How To Talk About Fees Without Fear
One of the biggest issues lawyers have is talking about fees. Time and time again I hear lawyers say their consult goes well until it’s time to talk about the money.
They sound uncomfortable and uncertain and the potential client picks up on that. It can be even harder in this era of Covid-19 where there is a bit of guilt for charging when so many people need help.
Most of this is based on a lack of confidence. Are you charging too much? Will they balk at your fee? Will they go with someone cheaper?
The reality is we are business owners. And, like everyone else, we need to earn an income. Once you become confident in your value it will become easier to express that value to others.
Here are some of the ways I’ve learned to discuss fees with confidence.
Define Your Worth & Stick To It
One roadblock to talking about fees is not knowing your fee yourself. Many attorneys wing it, changing their rate depending on the person and that leaves way too much wiggle room for you and the client. You can’t confidently state a rate if you don’t know it.
I have a baseline retainer rate that increases depending on the legal issues involved. If a person is getting divorced and the only issues are child custody and child support, I know exactly what my fee is for that so it’s easy to express it with certainty and confidence.
That doesn’t mean you can’t change your rate, it just means once you give a client a number, don’t let insecurity guilt you into lowering that rate.
Don’t Apologize For Your Fees
The key is in the delivery. If you sound certain sound uncertain, or even worse apologize for it, they will question your worth. Even if you are confident you will get those who question the amount and ask for discounts, but if you stay strong, most of those people will pay your full rate anyway.
If someone questions your fee, be prepared to offer a short description of the value you provide. Tell them the benefits (what they will get) from working with you. This should be part of your consultation agenda anyway.
Don’t Devalue Your Work
I’m not a fan of discounting my services. I will do pro bono or low bono work on my own terms when I choose to, but I won’t lower my fees simply because someone asks. I know my value and know how much I need to earn to make working on a specific type of case worth it for me.
I get it. Sometimes you just really need the money. To combat that I will offer a smaller package. For example, I recently had a PC contact me about reviewing a settlement agreement. I offer a flat fee for x amount of hours for reviewing, one meeting to go over questions and changes, and two rounds revisions of the document. Anything over that is billed at my hourly rate.
This PC could not afford that. Instead of lowering my rate, I offered a smaller package (with a very detailed, limited scope written fee agreement) where I revied for x amount of time and sent her notes and comments. If she needed any additional assistance such as revisions or had additional questions, she’d have to pay my hourly rate. This worked for us both; we found a solution that fit her budget and I felt I got paid what I was worth for the time I put in.
Don’t Compete On Price
I can’t tell you how many times I give my fee and I hear “lawyer next door only charges X”. My response to that is, wow if they can afford to offer their services at that rate, maybe you should go to them. But I wonder how they are able to do that unless they have a large volume of cases.
I then go into my value, what I offer to my clients by charging what I charge, and keeping my caseload low. People who are not price shopping will stop questioning my fees after that.
The thing you have to remember is there will always be someone cheaper. The only thing you get by being the cheapest is bad clients, inability to pay your own bills, and a lot of headaches. People who want the cheapest lawyer will not value your service and will drain the life out of you. It’s not worth it.
The best way to show potential clients your value is for you to KNOW your value.