Accountants, who are often ahead of solicitors, now have the ‘benefit’ of a ‘new and revolutionary’ website that compares their charges. It is claimed that by checking prices of accountancy services, the client consumer will be able to pick the cheapest. This, of course, may rely on the number of contributors to the service, who are in danger of getting into a price war.Marketers will say that you should never compete on price alone, as any benefit gained is short-lived. In other words, they mean that the supplier will reach a ‘low’ where supplying their services or goods is just not viable at the base market price.

This has happened in the legal profession, particularly with conveyancing. Even if law firms were able to work with price competition, the margins were so tight that when the recession came that the situation only added to the problems. Often, the source of work came from the internet or panel management companies, who in themselves may have sourced some of the work from websites. But always, price was the key factor, followed by service levels. Conveyancing is not the only example – PI is also a strong contender.

There is, however, no website for solicitors like the one now promoted for accountants, as far as I know.

I think that, while transparency is an important element in the treatment of client service levels, quality will inevitably fall if fair charges are based only on price.

My view is: keep away.