally they will have articles that mention these kinds of things
The Bottom Line on Hourly Rates
Finding out the hourly rates that your competitors are charging is important.  You want to make sure you are setting your hourly rate in the top range.  This way you can ensure you attract the type of clients who will sustain your profitability long-term.  It’s not always easy to find out these rates, but taking the time to do so is well worth your while.  

In this article, you’ve been introduced to hourly rates. To learn more about how you can improve your knowledge of hourly rates, just click here now to get access to a free one-hour audio training program on 5 Easy Ways to Grow Your Computer Consulting Business.