Are you running a law firm and wondering how to approach value-pricing? Have you already started to value-price and struggled to get to grips with it? Or, are you simply interested in exploring what value-pricing even means? If so, this episode is for you.
Today’s guest, Stanislav Roth, founded Source Legal in 2010 with one idea in mind: to replicate the in-house lawyer experience – usually the exclusive domain of large enterprises – and export it to small- to medium-sized businesses on a monthly retainer basis.
As a service provider whose unique selling point is “unlimited” legal aid, Stanislav has had to grapple with a million existential questions about pricing, scoping and value. In the episode, he takes his 10 years of experience and translates it into a thorough and practical run-down of how to value-price, where you might run into problems and why it’s so worth it in the end. Pricing is, after all, one of his favourite topics (and mine).
It all boils down to a classic DLD discussion: we, as lawyers, are trained in a very specific way that doesn’t necessarily match up with running a good and successful business. We need to shake off the risk-adverse lawyer in us and start being courageous. That’s what Stanislav has done and it’s paid off big-time – not only in terms of financial success but for his mental wellbeing as well:
“Value-pricing changes the nature of the relationship between us and our clients. They work with us every day, without fear, and some of them become good friends. It’s a very refreshing experience.”
Some of the things we talk about:
- Avoiding under-pricing.
- Keeping things simple – no legalese.
- Why it’s in your best interests to pleasantly surprise your clients from time to time.
About our guest
Stanislav Roth is the founder and Managing Director of Source Legal which he founded in 2010. Before that, he worked for more than 10 years in senior in-house legal roles with leading multinational engineering, energy and construction companies (Alstom, AREVA and LendLease). He arrived in Australia in 1992 from Ukraine and completed a science/law degree at Sydney University with a 1st class honours.
Source provide in-house style legal, HR and CFO services on a monthly retainer basis. They replicate an effective legal, HR or finance department of a large company and make it available to many smaller and medium-sized businesses.
Stanislav Roth quotes
- “Value-pricing is a psychological exercise. You have to imagine you are the client – what would it be worth to you?”
- “Under-pricing is the biggest risk for people starting out and I think that’s because it’s human nature to be fairly generous. It takes practice and courage to realise your own value and, to put it frankly, how good you are.”
- “One of the reasons that businesses can be quite cautious of engaging lawyers – apart from hourly rates – is that their past experiences with lawyers have been very confusing.”
Links
- Source Legal wesbite
- Connec with Stanislav Roth on LinkedIn
- Andrew Griffith’s book – Someone Has To Be The Most Expensive It May As Well Be You
My new book – It’s Time To Do Law Differently
My new book It’s Time to Do Law Differently: How to Reshape Your Firm and Regain Your Life is now available! You can get your signed copy here.
In It’s Time to Do Law Differently, I share my six-step blueprint for transforming your law firm. Learn how to move from a traditional practice to a productised ecosystem and as a bonus, you might just get that quality lifestyle that you’ve been craving.
If you haven’t got your copy yet, you can get a signed copy here or find the paper back and ebook on Amazon, Booktopia or your favourite online bookstore.
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