A trustworthy source has informed me that TR Legal is no longer offering pay-as-you-go plans to mid-and large-sized firms. My guess is they are trying to motivate firms to subscribe to their service by contract, thereby guaranteeing a revenue stream for a fixed period of time. However, this is an extremely short-sighted move. As more firms move to a single provider model, it seems to me that the company on the losing end of that process would want to use any means at their disposal to keep a toe-hold in the firm. Remaining competitive requires that you expose as many people as possible to your product. Taking that option away effectively removes your company from competing on a go-forward basis. Those firms that chose other providers will lose any knowledge they have of your product over the length of the contract. In fact, it will result in a segment within the firm that has no history with your product. The end will result will be that contracts lost will not be likely to change providers at the end of the contract.

So what does this all mean? It means that either the market will be divided into those TR Legal and everyone else, with very little opportunity for TR to grow its market share in this space. I guess the folks in Dayton and Manhattan are thanking TR for doing them a favor. But it also means something else that disturbs me even more: TR Legal is blowing a huge raspberry to customers everywhere by showing how little they value their desire to provide TR Legal’s resources in a manner of their choosing.