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Strategies to Avoid or Reduce Billing Rate Discounts

By Eric Dewey
February 01, 2020

Requests for discounts have become a routine step in the legal services purchasing process. Lawyers face the uncomfortable task of defending their billing rates in both RFPs and client pitches. But too often, lawyers don't make an effort to resist giving a discount when asked. Mostly because they haven't been trained in how to do it.

Oddly, in client presentations, it's not even the client typically asking for the discount. A recent study found that nearly 75% of sales people were the ones that initiated the talk about discounts. I believe it. More than a few lawyers I've worked with argue that they will lose the work if they don't give a discount. Of course, I've yet to find a lawyer that has tested that assertion.

For a large portion of engagements, discounts are not necessary to win the work. In fact, discounts come at a price. Both parties assume a degree of risk when margins are thinned. Lawyers don't want to be the lowest cost provider and buyers don't want to be the one responsible for selecting the cheapest provider. Working from this common ground, this article presents several techniques that you can use to re-direct discussions away from discounts and help to minimize their financial impact.

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