Don't Compete on Price - Especially Now!

Dan Hull who writes the What About Clients? blog, has some advice if you are thinking about lowing your fees:  "Don't!"

 If a client comes to your firm for price, it will leave your firm for price.

Value, not price alone, is the point. You're in a services profession, so value will be conferred on and experienced differently by different clients in different engagements. It's all in the work--i.e., first rate legal products mixed with real client service for every client you serve--and the billing.

I agree, in general.  This last weekend I saw an ad for cheap Lasik surgery.  While I am not in the market for Lasik surgery, if I were, the last thing I would want is the cheap option.  My eyes are too important for me.  I would want the best Lasik surgery not the cheapest.

You are selling value, not price.  Like the Lasik surgeon, you have a special and valuable skill.  You can solve thorny legal problems that threaten your client's livelihood or to negotiate the legal maze to get the result your client desires.  That is valuable and you should not be shy about selling your value.

Does that mean you should just charge the same old hourly rate?  Absolutely not.  Indeed, selling your time sends exactly the wrong message to your clients.  It immediately commoditizes your services in the mind of the client.  Should they hire the $350 per hour lawyer or the $250 per hour lawyer?  Commoditization drives your clients' thoughts directly to price and not to value.

Selling the value of your legal skills in these tough economic times is a problem solving venture in its own right.  Now is the time to rethink entirely how you bill.  You can differentiate yourself from the crowd of lawyer getting away from selling your time to selling your value.  Whether it it a contingency fee, a flat fee, unbudling your services, or some blended approach, there are plenty options.

For Dan Hull's full article:  Don't Compete on Price, Especially Now

- Peter H. Berge

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