One in three clients will pay more for your services … but who are they?
In its soon to be released 2018 beatonbenchmarks survey, beaton found one in three clients of professional service firms said they would be willing to pay more for the services they receive in the future.
While 65% of clients said they would not pay more than they were being charged by each of their current firms, 25% said they would pay marginally more. And 10% reported being willing to pay somewhat to a great deal more than currently. (See the Chart for the details and the actual question asked).
Thinking of each the firms you used in the past year, what best describes the fees you would be willing to pay for their services, if you were to use them again in the future? (Base: all firms, all professions)
If in the future clients are prepared to pay more for the services they receive, their assessment is that the benefits provided by the firm outweighs the price they were charged. They see high value in the service provided by the firm.
At a time when beatonbenchmarks research shows clients perceive the level of fees charged by firms has fallen, identifying and engaging with this client segment is essential to improving firm profitability.
To unlock this opportunity for increased revenue and profit, firm leaders must first ask:
How well do we understand what clients value about using our firm?
Do we consistently take time to engage with clients on how they perceive our value and price?
How persuasively and confidently are we able to explain the value we provide?
Can we justify the price proposed for the services to be delivered?
Developing the skills and confidence to have a conversation with clients about their expectations of value and price is the key.
The prize is well worth the effort.
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Author
This post was written by David Goener, a beaton partner based in Brisbane. You can connect with David on LinkedIn or follow him on Twitter at @dpgoener.