The True Worth Expert

What creates the greatest difficulty in practice?

Andy Cox — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 15:43:19 +0000

Hello everyone. I’m Vanessa Ugatti, the True Worth™ Expert.

For the past 13 years, I’ve worked with forward-thinking law firms, lawyers and other professional services to address a problem that costs firms huge amounts of money: highly capable people who underestimate their worth, discount their fees, over-service clients or avoid what they perceive as difficult conversations about fees.

I’m not a lawyer, and that outside perspective is one of my strengths. It allows me to challenge established habits and focus on the behaviours that cause even highly capable lawyers to undervalue their expertise, despite knowing intellectually what their work is worth.

At the heart of it all is the psychology of charging, mindset, confidence and self-worth. Because you can be a brilliant lawyer, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you feel confident charging what you’re worth.

And just so you know, 13 years ago I was utterly clueless at charging! That was what led me to embark on a journey to solve the problem for myself and, ultimately, help others do the same.

I’ve recently brought everything I’ve learnt into my new book:
How to Get Paid Your True Worth™ Ethically, Without Selling Your Soul
While Keeping Your Clients Happy!

It’s written for professionals who want to charge appropriately and communicate their fees confidently, without becoming aggressive, salesy or damaging valuable client relationships.

I’d love to hear from other members of the group:

Which creates the greatest difficulty in practice?
1. Setting the right fee
2. Communicating it confidently
3. Managing scope creep effectively

I look forward to hearing your thoughts and experiences.

You can find out more about my book here:
https://www.vanessaugatti.com/book

Vanessa.

The post What creates the greatest difficulty in practice? first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

Am I the missing link to getting paid your true worth?

Andy Cox — Thu, 15 Oct 2026 11:16:15 +0000

I always seem to start by talking about the weather, and it’s hardly surprising as it has certainly been keeping us on our toes!

The photo of me was taken on Bournemouth beach on Sunday 4 October. And yes, it really was warm, hence me wearing my favourite summer dress.

Since then, the weather has flip-flopped (I think I’ve just made that word up!) between warm and cold, and yesterday I was back in a summer dress again.I’m dreading the moment when the cold finally sets in, but let’s not dwell on that just yet. Instead, let’s get moving with this month’s newsletter!

Am I the missing link when it comes to getting paid your true worth? Hell yeah!

Recently, I was delivering a presentation to a local law firm prospect about what I do and why it’s different from those delivering pricing training, so I thought it would make an excellent newsletter too.

Who am I?

I am Vanessa Ugatti, the True Worth Expert, and I help law firms and other professional services get paid their true worth.

I certainly didn’t wake up one morning and think, “I know, I’ll help professionals charge with more confidence”, so below is a summary of my journey.

13 years ago, I was already coaching professionals in confidence and a positive mindset, yet there was a niggle at the back of my mind that something was missing. I just didn’t know what it was.

So, I was on the computer (well, not literally) looking for inspiration. And I found it!

By some quirk of fate, I stumbled upon a marketing programme specifically for coaches and the words literally jumped out of the screen.

“You have to have a niche and build a tribe.”

I’d heard of niching, but I had no idea what mine was nor how to create it.

After lots of procrastination and fear, I signed up for the programme and in the very first workshop, the facilitator asked us to write down all our interests, so I scribbled away and can’t remember what they were except for one subject:

Charging what you’re worth.

She said that’s marketable, so I said, “Well, you’re the expert and I’ll go out networking and find out what’s going on.”

And who do you see a lot of at networking? Lawyers and accountants.

So, I asked them quite simply what their challenges around charging were and they told me.

Underestimating, discounting and over servicing.

It was my first bit of evidence.

Then I looked at clients I’d been coaching and discovered that I was already helping some of them with charging, which makes perfect sense to me now.

Fortunately, I then decided to shine the spotlight on numero uno and guess what I found?

I was utterly clueless when it came to charging.

In time, I discovered that this was a very common problem indeed.

Then something amazing happened when I was in bed.

No, it wasn’t that!

I was half awake and half asleep and a formula appeared in my mind. And here it is:

UV + CV + CD = CW

And I bet you’re dying to know what it stands for, aren’t you?

Well: it’s understand your value + communicate your value + confidence delivering fees = charging what you’re worth.

The weird thing was, though, that I knew exactly what it meant and I knew I was right even though I had no idea how.

That is the power of the subconscious mind. It knows more about you than you do.

It was my wake-up call. I understood that my subconscious mind realised what my niche was because it knew I had to solve the problem for myself.

Now I totally understand my value and am fearless at speaking with clients about costs, no matter who the client is. As such, I am well positioned to help others make the same shift.

With the help of the programme, I went on to write my Amazon Best Seller, How to Charge What You’re Worth and Get It, which seemed like a big deal at the time, but was only 5,000 words.

As time went on and I worked with more people, including law firms, I was horrified to find that it was not unusual for people to not get paid sometimes.

So, I changed the name of my book to How to Get Paid Your True Worth and developed my current True Worth™ Methodology, where each letter represents a key part of the sales process.

Fast forward to 2026 and I finally wrote what I call my proper book: How to Get Paid Your True Worth Ethically, Without Selling Your Soul, which is available here: https://www.vanessaugatti.com/book

It is my passion, my mission and my purpose to help those who are excellent at what they do have the confidence and the wherewithal to charge and get paid what they deserve.What’s The Real Problem When It Comes to Charging?

Lawyers and other professionals may know what they should charge; in fact, they probably do. But if they don’t have the confidence, self-belief, self-worth or understand their own value, they just won’t do it.So, they find themselves underestimating, discounting, over servicing, not recording all their time, not billing on time and ultimately not getting paid their true worth.They may well be brilliant at what they do and yet, when it comes to charging, they just don’t cut the mustard.

As the Managing Partner and I agreed, it is about addressing their fears.
The fear of losing the client or the business.
The fear of rejection.
The fear of what the client might think.
The fear of talking about fees.

Because it is those fears which drive behaviours that ultimately cost both the firm financially and the individual stress wise.

What I Do and Why It’s Different From Others

Pricing training is about the mechanics of charging. My work is about the psychology and there’s an ocean of difference.

It’s about the inner game: what’s going on inside the heads of your lawyers. Their confidence levels, their mindset, belief in their own value, self-worth and the fears that sit behind their charging behaviours.

And I don’t tell people what to do. I create a safe space for them to explore and share their challenges around charging so that they identify what is holding them back, challenge their thinking and change their behaviours.

Why It Works

First because I’m good at what I do.

Pause for a giggle.

But also, because it isn’t just training. It’s coaching.

What I do has been described many times as thought provoking, inspiring, motivating and empowering. It is also action focused.

The aim isn’t simply to give lawyers more information about pricing.
It’s to help them shift their thinking, so that they recognise their value and feel able to act on it.

They identify their own challenges, take ownership of them and change their behaviour.

“Vanessa was truly inspirational and motivational. She connected with everyone in the room and her valuable messages were delivered in an entertaining, easily accessible manner. One of the best courses I have been to in a long time.”

Mary Anne Fedeyko | Senior Partner, Thompson, Smith and Puxon

Summary

You can teach people the mechanics of pricing, but that won’t change how they feel or what they do when they’re faced with the fear or discomfort of actually talking to clients about their fees.

That’s the gap I help close: empowering lawyers to overcome their fear by understanding their value internally and changing their thinking and behaviours, so they can confidently communicate their value and get paid what they’re truly worth.

Result: More money on the bottom line. Less stress for law leaders.

More confidence, awareness and less stress for the lawyers.

A win/win.

Bye for now.

Vanessa

The post Am I the missing link to getting paid your true worth? first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

I’ve got something I’d love you to do for me…

Andy Cox — Thu, 08 Oct 2026 13:34:30 +0000

Buy a copy of my new book.

https://www.vanessaugatti.com/book
How to Get Paid Your True Worth Ethically Without Selling Your Soul

This book brings together 13 years of experience, learning and working with people around the challenges of pricing, value and getting paid what you’re worth.

It brings together my unique 9 Principle True Worth™ Methodology, practical tools and real-life stories to help you:
• Charge with greater confidence
• Build a profitable and sustainable business
• Have better conversations with clients about money
• Reduce the stress and awkwardness around talking about costs

And it’s not just for business owners. If you work in a client-facing role, becoming more confident talking to clients about costs can make your working life considerably less stressful and have a positive impact on your career prospects too.

At the heart of the book is my Magic Triangle, a simple but powerful framework for balancing:
• Client Value
• Business Value
• Personal Wellbeing

Because making more money shouldn’t require you to sacrifice your sanity, your values or your soul.

And here’s where you can make me really happy:
Buy one copy for yourself and one for a friend or colleague who you know would benefit.

Then please:
1. Read it
Yes, sadly I haven’t yet found a way of transferring the contents by
osmosis.
2. If you love it, leave a review on Amazon
Reviews really do make a difference.
3. Let me know you’ve done it.
I’d genuinely love to hear what you think.
4. Ask me to do something for you in return.

Like and comment on a post, make an introduction, share something with your network whatever I can reasonably do.

Together, let’s help everyone who is excellent at what they do feel confident charging their true worth.

So, if you’ve been meaning to get a copy…

This is your sign.

Thank you.

Vanessa
x

The post I’ve got something I’d love you to do for me… first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

Award-winner

Vanessa U — Tue, 11 Jun 2024 15:10:44 +0000

I was thrilled skinny to have won an award at the Legally Flushed Awards 2024 on 5 June 2024. To be recognised by an organisation within the very profession which I serve is wonderful.

Thank you to Joy Ogeh-Hutfield for nominating me and thank you to Imogen Robins who is the brainchild behind Legally Flushed. Pictured. The gentleman in the photo is Judge Nigel Lickley KC.

Its raison d’être is to enhance the lives of women in the legal profession.

Would you believe that clumsy clot here managed to trip on the leg of a chair as I was walking up to the stage and twisted my ankle. So, I needed help getting up on the stage!

I do hope no-one took a photo of that!

Had I been speaking that evening, I would have turned the incident into an icebreaker and immediately got the audience on side.

Back to Imogen who is one of the warmest, most humble people I know in the legal profession with a heart as big as a house and she’s a brilliant speaker too (and I don’t say that lightly as I’m not easily impressed!)

How lucky her clients are to have her.

I’m Vanessa and I help law firms get paid their true worth consistently and unapologetically while keeping their clients happy. If your firm frequently under-estimates, over-services or irrationally discounts, I can help you increase billing, recovery rates and confidence.

Ready to talk?

📞Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat on 00-44-12-02-743961

The post Award-winner first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

Leak 8 – Not getting paid

Vanessa U — Mon, 15 Apr 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Law firms: Making more money is easy when you stop the leaks.

In this series I have shared 8 short blogs on the leaks I have seen in law firms where they are needlessly losing hundreds of thousands of pounds. This is the final blog in the series.

Law firms: How much money is being lost in your firm due to unpaid bills?

Do you even know or care?

You’re not getting paid at all and no-one seems to be that bothered.

Whose responsibility is it to recover monies owing?

🟣Credit control?

🟣The relevant fee-earner?

🟣The Head of Department?

🟣Someone else?

🟣No-one?

Or are you all just passing the buck?

Look, I don’t want to be mean but if you really wanted to, you could eradicate bad debt altogether. It’s very simple.

Just follow the second R of my TRUE WORTH methodology which stands for:

💥Receive Remuneration – remittance at speed is just what you need.💥

How?

💧Get money on account – always!

💧Bill fortnightly or monthly. No excuses.

Until a job is paid, it is not complete.

AND make sure you get paid before the job is completed.

If your lawyers are not doing the above, you need me!

This is the last in the series of 8 leaks I see in law firms. Tomorrow, there will be a rather lovely post showing how the value of my work goes on months and months after training has been delivered.

Ready to talk?

📞Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat on 00-44-12-02-743961

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Leak 7 – Discounting at the end

Vanessa U — Mon, 08 Apr 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Law firms: Making more money is easy when you stop the leaks.

In this continuing series I am sharing 8 short blogs on the leaks I have seen in law firms where they are needlessly losing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Law Firms: Stop the madness – every year, law firms up and down the country are losing hundreds of thousands of pounds because their lawyers are discounting final bills.

Even if it’s only £10,000 per fee earner and you only have 10 fee-earners, that’s £100,000 pure profit, isn’t it?

And if you have 100 fee-earners, that’s a cool million.

Gone, never to be seen when it could have been yours.

Imagine that another million on your bottom line would do for your firm.

What could you do with that?

There are many behaviours which cause them to be losing money as you can see in the previous 6 posts about leaks.

🟣Do you have any idea how much they are discounting? Work out your own figure if you can. Make sure that you’re sitting down, though.

Are you happy with that? Surely the answer must be a resounding no!

🟣When they are discounting?

🟣How frequently they are discounting?

🟣And why they are discounting?

The question I am particularly interested in is WHY they are discounting.

Let me tell you a story about a client I worked with. He is a Senior Partner in a law firm.

💧His discounting habit was to knock £200 to £300 off every hourly rate paid invoice.

💧No discussion with the client.

💧No rationale behind it. Purely a knee-jerk, emotional reaction.

💧We worked out that he was probably losing around £16,000 a year just from this one behaviour.

💥I helped him to understand the value of the work he was doing for his clients.

💥I helped him to uncover the reasons why he was discounting.

💥I changed his perception.

💥He stopped discounting.

And I can achieve these sorts of results (and more) in my group training and coaching programmes too.

If you’re scratching your heads wondering how on earth you can solve this problem, then it’s simple, just get in touch with me.

Ready to talk?

📞Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat on 00-44-12-02-743961

The post Leak 7 – Discounting at the end first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

Leak 6 – Late billing

Vanessa U — Mon, 01 Apr 2024 11:00:00 +0000

Law firms: Making more money is easy when you stop the leaks.

In this continuing series I am sharing 8 short blogs on the leaks I have seen in law firms where they are needlessly losing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Law firms: How much WIP is on the clock at any one time and how long is it outstanding for?

The answers to these questions will determine the following:

🟣the state of your cash flow

🟣whether you get paid at all

🟣potentially increased discounting

🟣the firm’s stability

🟣how many complaints you receive

🟣the state of your stress levels

In my book, whatever your answers are, it’s too much and too long.

So why do lawyers NOT bill on time?

🧿because they don’t even think of it! Really? Yes really.

🧿because they’re too busy! Yep, I hear this one. It’s ridiculous.

🧿because they’re too scared. Because they haven’t billed regularly and they racked up a shed load of money, they’re worried what the client will say, so they don’t bill.

What’s the solution?

💧Get money on account – always!

💧Bill fortnightly or monthly. No excuses.

Until a job is billed, it’s not complete.

Under no circumstances, let the bills mount up.

If you’re not doing the above, you need me!

Ready to talk?

📞Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat on 00-44-12-02-743961

The post Leak 6 – Late billing first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

Leak 5 – Freebies

Vanessa U — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 12:00:00 +0000

Law firms: Making more money is easy when you stop the leaks.

In this continuing series I am sharing 8 short blogs on the leaks I have seen in law firms where they are needlessly losing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Law firms: Look I’m not saying you should never do anything for free, I’m just saying, you shouldn’t make an unconscious habit of it, otherwise you are throwing money away unnecessarily and making a rod for your own back.

When you work for free, the client doesn’t really value it, because they may not even notice it or if they do, they don’t consider its true value.

If they are a regular client, it then just becomes the norm and will be expected.

A habit is created which is very hard to break without outside, professional support.

NB: I am not saying never do anything for free. There may be occasions when this is warranted. However, it should be done in a way, so as not to be taken for granted.
Here’s my suggested approach.

A client asks for something extra, and you know it will take very little time to do it. They are a valued client and you’re happy to do it without charging. You say:

Normally, I would charge for this but as you are such a valued client, I am happy to do it for you on this occasion without charge.

However, can we just explore the value to you of me doing this?

That way, the client is very clear that

🟣 they are important

🟣 you don’t make a habit of doing stuff for free and

🟣 they understand the value of the extra work you are doing.

This is very different from an automatic habit of saying yes without any discussion. The former is born out of fear and the latter comes from a place of confidence.

Let me help you help your lawyers renounce working for free.

Ready to talk?

📞Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat on 00-44-12-02-743961

The post Leak 5 – Freebies first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

Leak 4 – The dreaded scope creep

Vanessa U — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 12:00:49 +0000

Law firms: Making more money is easy when you stop the leaks.

In this continuing series I am sharing 8 short blogs on the leaks I have seen in law firms where they are needlessly losing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Law Firms: Do you know that this is happening in your firm? I bet you do.

Scope creep happens because the scope changes (no shit Sherlock) and all too often, it’s not managed correctly so money is lost. It’s all too easy.

So why don’t lawyers manage this correctly? Probably one of four reasons:

🧿Because they don’t make it clear at the beginning of the project what happens if the scope changes.

🧿They don’t realise it has happened until it is too late, so they are then too embarrassed to go back to the client and talk about additional fees.

🧿If they do realise it, they don’t know what to say to the client.

🧿They lack confidence in having to talk about money in general which is a big part of why they don’t handle it properly in the first place.

So, what’s the solution?

🟣Teach them what to say, how to say it and when to say it.

🟣 Give them the confidence to do this, rather than listen to their wayward monkey mind.

🟣Sell them the benefits of doing this versus the pain of not doing it.

That is what I do.

Look out for leak 5 next week.

Ready to talk?

📞Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat on 00-44-12-02-743961

The post Leak 4 – The dreaded scope creep first appeared on The True Worth Expert.

Leak 3 – Leading with a discount

Vanessa U — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 12:00:34 +0000

Law firms: Making more money is easy when you stop the leaks.

In this continuing series I am sharing 8 short blogs on the leaks I have seen in law firms where they are needlessly losing hundreds of thousands of pounds.

Law firms: Do you know that this is happening and how much it’s costing you?

If your answer is yes, then that’s positive as without awareness, you cannot do anything about it.

However, if the answer is no, then that is very concerning.

I don’t really like being the bearer of bad news, but I have to say that in my conversations with law firm leaders over the last few years, I have discovered that this is a really common problem.

This means it is very likely taking place in your firm too, whether you know it or not!

Why do lawyers do this?

It really boils down to just a few things, yet they have a massive impact on your bottom line.:

🧿not being confident in having those fee discussions with clients

🧿don’t know what to say

🧿don’t understand their value

🧿fear-based thinking

🧿a habit

Even if you have the most up-to-date technology, this will not solve the problem. I’m not saying don’t have technology; it’s vital.

I’m just saying that it can’t make your lawyers do something they don’t feel confident doing.

What will you do then to solve this problem?

Will you just tell them to stop discounting?

That may work, but I doubt it.

Or will you give them training as to how to stop doing it?

I do hope it’s the latter. If so, do get in touch.

Ready to talk?

📞Get in touch today for a no-obligation chat on 00-44-12-02-743961

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