You’re working tirelessly for next to nothing! Why is this so? As a conveyancer, your role is absolutely critical, your expertise is honed and the burden of responsibility lies heavily on your shoulders. It’s about time home buyers and sellers paid you what you’re worth. In this blog, we will take a look at why conveyancer pricing needs to be rehauled and what you can do to raise fees without alienating the customer.
“With more and more responsibility and more and more issues being placed upon the shoulders of conveyancers on an almost weekly basis, now is the time for every firm to adjust (in an upward motion) their pricing strategy. Firms should realise that risk, and growing risk, is everywhere; cybersecurity; fraud; Building Safety Act related work, etc, etc. The commercial argument is a simple one, do not take on those risks if the rewards are not, at the very least, commensurate with them.”
-Rob Hailstone, CEO & Founder, Bold Legal Group
The current ‘race to the bottom’ pricing strategy in the conveyancing landscape needs to stop. A Today’s Conveyancer survey in August 2023 revealed that 4 in 5 conveyancers would not choose the profession if they were aspiring lawyers today. It’s little wonder conveyancers are unhappy when they’re facing significantly high workloads and undeservingly low payoffs. Yet you’re an indispensable part of property transactions. In order to make the job role more attractive and worthwhile, the load must be lightened, and prices need to rise.
Not only are you juggling an extensive list of responsibilities, carrying all the accountability and having new regulations constantly thrown your way, but you’re facing rising operational costs and technological advancements, all of which are placing immense pressure on maintaining quality services. There’s a culture of conveyancers having to deal with difficult clients and tricky cases – and yet the fees are not reflective of this.
One of the biggest issues in the field is that many law firms use a fee calculator on their website. The potential client receives a quote without any engagement from the conveyancer. In this scenario, the client has no information beyond the price to guide their decision on selecting a law firm. Conveyancers typically lack rapport-building with leads, rarely speaking to them from the outset or engaging emotionally the same way that, say a divorce lawyer would. Yet, purchasing a property is a major life event and typically the most expensive asset a person will buy in their lifetime. Many would welcome interaction and interest from a conveyancer. We get it. Time constraints are a real issue. Yet, if you were to charge your clients £5k for their case, you would find yourself handling fewer cases with higher value, freeing up time to actively engage with potential leads.
Therein lies the biggest problem. You're handling an excessive number of cases due to your reluctance to turn away business. By increasing your prices, you can boost profits and gain the flexibility to selectively refuse clients. This would help alleviate the current burnout experienced by the industry.
“The right price can boost profit faster than increasing volume will.”
-Managing Price, Gaining Profit, Harvard Business Review
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You only need to take a look at what happened during the stamp duty holiday to see what a big problem pricing is in the industry. This was the ideal time for conveyancers to confidently raise their prices. Yes, many did, but a 10% price rise during the pandemic was little payoff for the level of cases and stress endured. Meanwhile, clients were saving thousands of pounds from not paying stamp duty - Conveyancers should have taken a slice of that!
A competitive market has caused conveyancers to lower prices and undersell themselves. A survey by Big Yellow Penguin and Bold Legal Group found that the majority of respondents believe that their firm reduces prices based on what rivals are charging. It’s all too tempting in a slow market to compete on price. There are some firms that offer bargain basement conveyancing fees which undermine the entire industry. These low-cost businesses then struggle to provide a quality service. Their pricing structure puts pressure on the quality firms to follow suit.
Following the annual market roundtable held by the Council for Licensed Conveyancers, Property Industry Eye reported that conveyancers remain hesitant about increasing their fees. Conveyancers are worried about how their clients will react. The survey by Big Yellow Penguin and Bold Legal Group reported that 62% lacked the confidence to ask for an increased fee.
Home buyers and sellers often have a limited understanding of the conveyancing process. They fail to recognise the extensive efforts, costs and potential obstacles associated with each case file. They simply do not fully appreciate the value that a conveyancer brings to the transaction.
The truth is that many clients don’t shop about at all. In fact, they just want the job done! There’s also this unfounded belief that every client wants a cheap conveyancer. If everyone prioritised the lowest cost, we wouldn’t have high-priced hotels or high-priced cars! The truth is that many people are willing to pay more for a quality service.
“We must take control of the way pricing is dealt with. Think of your firm as a shop. If you went into your local supermarket and picked out a basket of goods and went to 7 different checkouts in the same shop, you would be given seven identical prices. If clients approach your lawyers for legal work, let’s say seven lawyers, are you confident that they will get seven identical prices? I have tested this with law firms that I consult with. One law firm gave me seven different prices for the same conveyancing transaction. The price differential between the lowest and the highest was nearly 300%.”
-Shaun Jardine, Big Yellow Penguin
It's imperative for conveyancers to adapt their pricing to ensure continued service excellence.
Conveyancers typically suffer from low self-esteem, so they price low. An article on Inside Conveyancing written by reallymoving noted that price was important, but not the only factor that customers look for when choosing a law firm. Their research found that the majority of homebuyers and sellers do not actually opt for the cheapest conveyancer. In actual fact, they found 60% went for the more expensive, with 10% choosing the most expensive. This proves that you could be losing customers if you have a low-price mindset. Clients may simply perceive your low-cost service as low value.
It’s crucial to effectively market your service, emphasising the value you provide. Quality conveyancing is a skill, so it’s essential that clients recognise the level of expertise that you bring to the table and understand why your price is higher. Collect reviews from satisfied clients to build trust. Differentiate yourself to demonstrate why you’re the optimal choice for conveyancing.
This leads nicely into how you need to build rapport with potential clients. Find out what is important to them. By simply listening to their concerns, a client will be more likely to choose you. Shaun Jardine refers to how “clients buy outcomes.” In essence, they are not concerned with the process but rather the ultimate outcome. Identify the client’s priorities and align with them.
“Conveyancers are obsessed with price whereas clients are not. Our experience has demonstrated that as few as 5% of the market are deciding on price alone. Our advice is to put your prices up but at the same time make sure you are accessible and that your prospective customers feel welcomed and valued from the very start of their journey with you.”
-Mike Stainsby, Commercial Director, Conveyancer Insight
These types of conversations are vital for highlighting potential issues that may make you consider charging more. Perhaps they need to move within a certain timeframe? You can use this information to not only relieve their concerns but also raise your fees. During this conversation, you can showcase your local knowledge, so they know you’re an expert in your field, justifying your fee. While on the phone with them, research the area and see if there are any potential red flags that would warrant a higher fee. If you get the feeling the client is going to be difficult, charge more! Most conveyancers admit they are given difficult clients or cases and it’s demoralising. However, if you charge a higher price, dealing with difficult cases suddenly becomes far more tolerable, as you're compensated! Without these conversations, how can you know the fee you’re charging is enough? What’s more, a well-informed client will appreciate the value you offer and be more inclined to pay a higher price.
Shaun Jardine’s article in Today’s Conveyancer concerning “conveyancer add-ons” is interesting to note. In his book, he goes further and explains why he considers online conveyancing fee calculators should be scrapped:
“When you go online to a law firm website with a conveyancing fee calculator, you enter the value of the property, you identify if it’s freehold or leasehold, indicate if you are buying with another person and if you need a mortgage. That’s pretty much it.
Behind the scenes, the website sends you a standard proposal with a fee for the basic legal work and a long list of terms and conditions and exclusions that tell you if any extra work is required, you will be billed for it.
At this stage, the client has no idea if they will need a Deed of Easement, a Declaration of Trust, a licence to occupy, has a defective legal title or whether titles need to be merged… How could they know if these are needed? Clients are not lawyers.
So, from automated websites, the clients get a headline fee plus the uncertainty of other charges coming down the line at some point. In many cases, the websites will be from law firms who profess to “put the client at the centre of everything we do”… other than wanting to actually speak with them.
You may think that the problem can’t get worse. It can! In 2023, I did some research into the “add-on charges” that residential conveyancers can potentially impose on their clients. I identified over 120 separate charges. Now I am not for one moment saying that you can cover every eventuality in an initial conversation with a client, but you can make the process easier and give choices by versioning a service offering with some of the add-on costs identified and added to the options. At present a low entry price with up to 120 add-on charges is in my mind bordering on confusion marketing.”
Conveyancers are now using portals and case management systems. However, when it comes to technology, the conveyancing industry is still worryingly behind the curve. (Check out our Embracing Conveyancing Software in 2024 guide for more on this.) Tech helps you become more efficient – allowing you to increase your fees. Those who operate more digitally and automate tasks can speed through cases faster than those sticking to traditional methods.
Technology can help you to prove your worth. Take TwentyConvey’s Market Insight tool. Our conveyancing software provides you with valuable insights about your local region, including the market share of each law firm and its conveyancing speed. This information will demonstrate your knowledge, elevating your reputation and justifying a higher fee.
Instead of competing on pricing, use our data to promote your strengths in your marketing. Some of our clients are shocked to discover just how fast they move cases. They had no idea! They can use these insights to warrant charging a higher fee. You may discover that you have the highest number of cases in the region, or demonstrate expertise in a niche such as property type or tenure. Again, use this as leverage to justify a higher fee.
Set a pricing strategy and review it monthly or quarterly. In most firms, there is almost no discussion about pricing. We know most conveyancers don’t like to talk about price, but at the same time, you don’t like the price you’re being paid, so you need to start discussing it! Mystery Shop your competition to establish your local market rate or employ Conveyancer Insights to do this on your behalf.
“We carry out mystery shopping exercises to help law firms measure their own performance. It is common to see a difference of upwards of £1000 in professional fees between law firms quoting for the same job in the same town. Many firms are missing a significant amount of money to their bottom line.”
-Mike Stainsby, Commercial Director, Conveyancer Insight
In Shaun Jardine’s recently published book, “Ditch the Billable Hour!” he outlines how he wants lawyers to take ownership of their pricing. He encourages them to create a “Lawyer Scoring Matrix” and adjust prices on a case-by-case basis. Questions to consider when setting a fee include: Are you busy? Yes. Raise your prices. Can you delegate the work? No. Raise your prices. Is this a complicated case or is the client difficult or demanding? Yes. Raise your prices.
Change your mindset on pricing and offer choice. As Jardine states in his book:
“We all like choices in our daily lives. We choose our car wash menus. We choose what cars we drive. We choose what clothes we wear. We choose the wine we drink with dinner in a restaurant. Surely the legal profession can move on from a choice of take it or leave it, which is what is often the only choice that is presented.
Let’s aspire to get to a stage where we offer clients options that have different price points and different service levels and let clients themselves self-select and choose the package that they want after we have explained the options to them.
If you are still not convinced, let’s do some maths. A choice of one price is a 50/50% choice. It’s a take the price (one choice) or leave it (a second choice). If you create three choices it increases your chances of making a sale to 75% and reduces the leave it option to 25%.”
Shaun Jardine champions creating options; think gold, silver and bronze pricing strategy. In exercises with conveyancers, Jardine has identified over 50 possible features of a gold service. In his book Ditch The Billable Hour! Jardine records:
“I have set out a few of the ideas that have been created by lawyers I have worked with including:
When working with conveyancing teams, I will inevitably receive a comment from a lawyer who tells me, “Every client should have a gold service.” They are wrong. Every client should get a competent and compliant service. How and who delivers the service is another question altogether.
Take pricing away from people who don’t feel confident in doing it.”
The key is to stop accepting every case that comes your way. You’ll have less work but at a higher price which means less pressure but more profit. What’s not to like?
How should you navigate your pricing adjustment?
“A quote calculator is a useful tool to see whether price increases have any effect on take-up rates, not to advertise your cheapest price. We find that when presented with a very cheap price, a very high price and one in the middle, many people are suspicious of cheap and worried about paying through the nose but are seeking a great service above all. Therefore, most will compromise and pick the middle one unless there is a tangible difference in the way that the most expensive firm engaged with them.”
-Mike Stainsby, Commercial Director, Conveyancer Insight
Conveyancers proved their worth during the pandemic. You were able to work under tremendous pressure and yet were still not paid appropriately. You’re operating at such minimal profit margins, hugely underselling yourself. You need to start being unapologetic about your pricing. Your work is valuable, and you deserve to be paid for it! You’ll also make your law firm a more attractive place to work for conveyancers.
Let the other firms compete for the lower end of the market. Not every client is comparing quotes. They may come to you because they were recommended by a friend. Shaun firmly believes that the only way conveyancers can change how buyers and sellers think about lawyers is to change how much they charge. Your work is disregarded because you’re not valuing it highly enough.
If fees are increased, it will result in a better work-life balance, a more realistic caseload, and better turnaround times. Profits can then be reinvested in staff, training and technology to further improve the industry. This should in turn lead to greater efficiency, which is what everyone wants!
If you don't place worth on your time and expertise, how can you expect the client to do so?
“No single management lever available to you can boost profitability more quickly than even a slight improvement in average price levels.”
-Marn, Roegner, Zawanda, McKinsey and Company, The Price Advantage
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