We all like a ‘good client’, whether it is an existing client, or a big one we hope to land. But what exactly are the attributes of a good client and what do we do about them if they aren't as good as we thought they were? Indeed, why did we take them on in the first place?

In B2B, pricing is a broad and complex practice. There are a lot of elements fighting for attention and it’s hard to know where to focus to have the greatest impact. We are often asked what’s most important when it comes to pricing improvement.

When Richard Burcher and I first met at a breakfast seminar on legal pricing, he had no idea I was a procurement professional managing legal services provision. I’d gone along to the session aimed at GCs to see what the ‘other side’ (Richard) thought, and when the questions turned to the role of procurement in the firm-client relationship, I was somewhat dismayed to find that Richard and several of the GCs present weren’t exactly extoling the virtues of my profession…

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges.

A small but growing number of firms have identified both the problem and the solution. Pricing capability and sophistication at a firm-wide and individual partner level is being harnessed and for those firms it is having a swift and significant impact.

Screeds have been written for more than two decades about the demise of the billable hour. Like Mark Twain, news of whose death was greatly exaggerated, the billable hour persists with all the tenacity and survival skills of a cockroach emerging from a nuclear winter.

And so it will persist despite concerted efforts by some on both the buy and sell sides to eradicate it as an unwelcome if not toxic blot on the law firm management landscape.

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges.

With Validatum Pricing Espresso® we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your legal services pricing challenges.

“As I hurtled through space, one thought kept crossing my mind - every part of this rocket was supplied by the lowest bidder.” John Glenn - the first American astronaut to orbit the Earth

With 'The Pricing Espresso®' we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your firms' pricing challenges.

In our conference presentations and consulting work, we have often made reference to the fact that when it comes to pricing, we lawyers could do worse than take inspiration from the often far more sophisticated pricing strategies of other industries and professions. We have for example taken and adapted some of the best pricing ideas and practices from hotel chains (yield management), airlines (customer segmentation and price discrimination), and fast food franchises (bundling) to name a few.

With 'The Pricing Espresso®' we aim to bring you your morning pricing 'shot' - the best, most interesting, thought provoking and informative material we can find globally which will be of interest, relevance and help to you in your firms' pricing challenges.