Learning how and when to use creative fee arrangements is only half the battle. Capitalizing on your success is the other half. Here are 10 ways to make the most of a good situation:

1. Create success stories

Make it standard practice to document alternative fee successes by creating compelling stories that anyone in the firm can tell. Each of these stories should answer the following questions:

--Who was the client?
--What SPECIFICALLY were they trying to achieve?
--How did you/your firm help them achieve that using creative billing strategies?
--What was the result?
--How does this result TRANSLATE VALUE to the client’s situation?

2. Share success stories

Once created, your firm can use these stories in a variety of marketing situations including meetings with prospective clients, responses to RFPs, firm brochures, Web sites, and new associate and lateral training.

3. Educate your firm

The success stories are important but they’re only byproducts. Think about what it really took to craft each win-win billing agreement (a trust-based relationship, efficient service delivery, financial and technological sophistication, organized approach to matter management, focus on client service, etc.), and make sure these elements are part of the education process as well.

4. Make your clients look good

By definition, if you’ve had success with win-win billing, so has your client. Share the credit by offering to co-write an article or speak with your client at an industry or association event. These activities make your client look good, they further enhance your relationship, and they encourage other members of the client team to get on the alternative billing bandwagon.

5. Reward success

The more experience and success your firm has with alternative fee arrangements, the easier it will be to offer incentives that go beyond billable hour quotas and reward lawyers for effective client management and profitability.

6. Be a creative purchaser

Now that you know what it’s like to be a seller in an alternative fee scenario, discover ways to create value as a buyer. For example, pay close attention to your supplier relationships. Does the current billing method maximize value for both you and the supplier? If not, which billing methods do? Is your relationship strong enough to try them? You’ll be surprised at how much you can accomplish by putting incentives in the right place. You’ll also learn a great deal about how your client feels when purchasing from you.

7. Target the right clients

Your experience-won knowledge should improve your ability to identify and approach clients that would be best served by alternative fee arrangements. Think about past engagements where you had success using alternative fees. What were the circumstances (level of trust in client relationship, client industry, matter type, amount at stake, etc.)? What clients or prospective clients match this profile?

8. Spot new opportunities with clients

During conversations with clients, your experience and success will help you to recognize when a dialogue about alternative billing might be appropriate and what questions to ask to confirm whether there really is a need.

9. Educate clients

Through bad experiences or fear of the unknown, many clients are reluctant to consider alternatives to the billable hour. You can change this by having frank discussions with your clients and by educating them about the various alternatives and the best times to use them. Focus on clients you know well and on relationships that are built on a solid foundation of trust and mutual respect.

10. If no one cares, promote the underpinnings

The billable hour won’t go away anytime soon. Many clients are perfectly happy with this and have no interest in hearing about alternative fees. But they might be interested in the underpinnings of your creative billing success: efficiency, financial and technological sophistication, organized approach to matter management, focus on client service, etc. For most clients, these are important points of distinction. For you, they are reminders of why mastering the alternative fee maze is worth it.