Falling into Value

Fall is beginning to close in on us here in the little law office on the prairie heralded by it’s handmaidens – intemperately muggy days and dwindling daylight hours. It is the time of preparation; there are crops to be brought in, machinery to be put up, law firm marketing to be attended to, and the annual physical to be endured.

Now, having gained that age where one’s physical has expanded far beyond a simple chest thumping and the occasional “say aaah,” my annual trip to the local clinic provides me (in addition to an itinerary worth of a grand tour of Europe) time to read the promotional literature awaiting me in the waiting room. Normally, the last thing I want to have in a doctor’s office is an amazing insight (the last time the words “that’s interesting” popped up in a medical situation I found myself being handed a little backless dress, a barium cocktail and shuttled off to X-ray – while I may look fantastic in a floor length A-line, I can say that this particular little number did absolutely nothing for me), but this time I came to the realization that doctors and lawyers have one thing in common – we are absolutely horrid at teaching people (read that as clients) about the value of our services.

In its literature, my local clinic presented its value as a simple equation: value = quality/cost

And the literature goes on to say that, in a nutshell, quality is all about having health patients; a phrase that is just about as awe-inspiring as the “we do good work” phrase often heard from lawyers. Now, from a client point of view this notion that a service’s quality is somehow related to the standard expectations I would have simply by walking through the door is balderdash – it’s a bit like a car dealer telling me that an AMC Pacer is a quality car because it’s got 4 wheels. I expect my doctor to keep me healthy and to keep medical errors to a minimum, so advertising that one’s plan is to meet a client’s reasonable expectations really doesn’t scream quality to me (on the other hand, things like fitting me in at 7:00 AM so I don’t have to take time away from my practice or making sure those prescription refills I need are on file with my pharmacy without my asking do).

Now, lets look at the other variable in the equation: cost. First, I’m fairly sure that this clinic is really not that interested in chasing the price-shopping client (or if they are, I really need to discuss my last bill with accounts receivable). Secondly, I have doubts that there is a one-to-one correlation between the value of their services and the cost – quality be damned. Think about it, this value equation says that if they reduce costs far enough, value will skyrocket regardless of the quality (after all, what’s the result when you divide any number by zero). I will admit that cost was something I considered when originally choosing a doctor, and it is something I reconsider every September (for some unknown reason), but cost does not figure into my perception of value.

Perhaps a visit to the doctor puts me far more in tune with that more primitive part of my psyche – that less evolved part where survival instincts dwell – for I am much more likely to perceive value in the fact that my pain is controlled, that my fears about that odd looking mole (I’m sure it’s cancer) are laid to rest, or that my PSA is normal so we can skip the DRE this year.

So, lawyers, how are we explaining our value to our clients; by defining it in terms of cost and expected results or in terms that matter most to our clients? What are we choosing to be compared with? It’s something I’ll be pondering as I wait to be handed that little white gown.