Some attorneys hear the “I can’t afford you” line from lots of prospective clients. The attorney conducts an initial consultation. The client needs the service and seems interested. The attorney quotes the fee and asks if the client is ready to move forward.

“I can’t afford you” is, sometimes, the response. The attorney knows the client’s finances and knows that money is tight. The attorney explores payment options with the client and the client leaves never to be heard from again.

Later, when reflecting on the loss of the prospective client, the attorney rationalizes the loss by agreeing that the client really can’t afford the services.

My question is – do you do the same sort of financial analysis when you win – when the client hires you? Do you look at the numbers to see if your new client can afford you?

Probably not. You don’t worry about the client’s decision if they hire you. You only study the prospective client’s decision when they decide not to hire you.

I’d suggest that plenty of people in the exact same financial situation as the “I can’t afford you” client make a decision to hire you.

So what’s the difference between those that hire you and those that don’t when they’re in the same financial situation?

The difference is that one client perceives what you’re offering as having value and the other doesn’t. There’s something different about what you said, how you said it or how they perceived it.

What was different? I don’t know. That’s something you’re going to have to figure out.

I do, however, know that the answer lies in studying your wins as closely as you study your losses. Spend as much time thinking about why the client hired you as you spend thinking about why the other client didn’t hire you.

Start tracking your wins and losses. Gather data around each situation. Figure out the finances of both sets of people, analyze the gender, occupation, education and your approach to the meeting. Consider the source of the client – how did they find you? Start looking for patterns and you’ll start finding the answers.

Eventually, and we’re in this for the long-term, you’ll generate ideas based on your successes that you can apply to miminize your failures. That won’t happen until you recognize that the “I can’t afford you” line is just an easy way to let you down when they don’t see you as the solution to their problem.