Price Shopping. We do it when shopping for cars. We do it when shopping for groceries. Heck, we do it for almost everything we purchase or need.

And price shopping impacts your law practice as well. Heck, you probably get calls weekly from someone wanting to know what you’ll charge – whether hourly or fixed fee, for your skills.

And for consumer based practices like bankruptcy and divorce, I would imagine the number of price shoppers they talk to on a yearly basis is staggering.

So how do you handle these type of PC’s. Do you end the conversation as politely and quickly as possible. Do you end the conversation quickly with a somewhat sharp tongue (I know several attorneys that do this)?

Or do you spend precious minutes trying to sell the PC on the value of your services?

Whatever method you use now, I’d like to introduce a way for you to take control of the conversation from the outset and greatly increase the likelihood of securing the price shopper as a new client.

The next time one of these individuals calls, as soon as you know you have a price shopper on the line, politely interrupt and say this:

“What have you done so far?”

What you’ll get, or rather hear, is a moment of silence. The caller really won’t know what you mean. After 3 seconds of silence or a stuttering “uh” or “um” – you immediately ask this:

“I’m sorry, I meant who have you talked to so far?”

The rest of the conversation goes like so (with some observations thrown in):

Them: Well, I’ve talked to a couple of attorneys so far.
You: And how did that go? What do they want to charge?
Them: Well one attorney wanted a $1,000 retainer and $175 an hour to handle my divorce (they always quote the lowest).
You: Wow, that’s pretty good. He must be new to have fees that low. Do you know how many years he’s been handling divorce.
Them: No, he didn’t say.
You: Well, the average here in the city for a good divorce attorney is a $1,500 retainer and $250 an hour. I’m guessing he’s only been out of law school for a couple of years – tops. Can I make a suggestion?
Them: Sure.
You: You know, your wife is certainly not going to hire an inexperienced attorney – and if you hire an inexperienced attorney, her attorney is going to clean his clock. Does that makes sense? (Introducing a potential nasty outcome makes is so easy for them to understand)
Them: Yes.
You: Do you have a minute?
Them: Yes.
You: Tell me about what’s going on.

So, in less than 15 seconds, this attorney has turned the typical call from a price shopper 180 degrees. He took control of the conversation and increased the chance of converting this caller into a client.

How? He turned into a salesperson. And like or not, you are the salesperson for your practice. And in this economy, many of you have to grab as many clients as you can.

So, to turn a price shopper into a client, you:

1. Take control of the conversation;
2. Introduce pain or hurt into the equation (i.e. what might happen if they go with the lowest fees);
3. Get them to open up (they then have an emotional tie with you);
   

It’s a very simple, pain-free way to sell your services to price shoppers….or for any other PC as well.