Do solicitors value their reputation as a marketing tool?
The following statement was made to me by a solicitor: ‘Clients often do not fully understand what they are buying, hence any client review is meaningless.’ I take the opposite view...
The following statement was made to me by a solicitor: ‘Clients often do not fully understand what they are buying, hence any client review is meaningless.’ I take the opposite view – it is because clients don’t know exactly what they’re buying that they rely on reviews from others.
A few observations to shape the discussion: people will ‘buy’ on reputation, but many law firms don’t seem to want to ‘sell’ themselves on that basis.
Is this part of that strange paradox where, collectively, solicitors seem sometimes not particularly highly ‘thought of’; but individually, between the client and the solicitor, the trust is absolute.
The bigger picture must be ‘how to leverage the role of the trusted adviser?’; to engage more regularly with clients and potential clients by providing services that clients would be happy to purchase from their legal advisers.
Competing on price makes no sense at all and client’s perceptions of value are certainly not just about the cost of legal advice.
Comments
There has to be a need...
Clients do not understand what they are buying? Surely they are using a law firm because they have a need. A law firm will be offering a solution to the problem that they have?
It is hard to sell a service to a client that does not have an underlying problem - you can't coerce somebody to lodge a claim if they have no problem can you?
It's not easy for law firms when they are providing solutions - the actual resolve can get lost amongst the myriad of forms and documents that have to be furnished to a client before work can actually commence. CFA's, client care letters etc all take precedent over the actual issue of solving the issue.
Besides, it must be submitted that the law is a complex subject. Perhaps it is akin to visit a cosmetic surgeon. You know what you want, but you don't know the specific details of which valves are snipped, the latin names of the bones are broken or the exact specifications of the laser beams that fire into your brow.
You know the results though, and if you are pleased with them, you will inform people of the quality of the work - you don't have to know every intricate detail.
This is the power of word of mouth and it should be encouraged. It plays a vital part in a legal marketing strategy and, moreover is incredibly cost effective.
Oliver Jones
The Legal Marketer
www.legalmarketer.co.uk
Reputation = what you are known for
I agree that reputation perfectly blends in the marketing mix of a company. However, the reputation is not an object one controls, it is the reflect of a company's image in the eyes of its surrounding environment. It's all about the logics of word-of-mouth. The most common way to handle a company's reputation is through a PR agency.
It is true that a good reputation is a great business accelerator!
Andrew Tilsiter
Reputation = What You Want To Be Known For
Of course you can control your reputation.
You should know exactly how what you want
people to think about your law firm and then
devise the strategy to make those thoughts
the outcome.
Everything you do apart from operations is marketing.
Therefore you examine everything to make sure
it's telling the story you want to tell.
It is not just PR. PR is just one small part of
the whole symphony.
If you want to be known as
"the friendliest law firm in England" this changes
the way you do things.
Same as if you want to be known as
"The only law firm that guarantees to get the
money you are owed in 28 days or you don't pay
us a penny."
Technical competence is assumed by the prospect and client.
It's up to you to make a name for yourself.
Good points!
Good points!
Aim for personal referrals
I agree with The Legal Marketer comments above. In my experience the most successful local law firms are those that have been built on their reputation in the community. Getting a personal, word of mouth referral is the best marketing there is (and of course the cheapest).
A good PR firm is certainly a necessary part of the puzzle and when that is backed up with glowing customer testimonials, you have a winner. I would encourage all firms to include testimonials in any ads they publish and on their website.
The first port of call that many people now use for evaluating a firm is the firm's website. This goes for national and local firms. People will not even bother to call if they think the website looks unprofessional or unfriendly.
Perception is reality
Jon's article is spot on. The comments about client perception of value are particularly true. Whether or not a particular client’s perception of their solicitor is accurate is sadly not the issue. For a client, perception is reality. Sadly most solicitors approach delivery of legal services from a solicitor's point of view -- when of course they should be considering client care from the client's point of view.
interesting - from the point
interesting - from the point of view of a Company Solicitor instructing outside firms if we got slain by another firm in a case we would always check them over with a view to instructing them next time (and there always was a next time) GM
A Website is part of your reputation: Yes!
The first port of call that many people now use for evaluating a firm is the firm's website. This goes for national and local firms. People will not even bother to call if they think the website looks unprofessional or unfriendly.
I agree, first impressions are everything, and a shabby-looking Website does not generate a desire to know more about the company behind it. The Web is the new encyclopedia universalis, so it's recommended to build a digital presence and give a heart-warming welcome to anyone looking for your expertise.
Andrew Tilsiter
Reputation
Interesting last point there from Andrew, one that I agree with. It raised a thought about online reputation...
...as well as the need to have an effective website, how many law firms monitor their presence across the internet as a whole? Regularly checking with appropriate searches - utilising Google alerts and other online networking/search tools - listings on review sites, newspaper sites, discussion forums etc locally and nationally?