Key learnings from the last three years: Strategies for firm buy-in
Welcome to this month's article of Let’s Be Frank, a monthly newsletter series hosted on LinkedIn and authored by our founder Digby. If you are interested in following along pop over to the Let’s Be Frank LinkedIn page here and hit the subscribe button to have these articles sent straight to your inbox.
Three years ago we made the move away from hourly billing, and we have learned so much on our journey. With that in mind (and beginning with this article), I will be writing a mini-series that will highlight key takeaways.
This mini-series will be broken out into the following themes:
In this article, I will discuss the first theme “Strategies for firm buy-in”. Change management is always a challenge and in an industry as traditional as legal, it requires a lot of thought and planning.
Here are some of the key strategies:
1. Being all in.
In September 2020, we committed as a firm to make the switch away from hourly billing to an alternative fee approach. In fact, we gave our new approach a name, Frank Fee. It was clear (both internally and externally) that it was not just an idea we were trying out, but rather a fundamental shift in how we operated.
Looking back and being honest, I could have been more inclusive along the way, seeking the views of everyone. But, as I believed so strongly that moving away from the hourly model was good for all the stakeholders (clients, law firms and lawyers), I just drove the initiative forward.
For us, it was a positive that we made a complete firm-wide switch. This gave no wiggle room.
It was our youth who were quicker to embrace the change. They could easily see the positive impact it would make on their lives. Those that were more entrenched in the hourly model, were brought along by the majority.
2. You need a champion.
With all-in change, there must be a champion, the person who is responsible for driving the initiative forward. This is someone who relentlessly takes you back to the priority to ensure there is accountability for living up to commitments.
3. Mentor and develop your team.
We could have spent more time internally (at the beginning) on the skill set of pricing, with more role playing and mentorship.
Pricing is a soft skill to be developed. It is not natural to jump into conversations about money when you don’t have to. That is why a lot of people lean toward the hourly billing model.
You have to hone your skills at getting the idea of “value” on the table early, and get your prospective client thinking about why they are doing the project, why they are doing it now, and why they want you to do it (thanks to @Jonathan Stark for this approach).
It really is incredible to watch how all of our young people have embraced the skill and are developing so much confidence in talking about the difficult subject of “cost”. It takes practice and embracing a culture of continuous learning.
4. Passion for continuous improvement.
Any significant shift requires a thirst to learn.
It was (and still is) so important to include the concept of “action, learning, recalibration and action again” into our plan - and then “repeat over and over and over”.
Needless to say, this is generally a good recipe, but it is really essential when you are making the shift away from hourly billing.
Learn on the go. Solve problems as they come up. Create a culture of continuous learning and growth. Institute the necessary management tools so that you create a continuous learning loop. This is necessary to improve your pricing over time.
When you want firm buy-in, a culture of continuous learning is very helpful. It removes the fear of failure and creates an environment where the team feels supported and encouraged to learn, recalibrate, and grow.
5. Celebrate successes (big and small)!
We can always see the problems and dwell on solutions, but take the time to celebrate the wins. Celebrating brings the team together, builds buy-in, and generates enthusiasm and motivation.
We have created a series of 22 videos intended to help law firms move away from the hourly model. I am sharing one of these videos here entitled “How do you create internal excitement and buy-in for alternative fee pricing?” - click the link to check it out. Enjoy!
Stay tuned for my next mini-series post about strategies for pricing complex projects!
Until next time,
