\n| 5<\/td>\n | 8<\/td>\n | Relationship buyer<\/td>\n | Trusted advisor<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n The fact is, many law firms remain in business regardless of trusted advisor status. Since there are four primary buyer types \u2014 price, convenience, value and relationship \u2014 the other client-advisor relationships are viable alternatives for successful law practices.<\/p>\n The mapping proposed in Figure 1 (above) helps match relationship types with buyer types.<\/p>\n Understanding how to read this map will allow attorneys to identify win-win opportunities in which neither party to the transaction takes advantage of the other.<\/p>\n Reading the Map<\/h2>\nThe map exhibits matches between buyer types and client-advisor relationships where real win-win contractual engagements are attainable.<\/p>\n For example, displayed in octants 1 and 2, service providers can work profitably with price buyers, often providing bare-bones services to satisfy a buyer\u2019s need for lower fees. Should a client wish to pay less, the wool and meat \u2014 some valuable service offering components \u2014 should remain unserved. If, that is, the attorney wants to make a standard profit.\u00a0<\/p>\n In octants 6 and 7, the value buyer will typically want to work with attorneys who are capable of customizing their services \u2014 hence, higher fees and an expectation of special solutions tailored to unique client problems.\u00a0<\/p>\n According to the map, if you\u2019re already a trusted advisor, it makes absolutely no sense to work with price buyers. It\u2019s madness to think that investing time and resources in understanding the client, becoming a safe haven for hard issues, or giving considerate advice will ever pay off when the client exclusively wants one thing \u2014 the lowest price.<\/p>\n However, as a service provider, it is prudent to sell bare-bones service to a price buyer. Everyone wins.<\/p>\n Yes, I understand the argument: \u201cWe have to take responsibility for our clients who know little to nothing about the intricacies of our craft.\u201d However, such thoughtfulness is often underappreciated, unwanted or worse \u2014 rejected. Then there\u2019s the sustainability of your practice. While rivals give clients what they want and turn a profit, you might be getting paid the same while giving away your additional time, knowledge and skills for free.<\/p>\n Profitably Managing the Buyer-Seller Relationship<\/h2>\nThere are a total of four different ways to manage buyer-seller relationships profitably. The trusted advisor is just one of them. As the map suggests, the most beneficial client type for a trusted advisor is a relationship buyer. This is something attorneys should take into account while qualifying prospects. If yours is a practice that wants to serve clients in the capacity of a trusted advisor \u2014 and thus build out such a reputation \u2014 you should turn down other buyer types as much as possible. To be intentional about this, you may want to rank order your clients. Obviously, for a trusted advisor, your A clients will (mostly) be relationship buyers, while your F clients will be price buyers.<\/p>\n Conclusions<\/h2>\nFueled by what many clients perceive as self-aggrandizement and pompousness, that trusted advisor\u2019s badge is often self-assigned. Such a symbol, however, must have substance to back it up.<\/p>\n If you already have access to price<\/a> buyers, have the same perceptual frames as they do, and your practice can make good money this way, there is absolutely no need to become a real trusted advisor. Transitioning to another relationship type should change your clientele makeup.<\/p>\nOf course, one may call themselves a trusted advisor regardless of client composition. Whatever makes one feel warm in a dark suit, as they say. However, in my experience, it is best to have a clear understanding of the type of\u00a0practice\u00a0one is building and not confuse the practice with oneself. <\/p>\n From a business standpoint, there are three other success routes you can proudly take besides being a \u201ctrusted advisor.\u201d Different practice types serve different clients.<\/p>\n Resources<\/h3>\n\u201cThe Trusted Advisor by D.H. Maister, C.H. Green and R.M. Galford. (Free Press, 2000).<\/p>\n \u201cNegotiating with Backbone: Eight Sales Strategies to Defend Your Price and Value,\u201d 2nd edition, by R.K. Holden (Pearson Education, 2016).<\/p>\n \u201cThe Strategy and Tactics of Pricing: A Guide to Growing More Profitably,\u201d 4th edition, by T.T. Nagle and J.E. Hogan (Pearson Education, 2006).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Is \u201ctrusted advisor\u201c\u2019\u201c really the one and only success route for an attorney? The author argues that there are \u2014 and have always been \u2014 three different types of client relationships and three other sustainable models for professionals besides trusted advisor. It is a widespread belief among attorneys that the one and only kind of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-97339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-legal_matters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97339"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97339\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/xira.com\/p\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} |
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