When attorneys come to me complaining of being shopped on price I tell them three things:

1. Only 15 percent of people buy solely based on price, which means 85 percent of people take price into consideration but it’s not their only -- or even their most important -- consideration. The best thing you can do for your practice is identify those true “price shoppers” early on in the consult and quickly refer them to your competitors because they are nothing but trouble.

2. It’s almost never about the money! When people focus on the price, it’s rarely about the money—it is almost always about your failure to show them enough value. You need to emphasize how the price is reasonable compared to the value you are bringing to the situation. For example, we have a client who regularly gets $15,000 to $50,000 for an asset protection plan because he demonstrates how he is going to be able to bulletproof their estate and protect it from creditors and predators as well as save their family tens of thousands of dollars in estate taxes.

3. Be ready to challenge people when they bring up price as a major objection. When a prospect brings up price, especially early on in the conversation, directly ask them, “Is price the major factor in making your decision?” Most will quickly answer, “No, but it is something I’m going to consider.” You can then respond, “Certainly, but what are the other factors you are going to use in determining who to hire as your attorney?” Once they list the other factors, you can use them to show how you can meet or exceed those criteria.

If the prospect says, “Yes, price is the most important criteria,” then you have a decision to make—do you want to be the low cost provider by charging the lowest price? If not (and I don’t recommend it unless you are truly desperate for business), then respond with something like, “Then we are probably not the best fit for you. We pride ourselves on doing excellent quality work at a fair and reasonable price, but if you’re truly only interested in getting the lowest price then I would be glad to refer you to someone else. In fact, I have the names of the three law firms in town who are known for charging the lowest rates. Of course, they also have the least amount of experience and get more than their fair share of client complaints, but here are their names.”

More often than not, people use this objection as a negotiating tactic to see if they can get a better deal. Don’t play into their hands. I like my clients to be on the high side of where the market is priced. You can always negotiate down, but you can never go up.