are we giving it away too easily?
ed mendlowitz answers some of the toughest questions practitioners can throw at him. he’s the right one to ask. after more than 40 years in the business – building his own practice, running the firm, and eventually selling it to a major regional firm, withumsmith+brown, where he remains a senior partner and consultant to professional services clients – he has the answers.
related: measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners | what do you think you’re doing? | can you teach judgment? | clients’ calls at home | what you need to know before expanding into business valuation | asking an attorney for a referral fee | are partner retreats really worth the cost? | audit reports without doing the work? | should i really spend the time making checklists? | what’s a tax practice worth today? |
question: i was wondering what your thought is regarding initial consultation fees. currently, i do not charge a fee for an initial consultation, and it seems that most cpas do not charge either (at least not the sole-practitioners that i know). would the fee deter new clients or actually weed out the ones who are most likely not going to become clients anyway? if a fee is charged, then how much, and how long should the consultation last? should the fee be applied to any work that i am eventually engaged for?
it seems to be a toss-up between two different philosophies:
- people value something more when they pay for it
- you don’t want to create any barriers to entry
to read the full article
