Increasing the price you charge for your legal services is easy.
I am almost tempted to leave that sentence as it is and end the blog right there, because I know the sentence to be true.
If you disagree, I am going to be brutally blunt, because often there is far too much sugar soaping around:
It is your fault!
Here are the excuses I often hear which I promise you are not responsible for you being unable to increase the prices for your legal services:
- Your competitors are charging low fees so you have to too – WRONG
- Your clients tell you that they will not pay any more for your fees – WRONG (them for saying it, you for believing them)
- Non lawyers can provide the service at a better price because they do not have to pay the premiums that you have to pay – WRONG
If you cannot charge the fees that you would like to for the legal service that you are providing, it is the way you are presenting, selling and delivering this service that is the problem, not any of the reasons stated above.
Let me explain what happened to me recently which highlights the point.
My parents are moving closer to me after many years of enjoying Devon, so I approached a solicitor who I know well enough to say hello to in passing in my home town of Nailsea. I asked him to provide a quotation for their sale and purchase, and in the same email I asked him some general questions about how he was, how business was etc.
I received an email from him within 24 hours with no reference to my email, no responses to my questions and simply providing his prices. I received nothing in the post and did not receive a telephone call from him.
If this is your quotation process, I can see why you are struggling to sell your legal services for a fair price.
The firm of solicitors who received the instruction sent an email, made a call to discuss the matter in more detail and sent a letter.
I am constantly flabbergasted, and I don’t use that word lightly, by the lack of effort most solicitors put into their initial quotation and follow up procedure.
So, if your procedure looks exactly like the one I refer to above from my local Nailsea Solicitor, that is the reason why you cannot charge more for your legal services. It is entirely your fault.
You can either change your process or keep bemoaning the state of the economy and the fact that the Government has it in for solicitors, as so many do on the Law Society Gazette website, or you can actually put all of that energy into improving your processes.
I know which one is likely to help you achieve your objective, so will you do it?
I also know exactly what you need to do to improve your process to enable you to charge more, so if you would like to short cut the process, feel free to ask away by posting a comment below and I will be delighted to reply.
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