How to tell them you’re worth it…

1. Present it as a matter of fact, well, because it should be. Use language like ‘our prices will be increasing…’ rather than ‘I have to increase our prices…’

2. Be succinct. Unlike me.

I’ve been working with a very cool client lately… One of the World’s most renowned photographers. Literally rock & roll royalty with the most amazing images…

After the pressure of the last 12 months a lot of law firms want easy and cost-efficient access to marketing resources, knowledge and expertise. As such I am pleased to be a trusted partner of the Law Firm Marketing Club.

PWC’s Annual Law Firms Survey found that UK law firms write off 20% of WIP (work in progress).

Scary, but I don’t think it’s true.

The reality is worse. Much worse…

I got asked by a client for some advice on how to choose which lawyers can, and should, learn to sell?

I gave her two answers. Here’s the short one:

Every client-facing employee…

A lawyer asked me for fast tips on dealing with clients who haggle.

The scenario is this: The client reviews your carefully proposed fee for legal services… pulls a face, sucks their teeth, and mutters about the competition…. and then no matter how low you think your fee is…they want a lower number.

Sometimes they even try and do this after you've finished the work...

When I arrived at conference early on a damp, cold Cambridgeshire morning a couple of weeks ago, I bumped into a client in the car park.

He was also speaking at the event and had some stuff to unload. But he’d parked right at the far end. Of an empty car park…

One of the most common questions I get asked by lawyers (usually in the pub after work) is ‘why don’t my colleagues refer me more often?’

If you’ve asked that question, then the honest answer is that it’s your fault. And it will always be your fault.

Lawyers give away fees. It’s like chucking barrels of tenners out of the window. Every day.

I know the average punter on the street might joke about lawyers charging a fortune. But very few lawyers go home on time. And the bottom line for most law firms suggests they certainly aren’t billing for all of those extra hours, spent burning the midnight oil.

Why not?

I benchmarked how good fee earning firms are at earning fees – here’s what I learnt.

After spending 20+ years in business development, in & around professional service firms - I couldn't find any research (formal or informal) on what 'good fee earning capability' looks like. So I thought I'd do it.

This article is about the research I did, and what I found out…

The majority of us, who work in professional services, struggle with the part of a social, or business, conversation that starts with “So, what do you do?”

Answering it tends to kill the conversation.

Have you struggled to create effective client surveys? Are you left wondering what they really think about what you deliver?

Most businesses struggle to get actionable feedback from clients. And that’s what you need to improve service and make internal changes.