CC Hold With SB Billing

​@Naro Law - I’ve seen no function to put a hold on credit cards. But even if you could, that sounds like too much book-keeping work to be worth it. My suggestion is to either: a) Charge a nominal consult fee such as $75.00 minimum up front to screen out tire-kickers and don’t set appointment for them unless they pay at appointment setting; or, b) functionally eliminate consults.

In my practice I have almost entirely eliminated consults. Leads call or submit web inquiries. Staff follow up with a pre-set list of my minimum retainers or fee arrangements for the case type and offer to send a more detailed SB intake form. If lead turns in the intake form then staff reviews / distills the information for me. If I am interested in the case I call lead for ~ 10 minutes to qualify the lead. If I’m not interested, I have staff decline. I think this saves time any money on “consults” that are not profit centers. Occasionally this screening process is not a good fit and the person actually needs a consult - in those rare events I have staff calendar it. I am busy enough that i just pivot to other work if they no show.

If you go with option a) if the consult goes long you could bill for the overage.

Hello Naro,

There is no function to put a hold on a payment in smoke ball. Many firms will charge a consultation fee that they deposit into trust. If the client retains they will apply that to the first invoice or the fixed fee. If they do not retain they keep the fee. If they do not show, fail to appear (FTA), the firm will also keep the money.

As usual I like Jonathan’s response!