Dropping rates to keep a client?

[Anonymous]

One of my nanny families were thinking of going away for a long weekend and had discussed a rate for me to watch the kids all weekend. It would have been 72 hours, with young twins who wake about once per night, so it was a good chunk of cash. They hadn't officially booked me ye, but I was excited to bring in that much, especially a few weeks before my own vacation. They found out that the dad has an extra day off he can use, which would make their trip 96 hours, and they said that they were thinking they'd just bring the kids along in that case, since the cost of a larger hotel room and plane tickets for the kids was outweighed by the increase in child care costs.

I would be willin to do the extra day at a reduced rate in order not to lose the entire job, but it is a bad idea to set this precedent? I was thinking of reducing my hourly rate to the point where the extra day was only a few hundred dollars more than a 3-day would have been. But will this make them balk at my normal rate next time they want to do a 2- or 3-day trip? Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

You could offer them a "package" deal. I think it's reasonable to say that you have a minimum, but each additional day beyond three could be at a discount.

I think they may still take the kids unless it's a significant savings, though.

[Anonymous]

Original was going to be my hourly rate for 12 daytime hours per day plus half rate for 12 overnight hours. If I drop my rate by $2 per hour it works out to just around $250 more.

[Anonymous]

I usually do a flat rate per day of $150-200 depending on the ages and number of kids. I get more work that way and I am satisfied with the dollar amount.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I usually do a flat rate per day of $150-200 depending on the ages and number of kids. I get more work that way and I am satisfied with the dollar amount.

Thanks. Good to know that I am above market. I would not be satisfied with that amount, but that is also because I get no real breaks. I get up before kids to walk the dog, come in and make breakfast and lunch, get kids up and ready, feed them, go on an outing, eat lunch, put down for nap, during nap I fold laundry usually a few loads' worth of family laundry leftover, walk the dogs again and cook food for dinner that night, but also make enough to freeze so the family comes home to a few night's worth of dinners ready to go, get kids up from nap, snack, outing or project, dinner, have kids "help" put laundry away, bottle, bath, bedtime, then walk dogs again and feed them, clean the kitchen (dishes, counters, sweep, mop) and playrooms (which I completely reorganize at least once per overnight) then fold laundry. By that time it's late and I walk the dogs one last time and go to bed, knowing. I will be up twice (once per kid) to settle them back down and will also let the dogs out at that time. If the dogs were boarded and I weren't cooking family meals from scratch and if I were just in charge of the kids' laundry, I might be fine with a lower rate, as that would mean I actually could relax after bed and during naptime.

[Anonymous]

Wow that's super busy!!
Just curious where you will walk the dogs while the kids are asleep?

[Anonymous]

Are you dog sitting for them if they take the kids? That's some $$ at least

[Anonymous]

So zero dollars is better than a reduced rate since you so full of awesomeness that they probably didn't even ask for or want?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Wow that's super busy!!
Just curious where you will walk the dogs while the kids are asleep?

A.k.a tell me you leave the kids alone while you walk the dog 3 blocks away from home so I can rip you apart on my next post. Right pp? Lol, "curious".... Sure you were just curious!!!!!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:So zero dollars is better than a reduced rate since you so full of awesomeness that they probably didn't even ask for or want?

Zero dollars from them on a weekend when I can relax and have some time for myself and try to find a babysitting gig is better than exhausting myself meeting the expectations of this job (all of which have either been asked for or specifically called out as a reason for bonuses, etc.) and then feeling resentful because i feel underpaid. It is my job to avoid burnout and that means knowing how much money it takes to make a stressful weekend feel worth it. But it's good to know that I am above market, because I could offer them an in-between (board the dogs and no family laundry or meal prep and I will reduce my rate to X).

As for the "curious" poster, while kids are napping, I take the monitor and walk the dogs around the cul de sac to pee, then I take the kids and dogs for a longer walk a some point in the day or play fetch with them in the back yard if it's too hot/cold/wet to take kids on a long walk.

[Anonymous]

MB here - we have left our twins (toddlers) with our nanny for several days on a couple of occasions. If it helps to know how we handle pay this is what we do:

- overtime for any hours worked beyond her usual week (this usually means 3-5 hours additional each weekday, and 12-16 hours per weekend day)
- $75/night for the overnights. Our kids sleep 11 hours without waking unless someone is sick. If sickness or other disruption happened we would pay her overtime rates for any hours she worked overnight.
- an extra day off when we get back so she doesn't have to work 10 or 12 days straight without a break (if we've gone away over a weekend)