Now, more than ever, subscription services seem to be increasingly replacing outmoded products. It’s hard not to notice stores and services like Blockbuster and iTunes being replaced rapidly by subscription services like Netflix and Spotify. Even cable TV is quickly becoming a thing of the past, being replaced by websites such as Hulu and Amazon Prime.
If you aren’t already on the subscription service bandwagon, you may be asking yourself – why is this seemingly new idea so successful and popular when the old systems seemed to be working fine? Well, it may have been working fine for the large companies, but the consumer began to see the value in paying a low monthly or yearly fee in order to have unlimited access to a variety of options. Sure, renting a single movie for $3 is cheaper than paying $10 a month for a subscription to Netflix. But how many times do you find yourself wanting to watch a movie that you don’t own in a month? Probably enough to spend way over the amount that you would renting movies in piecemeal.
At Family Estate Planning Law Group, we asked ourselves the same question, and have been billing on an annual basis instead of the traditional hourly billing, for years. Many law practices around the country still abide strictly by this outdated service structure, however we’ve found that not only is this not a great value for the client, it actually impedes our own processes and the success of client estate plans.
Even with our ongoing client care program where we continually track, align, verify client assets, we constantly need to remind our clients that it’s not only alright for them to ask us questions and update us regarding their assets and life changes, its actually encouraged. The pay-by-the-hour paradigm causes clients to hold back important questions and updates that are vital to the success of their estate plan. And when we don’t have to worry about keeping track of the clock, we are able to really sit down with clients and have productive and genuine conversations outside of a rigid and expensive time frame.
The world is moving towards subscription service models because there is immense value in it. Clients keep us updated and ask us the important questions, because it’s already part of their annual updating package. Subscription services are already working well for you in so many areas of your life – why not your estate plan?
To learn more about our process and estate planning, explore our blog and visit our website to schedule your free consultation today!
-This blog was written by Rachel in our office
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