To bill or not to bill
Do most providers bill for time spent on phone calls with a buyer? I have not been billing for time on phone but the conversations directly relate to the project. At first it wasn't that much time so I didn't really care, but now I find myself on the phone 3 hours a week with the buyer. Should I start billing for my time on the phone? If I do bill for time on phone calls do I put that in as offline hours?
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margaretphillips 221 posts - United States - Joined Feb 18 2007
I usually do not bill for phone calls because they are usually short but I had this one buyer who liked to talk for an hour at a time. So yes, I did charge him for calls. I used to keep the timer on for the calls. I put phone conference in the comments and I usually took some notes on notepad so something showed up on the screen shots.
jpittenger
Personally, I charge for phone time as offline. I make sure the buyer is aware of this at the beginning of the first phone call. If it were something very short - 5 minutes here and there - I wouldn't bother. But 3 hours a week is too much to do for free.
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tmays 4 posts - United States - Joined Nov 15 2006
Thanks for the feedback. I like the idea of keeping oDesk team open and taking notes on long phone calls. I think I'm going to start doing that. Thanks again.