I had an interesting discussion with a colleague a few days ago. We were chatting about business and giving each other the 411 on current projects, and I mentioned a crisis that I worked on the week before.
After discussing how we handled it, my friend said, “Well, I hope you charged them a higher rate for your advice. After all, clients who are in trouble are more willing to pay top dollar for senior level counsel.”
While I understand that this is a common practice in crisis communications, it got me to thinking. Is my advice any more or less relevant depending on my client’s circumstances? Frankly, I like to think the counsel I give them to successfully manage their day-t0-day operations is just as critical to their long term success as my crisis intervention is to their short-term success.
Moreover, this is a longstanding client…the thought of up-charging them seemed akin to kicking someone when they’re down. I couldn’t help but think how the CEO would have reacted if in the midst of his dilemma I said, “Oh, by the way, happy to help, but this is gonna cost you big.”
Don’t get me wrong, there are times professionals need to charge higher rates during a crisis. Especially if a client is going to take them away from their core business or other clients for a substantial period of time. If that’s the case, it needs to be transparent to the client. In my case, I regularly devote time to this particular client, so it was not an issue.
While this is a business issue, I believe it is also an ethical issue. Clients pay for the sum total of my experience. The fact that they are in crisis doesn’t make me more or less valuable than at any other time. I look at my client relationships as long-term partnerships, and the idea of taking advantage of a client’s vulnerability just doesn’t sit right with me.
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