Jardine: I’ve come across lawyers who are awful at pricing
Almost half of conveyancing firms do not have pricing policies which are “clearly defined, understood, communicated and adhered to” all the time, according to new research.
It also made the case for offering clients different standards of service for different prices.
Pricing confidence, profit awareness, strategy and values 2024 was based on a survey of 68 conveyancing firms carried out by Shaun Jardine, director of the Big Yellow Penguin consultancy, ahead of this year’s Bold Legal Group (BLG) conference.
Speaking on a BLG webinar on the report, Mr Jardine said it was “absolutely vital” that staff understood their firms’ pricing.
“The prices at Sainsburys are not defined by the people stacking the shelves. They’re managed very carefully. Lawyers are not very good at doing that and it is something we have to get better at.”
The proportion of conveyancing firms which always had pricing policies which were “clearly defined, understood, communicated and adhered to” fell from 63% to 54% this year. A further 38% said they had these policies “to some extent”.
On referral fees, 53% of firms said they paid them, compared to 49% in 2023.
Peter Ambrose, chief executive of Surrey conveyancing firm The Partnership, told the webinar that two-thirds of its work came from estate agents, and the firm paid referral fees on about half of its workload. In most cases, the fee was £100, with a maximum of £150.
Conveyancers were divided on whether to introduce a bronze, silver and gold service level if they were given the necessary training, with 49% saying they were opposed to it.
Mr Jardine said: “People will say ‘all our clients need a gold service’. No, they don’t. They need a competent service.
“You can say to clients: ‘If you want our gold service, this is what you get and if you want our bargain basement service, this is what you get’.”
He added: “Don’t let people who are bad at pricing, price. I’ve come across lawyers who are awful at pricing.”
Mr Jardine said pricing should be reviewed monthly and increased if there was a need to reduce the flow of work.
However, Mr Ambrose described offering different levels of pricing at different prices as “a very difficult thing to do” and said that, to ensure consistent pricing, he had created a “sub-brand” for higher-value work.
The proportion of law firms saying they believed their firm should stop acting for some clients who were “too painful and/or unprofitable” remained at three quarters.
Mr Jardine commented: “When you sack clients, your people will love you for it and wonder why you didn’t do it earlier.”
There was more love for the job, with the proportion of conveyancers saying they wanted to leave the legal profession falling by 10 percentage points to 42%.
Rob Hailstone, founder of the BLG, said: “With more and more pressure being loaded upon the shoulders of conveyancers, charging well for the service they provide is paramount – not just for the financial wellbeing of the firm, but for the mental wellbeing of conveyancers generally.”
The survey found signs of confidence, with the proportion of firms saying they anticipated a busier conveyancing market in the next 12 months growing from 21% to nearly 30%.
However, the majority (54%) still expected a reduction in matters over the next year, though this was a big drop from the 80% who made the same prediction last year.
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