Key learnings from the last three years: Impact of Pricing on Customer Experience
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In my opinion, it has become rarer and rarer that customer service blows you away by exceeding your expectations. A couple of very poor recent customer experiences of my own got me thinking about the impact of pricing on the customer’s perceived experience. Specifically, I want to tackle the question of how does our approach to pricing impact the overall customer experience?
It is my view that customer service is really a customer’s perception of their experience, driven by expectations and shaped by communication. One of the best aspects about our approach to pricing, I have learned, is that it has significantly shifted the dynamics of the traditional lawyer-client relationship for the better.
Before moving away from the hourly billing model, we used terminology such as “charging for our services” - a very dictatorial/one-sided way of looking at pricing. We decide what we will charge you, and you should pay.
Now, our approach to pricing is the opposite. We don’t use the word “charge”, we use the expression “agreed upon pricing upfront”. The entire relationship over the project becomes highly collaborative, with a view to ensuring that success is achieved for the client. Clients get a voice in what success looks like to them, as scope and price are tailored to fit each client and project. Communication becomes an underlying theme to getting the work done. Great communication leads to great relationships, which leads to better customer experiences and better results.
These lawyer-client relationships are built on vulnerability and trust, as it often takes some time to get to scope and price. Once trust is established, the customer is expecting the best rather than looking for faults.
Until Next Time,
