Angelique is a former client, and she referred a friend to me, offering to pay for the service. My mistake was not quoting the current fee, so Angelique was surprised by a higher-than-expected invoice—never a good outcome. This series of e-mails shows how we resolved the issue such that our friendship is still strong today.
From: Bill Frank at CareerLab [mailto:wsfrank@careerlab.com]
Sent: June 12, 20— 1:29 PM
To: Angelique Wittler
Subject: Invoice for Austin Darnall
Angelique,
I'm enjoying Austin Darnall. She's every bit as delightful as you said. And what a go-getter! She's moving along faster than expected.
You asked me to send invoices to you. This first is attached. Is electronic okay, or do you need paper.
Thanks,
:B
From: Angelique Wittler
Sent: June 14, 20— 10:59 AM
To: Bill Frank at CareerLab
Subject: RE: Invoice for Austin Darnall
I must have misunderstood….and Austin has the same recollection…that the hourly rate was $150. Please advise.
From: Bill Frank at CareerLab [mailto:wsfrank@careerlab.com]
Sent: June 14, 20— 12:13 PM
To: Angelique Wittler
Subject: RE: Invoice for Austin Darnall
Hi Angelique,
I'm sorry about any confusion on the fee. My rate hasn't been $150 since the late 80s. It has been $300 for the last year and a half.
We usually quote $850 for the career assessment, which is $250 for the test + 2 hours of consulting. Or we quote $1450 for the testing with 4 hours of consulting.
Generally, on these kinds of projects for friends and friends-of-friends, the amount paid out is well below the career gain. My last graduate, for example, paid me $1575 to get a $280,000 job offer with $100,000 bonus and $25,000 signing bonus. I expect a superb outcome for Austin.
I'm stumped as to how this misunderstanding happened. What would you like to do about it?
:B
From: Angelique Wittler
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2004 11:21 AM
To: Bill Frank at CareerLab
Subject: RE: Invoice for Austin Darnall
We're fine. I must have misunderstood.
From: Bill Frank at CareerLab [wsfrank@careerlab.com]
Sent: Monday, June 14, 2004 4:05 PM
To: Angelique Wittler
Subject: RE: Invoice for Austin Darnall
Angelique,
I'm sorry for the misunderstanding. I'll throw in a few freebies for Austin along the way, and we'll settle up at the end such that she'll think the fee was a real bargain!
Thanks,
Bill