Overcoming the money objection

August 28, 2013 by
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You’re sitting with a new client. At least you think he’s a new client because he needs your help and wants to hire you. But when it comes to the subject of fees, he balks. Too often, he walks.

Overcoming the money objection in it’s various forms–I can’t afford it, I don’t have it, it costs too much, other lawyers will do it for less–is critical. The best way to handle this objection, or any objection, is to eliminate it before it comes up. Here are four ways to do that:

1. PRACTICE AREA AND TARGET MARKET

If you handle contingency fee cases, the money objection usually doesn’t come up. Lawyers who do work for big business and government usually don’t have clients who can’t pay their fees. Targeting well to do consumers for your services will also eliminate or severely curtail the no money objection.

In addition, if you handle legal work where clients must have an attorney or face dire consequences, rather than discretionary legal work, clients who might otherwise be limited in their ability to pay will often find a way to get the money. Someone who is in jail, being sued, or facing foreclosure, for example, has different motivation than someone who needs to update their will.

2. INFORMATION

The second way to deal with the money objection is to provide ample information to prospective clients before they call for an appointment. This means posting information on your website that explains fees, costs, retainers, and payment options. It means mailing or emailing prospective clients this kind of information (“a pre-appointment information package”) prior to the actual appointment.

You don’t necessarily quote fees in advance but you do provide a general idea of what the client can expect if they hire you. Give them a range of fees so they know it might be as much as $10,000 and they don’t come in expecting to pay $1,000. Show them different packages of services you have available, so they can see that while they might not be able to afford package A, they can probably handle package B. Explain the payment options that are available to them, so they can see that they don’t have to have all of the money up front.

This is also how you deal with the issue of other attorneys with lower fees. This is where you build the value of what you offer and make the case for why clients should choose you. This is where you explain how some attorneys don’t tell the whole story regarding fees and costs, until someone is sitting in their office. This is where you show prospective clients the wisdom of hiring someone with your experience and how, in the long run, it will probably save them money.

3. ON THE PHONE

When a prospective client calls for an appointment, or calls to ask questions, make sure they understand how much they will be expected to pay (or the minimum) if they decide to hire you.

Some will tell you it’s better to get them into the office first, that once they have taken the time to meet with you and become impressed with you, they will be more likely to find a way to hire you and less likely to go shopping for a less expensive alternative. That may be literally true, but if they don’t have the money they don’t have the money and you and the client are both better off dealing with this reality before spending any more time.

There are exceptions, but a policy of giving prospective clients a general idea of how much will be expected of them if they hire you, in advance of the actual appointment, and confirming that they can handle that amount, will go a long way towards overcoming the money objection once they are sitting in front of you.

4. IN YOUR PRESENTATION

The fourth way to deal with the money objection is to anticipate the objection and dispose of it in your presentation, before the client can raise it.

For example, explain how some clients sometimes tell you the fee is on the high side. Then tell them that once the client sees everything they get, they realize that in the end, they are actually saving money.

Bring up the subject of other attorneys who charge less than you do. Then explain why it makes sense to choose you instead.

Explain what it might cost the client if he chooses to delay. A client who might otherwise want to wait will now know why he should not.

Whatever objections you have heard in the past, deal with them before the client raises them.

Some clients will slip through the cracks. You will still occasionally hear the money objection. But by taking the above steps to deal with the objection in advance, you should find this to be the exception, not the rule.

Do you discuss fees on your website? If you want to know what to say, get this.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Communication, Fees and Billing, Handling objections, Online Marketing, Salesmanship Tagged With: , , ,

Do attorneys charge too much?

May 6, 2013 by
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A lot of people think attorneys charge too much. But you can’t charge too much. It’s not possible. If someone is willing to pay what you ask, then, by definition, it’s not too much.

Unless, somehow, an attorney has some kind of monopoly–government hook up, union contract, that sort of thing, or someone else is paying the bill–in a free market, the market determines price.

Willing buyer, willing seller, and all that.

Actually, many attorneys fees are too low. They don’t charge what they could. Why? Several reasons:

  • They try to match their rates to what other lawyers are charging, so they can “stay competitive,” and everyone gets locked into thinking that what everyone is charging is the “right price”.
  • They believe they will get more clients by offering rates somewhat lower than other attorneys.
  • They haven’t factored in the costs of overhead or inflation.
  • They start out low and are afraid that if they raise their rates they’ll lose clients.
  • They lack confidence in themselves and their abilities or think they don’t have enough experience to charge top dollar.

How do you know if you could charge more? You raise your fees and see what happens. Start with new clients. If there’s little or no resistance, roll out the increase with existing and former clients. Keep raising fees until there is “significant” resistance. I can’t tell you what that is, but you will know it when you see it.

Here’s the thing: the best clients don’t shop around for the lowest priced attorney, and you don’t want the ones who do. You should never compete on price. You’ll attract the worst clients, and besides, there will always be someone who charges less.

The best clients — the ones who return again and again and refer others — understand that you get what you pay for. In fact, if you charge less than most other attorneys, you’ll actually make them nervous. What would you think if you found out that the doctor who was about to operate on your brain charged much less than other surgeons?

You don’t want a reputation for being “low priced”. Instead, you want clients to think of you as “charging top dollar but worth every penny.” In this way, you get the better clients and maximize your revenues and profits.

Regularly survey the market and keep your fees at least in the upper one third of fees in your area. You don’t have to be the most expensive in town to get the best clients (although that may be an effective strategy for some lawyers), but you do want to be among that group.

Will you lose some clients as you raise your rates? Yes, but far fewer than you might imagine. And the revenue you lose by their loss will be more than made up for by the gains from other, higher-paying clients.

In fact, you may find that by raising your rates you actually find there is more demand for your services. More clients at higher rates? That would be okay, wouldn’t it?

The Attorney Marketing Formula: How to Earn More Than You Ever Thought Possible. Click here.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Legal industry Tagged With: , ,

Save 50%–but only for a few days, and then never again

April 3, 2013 by
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Yesterday, I wrote about the subject of scarcity and how you can use it in your marketing to get people off the fence. When something is in limited supply, or the clock is ticking and a deadline is approaching, a fear of loss kicks in and motivates action.

The ultimate in scarcity is “no longer available.” When you know that something you want (but have not yet purchased) is going away and may never come back, The Force compels you to reach for your credit card. Or something like that.

For many years, I sold a referral marketing course for attorneys. It was the first of its kind and I sold millions of dollars worth of that course, all over the world. I took it off the market a couple of years ago, intending to update and re-release it.

I still hear from attorneys who bought my course, way back in 1996. They want to know when I’m coming out with the new version. I also hear from attorneys who have heard about the course and want to know when they can order it.

The answer is, I don’t know. It’s a big project and I’m working on other things right now and my plate is full.

“Not available” is about as scarce as it gets. People want it but can’t have it. Value increases. Demand increases. The point is, if it was always available and you could order it at any time, that demand and that perceived value wouldn’t be the same.

That’s the rationale behind the “product launches” you see on the Internet. There’s a big run up to the launch and then the product is removed from the market. Once it’s gone, you can’t get it at any price. No surprise, they sell a lot more of the product during the launch period because people don’t want to miss out.

So. . . what if you announced to your clients that you from this point forward, you would only accept clients who are referred to you by other clients. What do you think would happen?

Yes, demand would go way up.

We see physicians do this. When you hear that a doctor is no longer accepting new patients, that’s the doctor you want, isn’t it?

“Who do I know who can get me in!”

Well, you may not be ready to announce something like this. But what you could do is announce that starting next month, you are strictly limiting the number of new clients you will accept.

You’re super busy and can’t give proper attention to everyone (or you want more time for your family) and so you have to be much more selective about who you accept as a client.

That’s something you should do, anyway. Continually upgrade your client base by eliminating (or not accepting) smaller clients and cases or the ones who give you the most trouble.

Announce it, promote it, and you should see demand for your services go up.

Something to think about.

Okay, announcement time.

Later this month, I’m changing over to a different shopping cart and payment system. In order to do this, I am taking two of my products off the market. I probably won’t re-release them, at least for the foreseeable future.

Anyway, before I remove them, I wanted to give you a chance to pick them up at a great price. So for the next few days, you can order either Cash Flow for Attorneys or The Quantum Leap Marketing System at 50% off the regular price.

Here are the details:

Cash Flow for Attorneys shows you how you can increase your cash flow in the coming year by re-structuring your fees, tightening up your billing and collections, and utilizing other strategies for bringing in more cash. Check it out at http://cashflowforattorneys.com

To get the 50% discount, click on the order button and enter the code <final> (no brackets) in the coupon box. Click to “validate” and you’ll see the price change below to reflect the discount.

The Quantum Leap Marketing System shows you how to quickly bring in a lot of new business. It’s over ten hours of videos and comes with some great bonuses. You can see what’s included at http://quantumleapmarketingsystem.com.

Important: When you get to the big box that says, “Add to Cart,” scroll down a bit and click on the link for “one payment”.

On the next page, (near the top), you’ll see a box that asks for a “Coupon”. Enter the code <final>  (no brackets) and click the link to validate the code. The price will change below to reflect a 50% discount.

After you order, you’ll receive a confirming email with download and/or access instructions. Please make sure to download everything as soon as possible. If you have any questions, please email info@attorneymarketing.com.

Please note, all sales are final–there will be no refunds accepted, so make sure this is something you want before you click the button.

You have the rest of the week to get these. And then. . .  they will be gone.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, News

Make your clients smile by writing THIS on your next billing statement

February 11, 2013 by
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Did you see this story: “Parents’ shock after restaurant bill shows $4 discount for their ‘Well Behaved Kids”.

The kids said “please” and “thank you” and were quiet during the meal.

Imagine that.

Even if the restaurant didn’t get world-wide attention for what they did, do you think the parents of these kids might tell some people about their experience?

I think so, too.

If the restaurant advertised a discount would be given to anyone whose kids are well behaved, the idea would have flopped. “Hey, my kids didn’t start a fire this time, where’s my friggin discount!”

What makes this work is that the discount was given after the fact. Totally unexpected. A happy surprise.

Guess what? You can achieve the same result with your clients.

Find a reason to give them a small discount on their next bill. Maybe they showed up at their first appointment on time. Maybe they were especially brave in the face of fear. Or maybe they did a great job at their deposition.

Find something positive and reward them.

You might even want to zero out something. The client expects to get charged for the letter you sent to their landlord. They open their bill and see a zero balance. Nice. Maybe it is their birthday. Or yours. Or maybe you did it because you like them.

Do you think you might score some points in the good will department? I think so, too.

Do you think you might get some world wide press?

“Client’s shock after attorney’s bill shows $100 discount for their ‘well behaved mother-in-law’.”

Nah, me neither.

Get more clients and increase your income. Click here to learn how.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Fees and Billing, Law office management Tagged With:

Do you offer the iPad of legal services?

February 8, 2013 by
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I was reading an article on why the iPad beats Android tablets. The author concluded thusly (I love that word, don’t you?), “Having reviewed the options, the reason for Apple’s continued dominance in the tablet market seems clear – it makes the best product. It also makes the most expensive product, but that doesn’t seem to deter consumers, who continue to buy the iPad in droves.”

The article points out that there is and will be a big market for Android, and many people prefer that platform for reasons other than lower price.

Something for everyone.

Now, how do your legal services compare? Do you offer iPad-ish services–high quality and high price–or Android-ish–lower quality and lower price?

You can make money in either category, but not both.

Many attorneys lean towards the lower end of the market. I suggest you resist the temptation.

Set your fees at Apple levels. High end. Then, make sure you’re worth it.

Higher margins provide huge benefits:

  • You get better clients. Yes, more demanding (like Apple’s), but better in every other sense
  • You don’t need as many clients; you can take your time and turn out a better work product
  • You can hire better talent and delegate what you don’t enjoy
  • You have a marketing budget so you can expand and grow
  • You earn more profit and enjoy a better life style.

Delivering high quality legal services does cost more. A nicer office, the best employees, a higher level of “customer service” all come at a price. But it’s not how much you spend that counts, it’s how much you earn.

The Attorney Marketing Formula shows you the six keys to earning more without working more. Click here.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Increase your income, Law office management Tagged With:

How to get more clients to sign up when you quote your fees

January 24, 2013 by
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I’m listening to Spotify as I write this. The ’70’s station. Elvin Bishop, Paul Simon, Elton John, Al Stewart, Seals & Crofts, America, Earth, Wind & Fire. . .

How cool is that?

I “liked” every single song so far and now they’re in my playlist.

So much music, so little time.

Anyway, I wanted to share something with you that I think will make your day. Or your week. Maybe even your year.

Our microwave died two days ago. It’s amazing how much we use that thing. Boiling water on the stove is so 1970’s.

Anyway, my wife goes online and starts pricing replacements. We’ve had this one for 18 years so it wasn’t that simple. It has to fit in the space above our range and match the oven.

She finds one that works and gives me the price. Holy crap! “It’s a microwave, not a car!” I was overhead saying.

She took that to mean, “keep looking,” and she did. Sure enough, she finds one that has everything we need, fits in the space, and is 40% cheaper than the first one.

“Order it!” I said. And she did. It will be installed tomorrow.

Now, here’s the thing. If she had first come to me with the price on the one we ordered, knowing how I am, I still would have thought it was too high. But because she showed it to me second, it looked like a bargain.

I don’t know if it IS a bargain. I just know I was happy to order at the lower price. “Look at how much we saved. . .”.

Anyway, this reminded me to remind you about pricing your services.

If possible, you should put together a lower priced version of your services to offer prospective clients. If the deluxe package is ,000, and the basic package is ,500, you can show them both and let them choose. If ,000 is “too much,” they can choose the basic version. Instead of “no sale” you get a ,500 sale, and a new client. The client gets his basic needs met and could possibly upgrade later.

Or, show him the ,000 package first. If he objects, (“It’s a legal document, not a car!”) you can show them the ,500 package. It may not have all the bells and whistles but it does the job. In comparison to what he thought he had to pay, it will seem like a bargain.

You’ll get more prospects saying “sign me up,” instead of “I have to think about it.”

Get the Attorney Marketing Formula and find out how to earn more. Click here for details.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Handling objections, Increase your income, Marketing legal services, Salesmanship

Who decides what’s fair when it comes to attorney fees?

January 4, 2013 by
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So a law firm hires a contract attorney to do document review in a big securities case. They pay the contract lawyer $50 an hour and bill their client $550 for that hour. Is that fair? One lawyer says, “Contract lawyers feel more like a cost that should be simply passed through to the client.”

What say you?

Me? I say that asking if it’s fair is asking the wrong question. Fairness is not the issue. The issue is, “What is the client willing to pay?” Isn’t that the basis of capitalism? Willing buyer and willing seller at arm’s length?

If the client agreed to pay $550 an hour and the work performed by the contract lawyer is of no lesser quality than expected, then who’s to say the client didn’t get its money’s worth? And who’s to say the firm isn’t entitled to make a profit on what they pay outside attorneys? Don’t they earn a profit on work performed by their employees?

Since this was a class action, a judge is being asked to approve legal fees. I’m sure he or she will consider many factors in making that determination. The mark up on contract lawyers shouldn’t be one of them.

You’ll earn more and have happier clients if you DON’T bill by the hour. Find out why and what to do instead in The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Fees and Billing, Legal industry Tagged With: ,

Do you charge wealthier clients higher fees for the same work?

December 27, 2012 by
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According to the Wall Street Journal, the Staples website quotes different prices for the same merchandise based on where the user is located when he visits the site. Staples said this is based on how close the visitor’s location is to a competitor’s store and various costs of doing business, but it appears to also be based on the customer’s ability to pay.

In New York, for example, certain products are priced higher in the boroughs of the Bronx, Manhattan, and Staten Island. By contrast, the same items sell in Brooklyn and Queens at a discount. These price differences come despite no more than 20 miles separating any two locations.

In other words, a Manhattan resident would save money on an item simply by driving to Queens and making the purchase there either online or through a mobile device.”

Apparently, this is not an uncommon practice among retailers.

It’s not illegal but is it “fair”? More importantly, is it smart business?

I think it is smart, and also fair. The retailer is entitled to charge whatever the market will bear. It’s called “free enterprise”. Where it gets dicey, however, is when customers learn about these practices and object to them. A retailer may win the pricing battle but lose the loyalty war.

Of course a savvy customer who knows about this practice might play the pricing game, logging onto web sites from different locations, to see which one gives him the lowest price.

Anyway, I got to thinking about this in terms of legal services. Is it smart business for a lawyer to charge different fees to different clients based on their ability to pay? From a business standpoint, I say why not?

If your clients don’t know (and there are no legal or ethical restrictions on doing so), why shouldn’t a lawyer be able to charge what the market will bear? Some attorneys routinely do precisely that. They size up a new client by their clothing or car or occupation and quote a fee commensurate with what they think that client can afford.

I can’t recall ever charging a client a higher fee because I thought he could afford it, but in looking back, had I thought about it, I probably would have. I sometimes charged clients lower fees, either because I wanted to help them out or because they were steady clients and I wanted to reward them for their allegiance. If there’s nothing wrong with this, there should be nothing wrong with charging some clients higher fees. Of course, by definition, charging some clients less means some clients are being charged more.

What do you think? Is there anything wrong with charging some clients more than others? Have you ever done it? Please share your thoughts in the comments.

Getting ready for the new year? The Attorney Marketing Formula will show you what to do to make it a great year.

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Filed Under: Client loyalty, Client relations, Fees and Billing, Law office management Tagged With: , ,

If you do this, you won’t have to join “Underearners Anonymous”

November 7, 2012 by
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I heard from an attorney recently who said his business is off. When I asked him why he thought that was, he referred me to a page on the “Underearners Anonymous” website that lists 12 “Symptoms of Underearning”. He claimed he had all 12.

I don’t think that’s really true and I don’t think he believes it, either. He’s blowing off steam. I know he’s been very successful in the past and his current situation is undoubtedly a temporary slump. But he is correct in looking inward for answers because even in a bad economy, many attorneys are thriving.

In today’s post, I want to talk about one of these 12 systems because I see it a lot. I’ll cover a second symptom in tomorrow’s post.

Number 7 on the list is “Undervaluing and Under-pricing’ — We undervalue our abilities and services and fear asking for increases in compensation or for what the market will bear.” I’ve done hundreds of consultations with attorneys and I can tell you that “undervaluing and under-pricing” is very common.

Charging less than you could is an obvious cause of lower income and it’s an easy fix: Raise your fees. But that’s easier said than done for the attorney who undervalues his or her services. If you don’t believe you’re worth more than you currently charge, you must first reconcile that belief with the truth.

Do your homework. Find out what other attorneys with similar experience charge. If most charge more than you do, you can assume that you can safely set your fees higher, and get it. And if you can get more, then you are worth more. Yes or yes?

What if you’re not worth more than what you currently charge? Well, then you’re not undervaluing yourself, you’re undervaluing your potential.

If you’re not worth more, charging more isn’t a good idea. You can get away with it for awhile but you will be found out, eventually. Instead, you need to increase your value. When you are worth more, you can charge more.

What about the attorney who knows he is worth more and still doesn’t raise his fees? These attorneys (and there are a lot of them) are afraid that if they raise their fees their clients will leave. And this is not without justification. Some clients will leave. A lot may leave, in fact, but losing clients is not the only thing to consider.

If you increase your fees you may lose some clients. But you can replace them with other clients who pay you more. The additional revenue from these new, better-paying clients, will offset the loss of revenue from clients who leave. Eventually, when you’ve replaced enough of the clients who leave, you’ll be earning a lot more than you do now.

You’ll probably want to increase your fees in phases. Start with new clients. They only know what you tell them and you won’t tell them about what you used to charge. As you get more new clients at higher fees, you can begin to raise fees for existing and former clients.

By the way, I said earlier that you should look at what other attorneys charge, to find proof that you can safely charge more than you do now. But be careful. What other attorneys charge doesn’t preclude you from charging more than they do, so don’t let it. But many attorneys do.

Many attorneys are afraid that if they charge more than other attorneys in their market, they won’t get hired. Well, there’s truth in that, too. If you charge more, some clients won’t hire you. But guess what? There are enough who will. And those are the clients you really want.

Set your fees high, my friend, and then do everything you can do to justify those higher fees. Give more value than other attorneys give and you’ll earn more than other attorneys earn.

If your clients say things like, “Yeah, she charges more, but she’s worth every penny,” then you know you’re doing it right.

If you want to learn how you can be worth more so you can charge more, you need The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Client loyalty, Fees and Billing, Increase your income Tagged With: , ,

Another lesson from Apple: how to get clients to pay higher legal fees

October 25, 2012 by
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Yesterday, I wrote about Apple’s pricing strategy with the new iPad Mini. Instead of competing with other tablets for the low end of the tablet market, they’re letting other companies duke it out while they target the more profitable high end. The same is true for their entire product line.

Apple fans are willing to pay more for Apple products (and stand in line to get them) because they believe it’s worth it. They believe they get more value for their dollar.

Style is certainly one aspect. So is functionality. But more than anything, I think what appeals to Apple users is ease of use.

Apple’s slogan, “It just works,” is arguably responsible for converting legions of PC users, frustrated with complicated, buggy, and virus prone machines to the Apple brand. True or not, the impression Apple’s marketing team has created is that with Apple products you won’t have continual crashes or blue screens, and you won’t have to take a class to learn how to use it. You just turn it on and it works.

And that’s exactly what Apple’s customers want.

Well guess what? That’s what your clients want, too. At least the clients you should be targeting. They want to know that when they hire you, you’ll get the job done.

They don’t want complications. They don’t want to know the boring details. They want the peace of mind of knowing that when they hire you, they’ll be in good hands. If you can give this to them, they’ll pay you more than what other attorneys charge.

Now I know many attorneys will cynically argue that their clients are very price conscious and won’t pay a penny more if another attorney will do it for less. And that’s true–THEIR clients are price conscious and won’t pay a penny more. But that’s not true of all clients.

Didn’t the PC world say the same thing about Apple when their prices first became known? “Why would anyone pay double for something just because it’s nicer looking?”

The answer was, and still is, because “it just works.”

You can follow in Apple’s footsteps. Target the higher end of the market for your services. Show them that when they hire you, everything is taken care of for them. They won’t have to worry about getting a bill filled with surprises, or an attorney who doesn’t explain things or return their phone calls. Show them that “you just work” and they’ll pay you more. Because it’s worth it to them.

Learn how to earn more than you ever thought possible. Get The Attorney Marketing Formula.

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Filed Under: Attorneys fees, Fees and Billing, Image, Increase your income, Marketing legal services Tagged With: , , , ,
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