This article in PRMoment caught my eye largely because having recently struck out on my own as a Consultant to the agency sector, I have been grappling with what to charge for my time. The thrill of setting up and working for yourself is tempered somewhat by the sweaty palm feeling of wondering what clients will pay for the services you are offering. And of course having left the certainty of a nice agency salary, it's all too easy to under estimate your value and to err on the side of caution when setting rates. 

The key word here is value. All the advice I received when deciding upon rates led back to defining what value my work would have on my client's business. In other words, what impact would I make. For me, that's about helping clients achieve better business performance through providing strategic and operational advice. And that can be measured from a benchmark taken when the engagement begins to a point in the future where specific KPIs can be measured.

And as I work with comms agencies, I am very passionate about supporting them to embed good measurement practise in their service portfolio. I am a believer that those firms that can demonstrate the impact of the work they do can command premium rates. And as a Director of AMEC, I am constantly reinforcing this belief by pointing to the amazing work this association does to further the education in all aspects of measurement and evaluation in communication. 

It will come as no surprise therefore that I simply don't accept the argument made by Jane Austin that: "So much of PR success is sentiment as opposed to anything tangible. It’s about building fame and you can’t really measure that, at least in the sectors I work in."  The tools (free and paid) plus the frameworks and guidance are available in spades for anyone in the industry who seeks to go beyond outputs and to prove outcomes and impact. However I do agree with the overall sentiment of Jane's words and accept that for as long as agencies and freelancers rely on headlines and other forms of output, value will be difficult to prove. 

But come on. We've been showcasing great measurement and evaluation for years now. Both the CIPR and the PRCA constantly reinforce this point and I've yet to meet a client who is not interested in wanting to demonstrate true impact and value to the organisation of their work. 

So if you are not charging enough, you need to take a long hard look at how you are measuring the work you do and you should explore the resources made available through AMEC and other professional bodies. Ask the right questions; unpack the true business challenges your client is facing; and build a measurement framework that proves how you've addressed those challenges. 

And if you need any guidance on this, then don't hesitate to get in touch! I'm always happy to help any practitioner or agency build a strong measurement capability. Better still, join AMEC and be part of a community that's dedicated to proving the value of its work.