diff --git a/intercom/client.py b/intercom/client.py
index ce37617b..6e359b43 100644
--- a/intercom/client.py
+++ b/intercom/client.py
@@ -1,15 +1,19 @@
 # -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
 
 import requests
+import time
+from datetime import datetime
+from pytz import utc
 
 
 class Client(object):
 
-    def __init__(self, personal_access_token='my_personal_access_token'):
+    def __init__(self, personal_access_token='my_personal_access_token', throttle=False):
         self.personal_access_token = personal_access_token
         self.base_url = 'https://api.intercom.io'
         self.rate_limit_details = {}
         self.http_session = requests.Session()
+        self.throttle = throttle
 
     @property
     def _auth(self):
@@ -81,6 +85,16 @@ def jobs(self):
         return job.Job(self)
 
     def _execute_request(self, request, params):
+        # throttle
+        if self.throttle and self.rate_limit_details.get('remaining', None) == 0:
+            # wait until the we've reached the reset time
+            utcnow = datetime.utcnow().replace(tzinfo=utc)
+            if utcnow < self.rate_limit_details['reset_at']:
+                # the delta between the times
+                delta = self.rate_limit_details['reset_at'] - utcnow
+                # sleep until one second after the reset
+                time.sleep(delta.seconds + 1)
+
         result = request.execute(self.base_url, self._auth, params)
         self.rate_limit_details = request.rate_limit_details
         return result
diff --git a/intercom/request.py b/intercom/request.py
index 820f8599..b66e92c7 100644
--- a/intercom/request.py
+++ b/intercom/request.py
@@ -33,7 +33,10 @@ def __init__(self, http_method, path, http_session=None):
         self.http_session = http_session
 
     def execute(self, base_url, auth, params):
-        return self.send_request_to_path(base_url, auth, params)
+        resp = self.send_request_to_path(base_url, auth, params)
+        parsed_body = self.parse_body(resp)
+        self.set_rate_limit_details(resp)
+        return parsed_body
 
     def send_request_to_path(self, base_url, auth, params=None):
         """ Construct an API request, send it to the API, and parse the
@@ -81,10 +84,8 @@ def send_request_to_path(self, base_url, auth, params=None):
                          resp.encoding, resp.status_code)
             logger.debug("  content:\n%s", resp.content)
 
-        parsed_body = self.parse_body(resp)
         self.raise_errors_on_failure(resp)
-        self.set_rate_limit_details(resp)
-        return parsed_body
+        return resp
 
     def parse_body(self, resp):
         if resp.content and resp.content.strip():
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_client.py b/tests/unit/test_client.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..fea48f68
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/unit/test_client.py
@@ -0,0 +1,74 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-  # noqa
+
+import time
+import unittest
+
+from datetime import datetime
+from datetime import timedelta
+from intercom.client import Client
+from intercom.request import Request
+from mock import Mock
+from mock import patch
+from nose.tools import istest
+from pytz import utc
+
+
+class ClientTest(unittest.TestCase):  # noqa
+
+    def setUp(self):  # noqa
+        self.client = Client()
+        now = datetime.utcnow().replace(tzinfo=utc)
+        reset_at = now + timedelta(seconds=2)
+        # set the reset to be in 2 seconds
+        self.rate_limit_details = {
+            'remaining': 0,
+            'limit': 20,
+            'reset_at': reset_at
+        }
+        headers = {
+            'x-ratelimit-limit': 20,
+            'x-ratelimit-remaining': 0,
+            'x-ratelimit-reset': time.mktime(reset_at.timetuple())
+        }
+        payload = """{
+            "user_id": "1224242",
+            "update_last_request_at": true,
+            "custom_attributes": {}
+        }"""
+
+        if not hasattr(payload, 'decode'):
+            # python 3
+            payload = payload.encode('utf-8')
+
+        self.response = Mock(
+            content=payload,
+            encoding='utf-8',
+            headers=headers)
+        self.started_at = now
+
+    @istest
+    def it_can_control_throttle_on_creation(self):  # noqa
+        client = Client()
+        self.assertFalse(client.throttle)
+        client = Client(throttle=True)
+        self.assertTrue(client.throttle)
+
+    @istest
+    def it_will_sleep_if_throttle_is_on(self):  # noqa
+        client = Client(throttle=True)
+        client.rate_limit_details = self.rate_limit_details
+        with patch.object(Request, 'send_request_to_path', return_value=self.response):
+            # this call should take approximately 2 seconds
+            client.users.find(email="john@example.com")
+        finished_at = datetime.utcnow().replace(tzinfo=utc)
+        self.assertEqual(2, int((finished_at - self.started_at).seconds))
+
+    @istest
+    def it_wont_sleep_if_throttle_is_off(self):  # noqa
+        client = Client()
+        client.rate_limit_details = self.rate_limit_details
+        with patch.object(Request, 'send_request_to_path', return_value=self.response):
+            # this call should take approximately 2 seconds
+            client.users.find(email="john@example.com")
+        finished_at = datetime.utcnow().replace(tzinfo=utc)
+        self.assertEqual(0, int((finished_at - self.started_at).seconds))
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_request.py b/tests/unit/test_request.py
index fdfa7794..a3a94bd8 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_request.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_request.py
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ def it_needs_encoding_or_apparent_encoding(self):
             mock_method.return_value = resp
             with assert_raises(TypeError):
                 request = Request('GET', 'events')
-                request.send_request_to_path('', ('x', 'y'), resp)
+                request.execute('', ('x', 'y'), resp)
 
     @istest
     def it_allows_the_timeout_to_be_changed(self):