To a client, all law firms initially appear the same. To land a new client, your presentations need to be geared toward setting your firm apart from other firms.
You don’t want to appear to be “selling” your services. If you sell, you price. If you price, you are always too high for the client and too low for the firm.
What is important is to quantify the values you can deliver to the clients who need them. You need to quantify the value you can add in terms of dollars and time.
How do we calculate value? By tracking back along the project and asking the following questions:
- What was the value of the project at the end?
- What was the cost along the way?
- What costs did your law firm reduce for the client or recover on behalf of the client?
- What effect, if any, did your firm’s services have on the client’s revenues?
The application of your firm’s professional services helps to enhance the client’s revenues and reduce or recover the client’s costs. This means added value to your clients.
Say to your existing clients, “We have contributed $_______ to your growth over this time period. In what other areas can we achieve similar results?”
Remember to market to your existing clients until there are no other areas in which you can help them grow. Then develop a list of prospects who has similar needs for similar values to be added.
You should have a set of standards of the values you can bring to a client with certain services, or at least a range of values.
You will then be able to say to your prospective clients, “Our expertise can reduce your costs/enhance your revenues in the area of __________. In the normal case, the value these services add ranges from $_____ to $_____.”
Then ask, “Even if the value added is at the lower end of this normal range, would it be worthwhile to you?”
This type of presentation makes legal fees seem like an investment and the benefits a return on the investment. It’s better to have the firm’s fees seen as a preferred investment instead of an added cost.
