Solicitors must never reduce their prices – ever.
I am well aware that pricing is a sensitive issue, especially for many solicitors.
On a recent call with one of my Google Adwords clients we were discussing pricing and I was processing in my mind why reducing your price simply doesn’t work for anyone.
It occurred to me that it might be useful for you too for me to explain why reducing your prices will never work. There are several core reasons.
First. You must be seen as THE expert.
There are a lot of law firms in existence – 10,445 at the last Law Society count. When a client is choosing their solicitor, do they want a generalist or a specialist? Do they want a solicitor who is merely ‘satisfactory’ at their job, or do they want an expert?
They want an expert. Expert’s charge a decent price for their services. They don’t reduce their prices at the first time of asking or at all.
Expert’s never present their price and then say “is that ok?” which is merely an invitation to challenge. If you are doing this, stop it.
Second. Reducing your price shows a lack of confidence in your services.
Following on from the first point, if you are genuinely good at the services that you provide, why on earth would you reduce your price?
If a client asks you for a reduction in your price and you concede this can only sew one seed in your clients’ mind – that you cannot really be that good.
How can you be good if you reduce your price just because a client asked you to?
Third. When you reduce your price, you lose control.
This reason is for me the most important one. It covers the question of ‘control’ or ‘power’.
To do your best job for your client you must be in control of the relationship. You need your client to have complete respect for you so that when you give them some good but tough advice, they are prepared to take it and follow it.
What happens when you reduce your price is that you instantly lose control of the solicitor/client relationship.
Now, when you provide that difficult advice, your client is far less likely to take it, even if it is in their best interests. You have failed your client by letting them beat you down on price at the beginning of the transaction. They lost respect for you then, so why would they do as you say now? They won’t, which makes for a very difficult solicitor/client relationship.
Fourth. Clients who beat you down on price are the most difficult to work with.
Finally, clients who beat you down on price will be the biggest pain in your filing cabinet that you can ever imagine. They will call you more, challenge you more and doubt you more than all of your other clients put together.
I believe this simply follows on from point three in that you have lost control of the relationship. Whilst you needed to be in the position of the boss, by reducing your price you have moved into the position of the employee, beholden to your master.
Reducing price simply does not work for you or for your clients.
For those solicitors selling ‘deemed’ price sensitive services such as Wills or Conveyancing, yes this applies to you too.
I say ‘deemed’ price sensitive because none of my clients have a problem charging a proper price for these services.
They understand that so long as they follow my ‘Meaningful Conversation’ Blueprint, they can charge a proper price for their services and win the instruction nine times out of ten.
If you are constantly being challenged on your price there is no one else to blame for that except you.
I have clients selling their legal services in all parts of the United Kingdom who are by no means the cheapest and they are not reducing their prices; ever.
This is good news for you, in that it means if you spend some time improving your ‘Meaningful Conversation’ with prospects you will be able to finally charge a proper price for your services and you will NEVER need to reduce your price.
You will avoid all of the problem files in your cabinet because you will still be in control of the relationship.
Life will be a lot more fun for you.
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