Reasons Why Your Client Has Not Accepted Your Testamentary Trust Fee Proposal

Why are clients delaying their decision on the testamentary trust quote you sent out? 

Before you start letting the imposter syndrome creep in, your prices are probably a perfect reflection of value. Instead, there may be bigger reasons, unrelated to cost, why clients are hesitating. Here's why:

1. No Immediate Driver

When a client is involved in a dispute or has received a letter of demand, the need for a lawyer is immediate and urgent. For a testamentary trust will, there is no such immediate driver to force their hand. While they may initially have experienced a close event motivating them to sort out their estate planning and testamentary trust wills, in our fast-paced world it’s common for this spark of enthusiasm to be overcome by other priorities, causing clients to postpone their decision on the fee proposal until next week or next month.

2. Inherently Challenging Process, Both Mentally and Emotionally

It takes immense courage to embark on the estate planning process. It's important to recognise this for all our clients: the ones who take action and the ones who are still on the fence.

A lot of shame, insecurity, fear, uncertainty, and worry can arise during the estate planning process, and it can really shine a spotlight on the testator’s key relationships. Clients may be unsure about who to name as guardians for their children or as trustees because they lack close relationships. If they have to dig deep and overcome a lot of discomfort, it's easy for them to just keep ignoring that quote and the follow-up email that you sent.

3. Life Events Get in the Way

A current crisis, such as a relationship breakdown or a period of instability within the couple's partnership, can lead to complete indecision. When major uncertainties dominate other areas of their lives, clients can feel overwhelmed and unable to move forward with their estate plan.

4. Financial Insecurity

In the blog post “3 Estate Planning Strategies for Addressing Asset Differences for Homemaker Spouses”, I mentioned that a key part of being an effective estate planning lawyer is stress-testing the estate plan. This means asking clients what assets are in the estate, where they will pass on, and how we're dividing the asset pool. If clients are feeling insecure about their financial position, that process can be really confronting.

5. Shopping Around

There is substantial evidence that people really need to know and trust you before they will invest in professional services, especially if you charge on the upper end of the scale for your testamentary trust and estate planning services. To build that sense of trust, or to simply feel like they know you, clients often need to hear from you on at least seven different occasions.

The “Rule of 7” is a marketing idea that says a customer needs to see a brand's message at least seven times before they take action. This rule's origin is traced back to 1930s Hollywood film studios, where bosses found that cinemagoers needed seven exposures to an advertisement before buying a ticket. 

3 Strategies To Support Clients To Accept Your Testamentary Trust Fee Proposal Earlier

Not hearing from clients for weeks or months can result in a loss of confidence. Many of us already feel exposed by putting ourselves out there through social media and emails. We start to wonder: Should I follow up with this client? Am I annoying them? Do they really want to hear from me?

Here are three strategies to help clients accept your fee proposal:

1. Build a Strong Personal Brand 

If you've got a strong personal brand, you are the obvious choice for your clients. If prospective clients keep hearing consistent messages from you over and over through your various marketing touchpoints (think – social media, email newsletter, podcast, etc.), then it is a lot easier for them to begin to know, like, and trust you.

Once they decide that they are ready to move forward and take action on their estate plan, the decision is already made. They’re not shopping around; they are going to work with you. It's just a matter of when will they prioritise it. When will your quote move to the top of their priority pile? 

So, I really just want to keep encouraging you to keep building up your profile. If you have a strong personal brand and your prospective clients keep seeing you showing up consistently and authentically, the risk of people shopping around reduces significantly.

The decision changes from “Which lawyer am I going to hire to do my estate plan?” to “When I do my estate plan, I'm going to hire this lawyer.”

2. Build a Personal Connection

In the age of AI and the commodification of professional services and estate planning, personal connection is something that can't be outsourced. Your AI bot can't replicate your unique personality and authenticity, and that connection with you is one of the key factors that will motivate a prospective client to actually take the leap of faith and go through the process.

Letting your personality shine through your marketing and showing up consistently to connect is going to make such a big difference.

3. Follow Up, Follow Up

One of my favourite money mentors, Denise Duffield Thomas, has a saying that I adore: “The fortune is in the follow-up.”

This means you simply have to keep showing up and letting your prospective clients know that you're ready when they're ready. You may need to remind them many times, but they will appreciate your perseverance.

One method of follow-up is through a firm newsletter. This type of communication is less focused on one-on-one interaction and is an excellent way of being upfront about getting your message across. If the newsletter is done well with a personal anecdote, story, or a professional learning, it further builds that trust factor.

Email scheduling or automating your follow-up emails is also a great strategy for overcoming any fear that you may be holding that a prospective client might not want to hear from you. When a system relies on you to show up and take the action, especially if you’re doubting your confidence and fee proposal, it’s likely to fail and you’re not going to send the reminder.

If you've automated your follow-up emails, you don’t let your ego and self-doubt get in the way. For instance, automating a standard email to be sent by your practice management system to every client who hasn't responded to your fee proposal within one month. You set the interval, you set the reminder, and it just kind of happens automatically without relying on you. Once they accept the fee proposal, they are automatically unsubscribed from the email reminder system. In your automated email, they should also be able to opt out and say, "We're not going ahead, stop contacting us."

Little Help to Get Over the Hurdle

When I went through a significant relationship breakdown, I didn't go ahead with the recommendations given to me by my financial advisers. With hindsight, I really wish they had kept following up with me. I wish they had kept pestering me to the point that I would have just said, “Look, I'm overwhelmed,” and we could have worked it out together. Looking back now, it would have been incredibly beneficial to have followed their advice instead; I lost all the compounding benefits of taking action early.

It's a fine line, but sometimes people really do need a little help to get over the hurdle and move forward, and it's got nothing to do with price.

What Is the Right Price

When I was a junior lawyer, my supervising partner used to say that if clients accepted our fee proposal within a few hours, "We were too cheap."

An accountant, the wonderful Andrea Pearce of Dream Accounting, has created a fabulous tool for The Art of Estate Planning: her break-even calculator. This tool helps us calculate the break-even price for our estate planning services and determine what our profit should be, including paying ourselves, our super, and planning for GST and tax obligations. That is such an important exercise for any law firm owner to go through to ensure you're not undercharging, that you're able to pay yourself properly, and that you hit your financial goals at the end of the year.

Estate planning is a big business. A report released by the Productivity Commission, the Australian Government’s independent research and advisory body, showed that between 2002 and 2018, the total value of wealth transfers was approximately $1.5 trillion. The Commission said that the total value of inheritances passed onto the next generation is projected to increase nearly fourfold between 2020 and 2050.

The take-home message is that estate planning is a huge industry, and there are many people who need our help. When it comes to setting your prices, it has got to be a win-win exchange of value for you and the client. When you operate within that win-win pricing zone, you can focus on delivering exceptional, tailored estate planning solutions for your clients. 

This, in turn, grants you the time and freedom to:

• Invest more in getting to know your clients and customising the service.

• Fill your cup so you have the energy to reinvest back into your clients, your business, and yourself.