I’m in New York seeing the sights while getting some work done at the same time.

Last night I went to see A Time to Kill, the Broadway show based on John Grisham’s first novel. I loved it, and I think most lawyers would feel the same way.

We took an Uber from our hotel in Tribeca up to the theater. The show was at seven, so we were traveling during rush hour.

I opened the Uber app on my phone and clicked the required buttons. A message popped up:

Demand is off the charts! Rates have increased to get more Ubers on the road.
2x times the normal rate
$30 minimum fare
$1.90/minute & $7.80/mile

Uber uses dynamic pricing to account for increases in demand. I spent much of the evening checking the app and watching the prices go up and down. When we took an Uber back to the hotel, around midnight, the rates were back to normal.

A Lesson From Economics 101

If Uber can figure it out, then so can you. Your prices don’t need to be static. You can manage them up and down depending on what’s happening in your market. When demand peaks or supply dips, change the price.

Examples:

• Demand for a driving-while-impaired lawyer is up on Saturday night, right? Supply is pretty low. Price goes up.
• Demand for divorce lawyers goes down over the Christmas holidays. Price goes down.
• Demand for divorce lawyers goes up in January. Price goes up.

Obviously, each practice area has its unique factors relating to price. Demand rises and falls at different times of the year. Supply may change as well. You know more about your market than I ever will.

Pricing Is a Marketing Strategy

Most lawyers make a decision about price by setting an hourly rate. Once in a blue moon, they revisit that decision and decide how much to increase that rate. They don’t think of price as part of the marketing or part of creating or reducing demand.

Uber, on the other hand, is totally connected to price and its relationship to value. It increases the price when it rains or snows. It decreases the price when there’s no one looking for a ride. Up for Halloween and New Year’s Eve. Down during the hot months when the tourists are going to the beach instead of coming to the city.

Invest some time thinking about price and thinking about your market. How can you use it to your advantage? When can you go up? When can you go down? How can you package the deal so that you take advantage of the peaks and valleys rather than being negatively affected by the ups and downs?

Be more like Uber and less like the other lawyers. Uber is growing at 18% per month. How fast are you growing?