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THE TIP OF
THE ICEBERG |
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Welcome to the second edition of
"The Tip of the Iceberg” |
A reasonably regular newsletter which aims to inform, educate, berate, and emit sighs of despair about pricing in the legal sector. But also offer optimism, enthusiasm, and help to change where appropriate.
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Hot off the press!Findings from Legal Iconoclasts EXPO#2 pricing survey May 2023
In May 2023, the Legal Iconoclasts Group held its second Legal EXPO… brilliantly and imaginatively called EXPO#2.
Once again, delegates from all over the world descended on a virtual exhibition venue. We conducted another survey and picked their brains about how they go about pricing in their law firm.
The initial findings were really interesting.
One of the questions posed was - How are your pricing policies documented?
Answers so far received include… In a written procedure. They aren’t. Costs Agreement. In a price sheet. Poorly. Template scopes of work / fixed fees Template stages of work/ staged fees. Depends on the department. Some are published online, some hourly rate, some are fixed fee internal guideline sheets. Only for those under transparency regs. Examples of previous quotes. No idea. Hourly rate schedules, few fixed fee schedules, nothing else. There is a general overarching pricing and credit policy document. Nothing concrete and written down. We have a dedicated pricing resource centre and numerous templates available via Outlook. The entire team has access to our Pricing Council email and folders with pricing examples. In my head. Not that well. On our Internet. We don’t have documented pricing policies.
Question with a valuable prize…
Q. What firm do you think your staff would want to work for?
The EXPO#2 survey will remain open until 4th June. If you would like to participate and get a copy of all the results, please follow this link. |
No No PenguinsAnyone who has read “Our iceberg is melting” will recall one of the characters is a penguin called No No... a penguin who doesn’t think change is a good thing.
Every law firm has No No Penguins. If you can’t think of who it is at your firm…it may be you!
Declan and I often come across lawyers who dislike change. We have listed here 50 objections - so you can practice your answers when confronted with a No No Penguin.
It’s too expensive. That’s someone else’s responsibility. We’ve always done it this way. It’s too political. We’re doing OK as it is. We don’t have the staff. We tried that before. This is just a fad. Maybe maybe not. We’ve never done that before. It needs a committee study. There’s not enough time. It’s against tradition. It’s not my job. It can’t be done. We don’t have consensus yet. It’s too complicated. It’s contrary to policy. It won’t fly. Will catch flack for that. I’m not sure my boss would like it. It’s too ambitious. No one asked me. What’s in it for me? It will take too long. We didn’t budget for it. We don’t have the equipment. It’s impossible. I don’t have the authority. It’s hopeless. We can’t take the chance. They won’t fund it. It’s too radical. We have too many layers. There’s too much red tape. It needs more thought. They’re too entrenched. There’s no clear mandate. I’m all for it but... It will never fly upstairs. They don’t really want to change. It’s too visionary. It won’t work in this department. It’s not our problem. Another department tried that. Another firm tried that. We are waiting for guidance on that. It won’t be chargeable work. There may be GDPR issues. CBA
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| Dear Declan | Declan the undisputed world’s favourite Pricing Penguin and agony uncle solves your
pricing problems | |
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Dear Declan, I am a salaried partner at a law firm. My equity partner colleagues keep making excuses about why we should not change our approach to pricing …some of them have up to 50 excuses they roll out …what can I tell them? I think the world has moved on from the hourly rate. All the best Frightened from Frinton
Declan says. Dear Frightened. Thanks for your letter.
Amazing coincidence to get your letter as I was thinking about reasons not to change only a matter of minutes ago …! Lawyers hate change. It’s not unexpected. They are naturally conservative, like detail, are argumentative, can filibuster an argument until people give up and quite often think that change should happen in a law firm as long as it does not impact them.
I am a great fan of both Google and the quality guru W. Edwards Deming. Deming said, “It is not necessary to change. Survival is not mandatory.” Gets you thinking doesn’t it. Think about what clients want from their lawyers. ● Results ● Certainty…that they are understood. ● Transparency ● No surprises ● Availability ● ‘Got my Back’ - Reassurance ● Clarity ● Comfort ● No extras The hourly rate does not give them what they want. You don’t have to change….but if your clients change providers, and they surely will, your colleagues should not complain. You might find that some of your best lawyers move on as well…have you thought about updating your own CV?
Good luck. Declan
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Dear Declan, Thanks for your top tip in the last newsletter about how no one should be allowed to price their own work in isolation. Have you any other tips? What in your view is the second most important rule when it comes to successfully implementing value-based pricing? Bemused from Brighton.
Declan says. Dear Bemused. Good to hear from you again. Another great question. Top Tip #2. Speed is bad for pricing. You don’t have to give a price to a client over the phone when they call. You will need thinking and scoping time. Think about it Bemused ... If you rang a builder for a quote to build an extension at your house and he gave you a quote during the call….would you be impressed or frightened? I suspect the latter. Quite often lawyers think they know what clients want…but quite often they don’t, as they don’t take enough time to find out what is important and valuable to them. Speed is bad. Hope that answers your question my Bemused Buddy. Cheers Declan.
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View from the Bridge |
 | An open and honest take on what is happening in the value-pricing space from law firms around the world.
In this edition, I am delighted to introduce you to what appears to be one of the few lawyers in the USA who has embraced VBP - Tom Bowden. |
|  | Apart from being an excellent lawyer, Tom is an enthusiastic kayaker and cyclist….try and avoid these subjects when you meet him unless you have two hours to spare!
Thanks for supporting View from The Bridge Tom.
Name: Thomas L. Bowden, Sr. Name of business: Timeless Counsel, PLC Website: www.timelesscounsel.com |
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Q. Best thing(s) that has happened since implementing value-based pricing: a) Taking charge of my own professional career. b) Making more money than I ever did in a traditional (hourly) firm. c) Being free to travel the world with my wife. |
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Q. The toughest obstacle you had to overcome. Asking for what I am worth. As a solo, I don’t have the luxury of a “pricing committee” and it’s hard not to negotiate against yourself. Also, it is tough to avoid falling into the trap of hourly thinking when proposing pricing. |
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Q. What do you wish you had done differently? Automated more aggressively – accounting, document generation, etc.
Q. Top success stories a) Thriving for more than a decade of constant growth b) Retaining some clients for more than a decade |
Last Month’s Caption Competition
You will recall last month Matthew Burgess let us have a copy of his book as a prize.
I am delighted to confirm that the winners were the globetrotting legal tech guru Mitch Kowalski and Valeria Mancheva, Head of Engagement and Services at The Law Society of England and Wales. Mitch and Valeria both received a copy of Matthew’s opus… A Complete Guide to Everything that is Cool About Being a Lawyer ‘ which Mitch and Valeria now know is a posh title for what is a blank notebook…Soz (Not soz!).
If any penguin lovers out there have any old tat (I mean marketing collateral) we can use as a prize for future competitions, please let me know. |
VBP- Miscellany
Links to materials which have (ice) flowed across our path and may help you on your VBP journey. |
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Pricing Discussions
Another Tim Williams post . You will recall from Edition 1, that Tim runs a creative design agency in the USA, and has written a great book “Positioning for Professionals” which is worth a read.
In this blog post “For the Agency Business to Live, the Billable Hour Must Die”, read it and substitute law firm for agency. It’s interesting stuff. The Craigslist income number will blow your mind!
AI and Chat GPT
You might be suffering with AI fatigue and how it may impact on the law. This blog from Bill Gates is a really good read.
I met a COO of a law firm the other day and asked what their strategy was for dealing with AI. The response was…”We haven’t thought about it yet….”.
My response……”Yikes”.
Start thinking people!
Hourly rate anyone?
This headline caught our eye. |
| Kotter Corner
The 8 P Point Plan Which The Big Yellow Penguin has created to implement value-based pricing is based on the principles set out in John Kotter’s book
“Our Iceberg is melting”. | In this tiny area of the newsletter,
we quote the great man. |
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Step 2: Pioneers Pull together a guiding team.
Kotter Quotes Leadership is all about the softer stuff.
Leaders establish the vision for the future and set the strategy for getting there.
Major change is often said to be impossible unless the head of the organization is an active supporter.
A guiding coalition made up only of managers—even superb managers who are wonderful people—will cause major change efforts to fail.
Managers are trained to make incremental, programmatic improvements. They aren’t trained to lead large-scale change.
BYP Top Tips
Tasks to look at |
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READ THE BLOG |
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The benefits of value-based pricing vs the billable hour
for SME law firms |
In May, I was delighted to be interviewed by Osprey Case Management to give my take on the billable hour.
Hope you enjoy reading what I said. |
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VBP - Value-Based Pricing for
Consultant Lawyers & Sole Practitioners 11th July 2023
A workshop to help consultant lawyers and sole practitioners work smarter, not harder and increase their personal income. |
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VBP – Implementing Value-Based Pricing
A two-day masterclass for law firm leaders 21st - 22nd November 2023
A second opportunity to attend a VBP masterclass, helping law firms to understand, embrace and implement VBP.
To be the first to receive details of this event when it is published, please email shaun@bigyellowpenguin.co.uk. |
VBP in a nutshell - In the Rainbow Nation 6th February 2024
Value-based pricing course in the wonderful wine region near Cape Town in South Africa.
Save the date….if you are in or near South Africa.
To be the first to receive details of this event when it is published, please email shaun@bigyellowpenguin.co.uk. |
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GET IN TOUCH |
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