• The Billable Hour
• ABA Model Rules of Professional Conduct
• How Value and Price is Determined
• The Value Curve
• How Creative Pricing Can Make Your Practice More Valuable
• Strategies for Profitable Creative Pricing
• Fixed or Flat Fee Pricing
• What Clients Look for in Professional Relationships
• Compensate Your Professionals on Value Delivered—Not Hours
• Determine Client Expectations
• The Client/Prospect Interview Session and Arriving at a Price
• Engagement Communication Process
• Summary
• Recommended Reading
• Tim W. Hrastar Information

How Creative Pricing Can Make Your Practice More Valuable

Creative, or value pricing, tailors the billing method to meet the preferences of the client’s perception of value. By setting a price before the beginning of an engagement you command a premium because you assume some of the risk of not knowing exactly how much time and resources the engagement is going to require; even though you will do a goodly amount of due diligence to make sure you have covered everything you possibly can. At this stage you also give control to the client when they hire you—they like control. As opposed to hourly billing, where the client takes all the risk, the service provider takes the risk with this method. If you wait until after the engagement is over the price advantage shifts to the client and puts you at a disadvantage; therefore you don’t want to present an invoice where price was never discussed upfront.

• Personal Focus Statement
• Define Practice Area Services
• Ideal Client Profile
• Relationship Profile
• Personal Brochure
• Four Step Business Development Process                       
• Publishing
• Speaking Engagements
• Organization Memberships
• Networking
• How’s Business?
• Referral Sources
• Cross Servicing
• Communicating with Clients
• Business Development Plan
• Recommended Reading
• Tim W. Hrastar Information

How’s Business?

When you run into people you know, especially clients, one of the first questions they may ask to be polite and show an interest in you, might be something like; “How’s business?” Your best response is; “Business is good (or great), I am always looking for more!”

Many times we say something like; “Oh, I am really buried, got so many things happening I don’t know what to do next.” I know that the impression you are trying to create is that you are a busy lawyer because you’re good, and everybody wants to work with you. But the message you are actually sending can be hazardous to your future business. If you say that to a client or a potential client who is ready to do business with you, they may figure; “well, I guess I can’t give you any of my business now because you are too busy.” They take their business elsewhere.

So, no matter how busy you really are, just respond with; “Business is good I am always looking for more—I always have time to handle your needs.”