In my last post, I discussed the importance of value pricing in a firm's decision to use legal technology and reap its benefits.

However, how does a firm move quickly from time billing to value pricing while avoiding the pitfalls and mistakes others have already made and which are easily avoidable?

Don't just make it up through trial and error – get external help from experts.

Resources that can help firms move to value pricing

There are a lot of pricing consultants in the market, and I've also noticed that many are also starting to position themselves as value pricing experts despite largely having built their reputations on helping firms refine hourly billing models.

If you're interested in these ideas, I recommend looking first at people who have been living and breathing value pricing since well before it was cool. Some particular people that I recommend are:

• John Chisholm: John is the godfather of value pricing in the Australasian legal market. He's been helping law firms transition to value pricing since 2005 and has been tremendously helpful to us at LawHawk in designing our business model. He's also a Senior Fellow of the Verasage Institute and LawX, two other resources that can also help.
• Recalibrate Legal Operations, who specialise in value pricing and helping law firms benefit from the expertise and experience of Bromfield Family Law – a firm that has never filled in a time sheet. Get in touch with Elani Maas.
• Jonathan Stark: Jonathan is "The Ditching Hourly Guy". He writes a daily email that consistently reminds me of the importance of value pricing and frequently pokes fun at the billable hour and its many absurd outcomes. Sign up here.
• Anthony Iannarino: Anthony is a sales expert, and also writes a regular blog. I've found his insights about modern sales approaches, particularly the need to be consultative, to understand the outcomes customers are seeking to achieve and to create value in every engagement. While I can't recall him focussing on legal in any of his posts or webinars, I find his approach is extremely well suited to how lawyers should engage with clients as part of value pricing. Sign up here.
• Dave Knight: Dave is a Wellington-based sales coach who has also been a huge support for us at LawHawk since 2017, helping us become more effective at sales. At the heart of Dave's approach is understanding the customer's priorities, what's holding them back, and what outcomes they will achieve if they can overcome their challenges. You need to be able to do this with value pricing. Dave runs regular webinars.

With the help we've received from the above, we have also learned a lot about value pricing over the past 8 years in building our own business and helping our law firm customers to maximise their return on investment from our solutions. As part of any project, we will also help you in this important area. If you’d like to talk about your specific situation, and how value or subscription pricing may apply to your solutions, get in touch.