Have you ever considered starting a loyalty program for your practice? That’s where you reward certain clients with a discount, a free service, or some other benefit, to thank them for their loyalty and to give them an incentive to continue.
This won’t work for every practice area. But you could use it for PI, real estate closings, and for many business matters. Don’t immigration lawyers offer a “family discount”? Don’t estate planners offer a better deal on A/B trusts?
But you have to be careful. You don’t want to position yourself as a “discount lawyer” or be seen promoting a “frequent suer club,” after all.
One way to handle this is to only tell clients after the fact. At the end of a case or matter, tell the client about your policy so they know if they hire you again, (perhaps within the next six or 12 months), they’ll get some kind of a benefit. Or, wait until they come back with a second matter and tell them then.
You can also surprise them when you send your bill. The client expects to pay $3000 and gets a bill for $2500, for example, with a footnote or a handwritten note in the margin explaining why.
The point is that some clients have more business to give you and it makes sense to court them. A loyalty program is one way to do that.
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