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Signs That Your Service Has Matured

By Mike O'Horo
June 01, 2004

In recent years, many firms have reluctantly bitten various bullets and abandoned practice areas that can no longer support their fee structures. Long before the firms' decided to get out of those businesses, though, many lawyers practicing in those areas suffered steady diminution of their earning power, professional satisfaction and internal prestige. This unnecessary human cost could have been avoided, or at least minimized, if only firms recognized sooner that the services were maturing. If they had, they would have had much more time to prepare their lawyers and ease the inevitable transition to newer, more valuable services. So, what early signs warn alert firms that a service is aging?

One sure sign is when people begin asking about fees. I don't mean questions about fees per se; all buyers need some sense of the scale of investment, ie, whether we're talking $10,000 or $100,000. That's not a maturity concern. You should be concerned, though, when the fee discussion is a comparative one, either a direct comparison to another firm's offer, or comparing you to some perceived standard. The fact that a measuring stick exists tells you that the service has matured, at least as currently configured or packaged. It doesn't mean that you abandon the service, but it does strongly suggest that it's time to re-invent it in some meaningful way to make it more valuable.

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