Conveyancer charging more than ever told to demand more – by clients

VETERAN practitioner Marcus Bain is asking for higher fees than ever and his business is booming.

After nearly two decades in and around the profession, the owner of Bain & Young Conveyancing says increasing his fees has done more than just improve the bottom line.

“When I raised my fees from around $1,600 all-inclusive to $1,600 plus disbursements, I didn’t lose a single client,” he said.

“In fact, people started telling me I was too cheap.”

“Some even asked me to charge more.”

The Sydney conveyancer, who first started doing settlements as a teenager working for his parents’ legal agent business, now runs his own firm and has found success by doing less for more.

“I don’t think I’ve had one person that I lit up,” he said.

“Ever since I raised it, I don’t think I’ve had a client who has actually been a problem client.”

According to Bain – who is urging other conveyancers to unite and steer away from the bargain basement fee structure – there’s a direct connection between price and peace of mind.

“If I was doing a $1,000 all-in conveyance, which I did right at the beginning for some people, they were an absolute terror nightmare to deal with,” he said.

“I’ve not had one person call me after 5pm.

“I’ve not had anyone ask me a thousand questions like I’m their internal legal under retainer.

“It’s completely changed the people I deal with as a whole.

“There are conveyancers I know who are charging lesser amounts, who are getting so much grief still. There’s definitely a direct link.”

But Bain says that many in the industry feel stuck offering bargain basement fees, and believes there’s a cost to undercharging that’s not just financial.

“The best way to summarise it – someone said this to me the other day – is this is probably the only industry where the drive and demand goes up and our price goes down,” he said.

After returning to the profession in 2019 after several years away, Bain initially found himself consulting for a law firm that was offering what he calls “basement prices.”

At the time, he said, “they were about $1,500, maybe” all-inclusive.

“You could find a contract and pay $800–900 just for that, and then you’re trying to get the rest to pay for professional fees – it was a nightmare.”

There was also pressure to secure work through referrals by paying so-called consulting fees.

“I suppose it was negative, but I needed to do it to then get to where I am now,” Bain said.

“It was hard to get traction, but now it’s sort of got me further – clients from clients, sort of thing.”

Now, he says business is booming – and it’s not because he’s marketing.

“I don’t think I’ve spent a dollar on marketing and I’ve been doing this almost two years,” he said.

“I’m just getting people that know people.”

While Bain’s base professional fee is now $1,600, he estimates clients pay a total of around $2,000–$2,200 including disbursements.

He credits part of his improved work-life balance to using technology like triSearch’s Archie-powered Productivity Pack.

“It just saves me doing mundane things that I shouldn’t have to do,” he said.

“Instead of writing someone’s name and date of birth out all the time, the computer does it for me.”

His message to other conveyancers is simple.

“If you want to deal with better people, you can charge more.”

Australian Conveyancer has highlighted the issue of practitioners devaluing the profession by charging too little before. Read more here