WiththethreatofdirectaccessandASSfirms,whatcansolicitors...
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With the threat of direct access and ASS firms, what can solicitors do to improve their marketing and image with the public? Leeds and Yorkshire Lawyer asked two experts for their opinion. Chrissie Lightfoot is CEO of legal consultancy EntrepreneurLawyer Limited and author of the groundbreaking book 'The Naked Lawyer: RIP to XXX - How to Market, Brand and Sell YOUf'. More information can be found at www.entrepreneurJawyer.co.uk Natalie Rodgers is the managing director at Scala, the business development consultants specialising in the legal sector. Visit www.scaJa.uk.com or email na ta lie rodge [email protected] Last month, Lawyers2You (the franchise operation that delivers competitvely priced access to local solicitors and offers free initial legal advice) became the latest customer-facing legal brand to have set up shop in Leeds. . It's yet another reminder for firms to dedicate thinking time to their marketing strategy. But what sort of things should law firms be giving priority too over the coming months? Here are Scala's three top choices. Social media should be top of this list. Firms need to focus on harnessing the power of social media to communicate their key marketing messages and establish dialogue with their clients. There is no doubt that most firms have Twitter accounts but a quick spot check of one of Leeds leading law firms revealed that they only managed one tweet recently o.ver a one month period. Another priority.should be consistently delivering excellent customer service. Research carried out by the Institute of Customer Service demonstrates that there is a direct correlation between market share growth and customer satisfaction. It sounds obvious but firms aren't making the grade. The YouGov survey commissioned by the Legal Services Panel (published in May this year) revealed that only 70% of recent users of legal services felt 'they were treated as individuals rather than as just another file'. This figure had been 75% in 2011. And finally, for B2B law firms, make sure that staff are utilising Linkedl n to its full effect. Anecdotally I frequently hear stories about how initial communications through Linkedln are ultimately converted into instructions. Spend time getting profiles 100% complete and ensure that they include a comprehensive description of the work undertaken and expertise. Crucially, action your 'profile views'. Call me sad, but I get quite excited when someone views my profile. Why? It means that I am being found by prospective clients. So don't be afraid to send a Linkedln request to people who you know have checked out your profile. It is, and will continue to be, a volatile, highly competitive, price sensitive, technological, digitised, dynamic and challenging legal market. Accordingly, marketing efficiently and effectively is more important now than ever to position the firm accurately and prominently in the chosen market to be of real val.ue to existin9, potential and latent buyers of legal advice. Now that the Legal Services Act 2007 and the Alternative Business Structure (ABS) model as an attractive alternative to traditional corporate governance is in full flow, non-lawyers entering the legal profession and legal industry providing alternative forms of legal advice - whether commoditised or non-commoditised, regulated or non-regulated products and services; offline and/or on line - is now a reality. Quality marketing and raising brand awareness ought to be a solid pre-requisite to sales and be party to the entire client experience embracing extraordinary customer relationship and service throughout the entire sales process. Accordingly, new trends which solicitors need to be aware of include 'Unsales' and 'Unmarketing' (relationship sales and relationship marketing) epitomised by the increasing use of social media and social networking to effect the same as a communication, marketing, sales and customer relationship tool in the'Did to attract and retain customers. Lawyers are increasingly expected to be social media and social network savvy. to the extent that tomorrow's lawyers will not even get passed the CV check in the HR department. Notably, over a third of law firms now have some form of social media advisor. In addition, we are witnessing the increasing use of sophisticated 'marketing technology' by innovative law firms in the form of Customer Relationship Management (and Client Analytics) systems alongside pricing and billing systems to monitor, analyse, identify and continually 'touch' clients of value. Such systems are proving crucial to aid informed decision-making in relation to tendering, pitching, target market, sector and niche focus, the best use of marketing budgets and evaluation of growth plans. Going forward, new sexy players, often with non-lawyer involvement and in some cases with telecommunications and/or retail marketing savvy, are pioneering new entrepreneurial 'business of law' models. These competitors will continue to disrupt many legal sectors with affordable, accessible, no-nonsense, jargon-busting and 'comfort giving' legal services. scala business development - - - Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer I Issue 115 33
Transcript of WiththethreatofdirectaccessandASSfirms,whatcansolicitors...
With the threat of direct access and ASS firms, what can solicitorsdo to improve their marketing and image with the public? Leedsand Yorkshire Lawyer asked two experts for their opinion.
Chrissie Lightfoot is CEO of legal consultancyEntrepreneurLawyer Limited and author of thegroundbreaking book 'The Naked Lawyer: RIP to XXX - Howto Market, Brand and Sell YOUf'. More information can befound at www.entrepreneurJawyer.co.uk
Natalie Rodgers is the managing director at Scala,the business development consultants specialisingin the legal sector. Visit www.scaJa.uk.com or emailna ta lie rodge [email protected]
Last month, Lawyers2You (the franchise operationthat delivers competitvely priced access to localsolicitors and offers free initial legal advice) becamethe latest customer-facing legal brand to have set upshop in Leeds. .
It's yet another reminder for firms to dedicate thinkingtime to their marketing strategy.
But what sort of things should law firms be givingpriority too over the coming months?
Here are Scala's three top choices.Social media should be top of this list. Firms need
to focus on harnessing the power of social mediato communicate their key marketing messages andestablish dialogue with their clients. There is no doubtthat most firms have Twitter accounts but a quick spotcheck of one of Leeds leading law firms revealed thatthey only managed one tweet recently o.ver a one monthperiod.
Another priority.should be consistently deliveringexcellent customer service. Research carried out by theInstitute of Customer Service demonstrates that thereis a direct correlation between market share growth andcustomer satisfaction. It sounds obvious but firms aren'tmaking the grade. The YouGov survey commissionedby the Legal Services Panel (published in May this year)revealed that only 70% of recent users of legal servicesfelt 'they were treated as individuals rather than as justanother file'. This figure had been 75% in 2011.
And finally, for B2B law firms, make sure that staffare utilising Linkedl n to its full effect. Anecdotally Ifrequently hear stories about how initial communicationsthrough Linkedln are ultimately converted intoinstructions.
Spend time getting profiles 100% complete andensure that they include a comprehensive description ofthe work undertaken and expertise.
Crucially, action your 'profile views'. Call me sad, butI get quite excited when someone views my profile.Why? It means that I am being found by prospectiveclients. So don't be afraid to send a Linkedln request topeople who you know have checked out your profile.
It is, and will continue to be, a volatile, highly competitive,price sensitive, technological, digitised, dynamic andchallenging legal market.
Accordingly, marketing efficiently and effectively is moreimportant now than ever to position the firm accuratelyand prominently in the chosen market to be of real val.ue toexistin9, potential and latent buyers of legal advice.
Now that the Legal Services Act 2007 and theAlternative Business Structure (ABS) model as anattractive alternative to traditional corporate governance isin full flow, non-lawyers entering the legal profession andlegal industry providing alternative forms of legal advice -whether commoditised or non-commoditised, regulated ornon-regulated products and services; offline and/or on line- is now a reality.
Quality marketing and raising brand awareness oughtto be a solid pre-requisite to sales and be party tothe entire client experience embracing extraordinarycustomer relationship and service throughout the entiresales process. Accordingly, new trends which solicitorsneed to be aware of include 'Unsales' and 'Unmarketing'(relationship sales and relationship marketing) epitomisedby the increasing use of social media and socialnetworking to effect the same as a communication,marketing, sales and customer relationship tool in the'Didto attract and retain customers.
Lawyers are increasingly expected to be social mediaand social network savvy. to the extent that tomorrow'slawyers will not even get passed the CV check in the HRdepartment. Notably, over a third of law firms now havesome form of social media advisor.
In addition, we are witnessing the increasing use ofsophisticated 'marketing technology' by innovative lawfirms in the form of Customer Relationship Management(and Client Analytics) systems alongside pricing and billingsystems to monitor, analyse, identify and continually'touch' clients of value. Such systems are proving crucialto aid informed decision-making in relation to tendering,pitching, target market, sector and niche focus, the bestuse of marketing budgets and evaluation of growth plans.
Going forward, new sexy players, often with non-lawyerinvolvement and in some cases with telecommunicationsand/or retail marketing savvy, are pioneering newentrepreneurial 'business of law' models. Thesecompetitors will continue to disrupt many legal sectorswith affordable, accessible, no-nonsense, jargon-bustingand 'comfort giving' legal services.
scalabusiness development
---Leeds & Yorkshire Lawyer I Issue 115 33
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