A Time to Sell Cookies
Amongst professionals, commoditization is a mixed blessing and a confounding topic. Like fire, it can be your best friend or your worst enemy, depending how you handle it.
On the one hand, we live and die by our wit and creativity – we are first and foremost craftspeople. Yet the truth remains that in the mass delivery of product and service to a larger audience, we not only get more of a good thing into the hands of a larger public, we also increase our profitability. Some call this “earning money while you sleep”– how can that be a bad thing?
Many years ago I developed a system to commoditize my residential real estate law practice. Carefully built systems removed a lot of the drudge and repetition, the website provided the answers to all of the routine but important questions of buyers, sellers, and borrowers. Each client received a thorough introductory e-mail with an electronic intake form, and hyperlinks to a virtual plain-English encyclopedia of legal and practical information on our website. Templates allowed us to provide each client with tailored complete and useful information about both the legal implications of what they were doing, as well as the practical effects.
The result of this (and it was a ton of work to implement) was that clients felt more confident, more cared for, and more respected. They were made to feel like an important part of the team, which is what they were.
We also built out systems to look after the wonderful real estate agents who referred work to us, ensuring that they were always “in the loop” and seen as part of the team. We ensured that the agent’s commission was the very first cheque written and delivered. We wanted them to look and feel like the professionals we considered them to be, honoured partners in the process, and first in line for compensation.
Backing up the whole process were the absolute best staff in the city, true professionals in their own right — subject matter experts, problem solvers, and client supporters. Once they had bought into the system, they became both fierce defenders and eager developers.
So does this mean that I was left with nothing to do, or just in charge of a big, boring machine? No, on the contrary, the result was that instead of doing the same boring stuff day after day, what bubbled up to me were two things, both of which I loved: maintaining and improving the system, and (best of all) troubleshooting serious and unique legal issues. Interesting stuff. Most of my time was now spent in research, analysis, negotiating, and court appearances to crack the really tough nuts. In other words, the stuff I was born for, had trained for, and enjoyed.
Our practice grew and grew, agents we didn’t know would call us and ask if it was OK to send us clients, and we became known as the gang who could handle really problematic transactions. Not only did volume increase, but the quality of the work did, too.
Our pricing was within the parameters, even a little on the high side. The motto was “We don’t cut prices, we don’t cut corners.” But as our reputation grew, we got more and more custom work for which we could charge custom rates.
I don’t say all this to brag (well, maybe just a little) but to make a point that automation and commoditization have their place in a professional practice. Wisely done, commoditization allows the professional to deliver more service at better rates to more clients and make more money, all the while having more fun doing it.
Which is kind of why we got into the professions, isn’t it?
Want to talk about it? I’m happy to chat.