Freebies Buy Loyalty
Free shipping has become something of an expectation among customers in the retail world, and retailers are increasingly willing to oblige, according to a May 2014 Chicago Tribune article by Danielle Braff. No surprise there. Stores deliver what customers want, and customers want freebies.
Clients, too, want freebies, and many lawyers are willing to oblige them.
There are small costs associated with each case, called internal costs, which are part of the operation of the office. These costs include photocopying, postage, telephone, and fax. Many firms charge clients for these costs, and many other firms charge clients for these costs plus a markup. For example, if the hard cost for copying is 7.5 cents per page, the firm may charge 10 to 25 cents per page in an attempt to make a little extra money.
More and more firms, however, are not only not charging a markup, they are not charging for these costs at all. Many clients are beginning to object to these not-so-subtle costs, and competitive pressure is forcing lawyers to revisit this issue.
The trend is toward the philosophy that these costs should not be a profit center. In the corporate world, they are part of overhead and part of the sales price for the products or service. In the lawyer's world, too, charging for these costs has become a less acceptable way of raising the fee.
Many lawyers are using their lack of charging for these costs as a marketing ploy, making sure that clients know that there will be no charge for these costs. This is a good tactic because clients can't appreciate what they don't know has been given to them. And when clients do know about freebies, the law firm is sure to receive back in repeat business what it has expended in internal costs.
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