Winning with benefits
Thursday 18 June 2009 by Alastair Moyes
If you don’t tell people the benefits of the services you offer, they can’t make an informed choice between using a solicitor or an alternative service. This issue is highlighted by this week’s Gazette news item reporting a link between the Bereavement Advice Centre and a commercial service. That link was a method of capturing enquiries that allowed the company to present the benefits of their services including a price or cost comparison.
There are other examples of cost comparisons I have used in Marketlaw seminars from big brand legal service suppliers, including Halifax Legal Solutions and others that deal with both domestic and commercial legal services. When I’ve presented the figures to the solicitors, there is usually an immediate response pointing out that their firm is cheaper, or at least competitive.
Having considered the price point, we can look at the benefits that come from traditional solicitors being highly trained, trusted and experienced professionals – regulated and insured, and ready to discuss legal problems directly with clients by phone or in person at their (usually) local offices. In these circumstances, you can see that a well-informed potential client should have no difficulty in choosing your firm over the new competition. So where is the problem?
Where the new, big brand legal services will win their business is through relentless promotion of the suite of benefits based around price. They will link their services into any place (physical world or the web) where there is an opportunity to present their benefits. If, as I suggest, traditional solicitors’ firms (general practice or a specialist) have a greater number of benefits to offer, then all they need do is promote these benefits clearly to a defined group of potential clients (past clients first). They will then have more than enough business to survive and prosper.
This is very easy to say but often difficult to achieve. However, the answer is simple. Every letter, leaflet, brochure, newsletter and web page is an opportunity to present your firm’s benefits and win business. Don’t spend too much time thinking about it – the new competition is already out there, finding ever more clever ways to win.
Comments
benefits....c'mon let's be having some
Ok benefits are cool - we know that.
So let's use the Wisdom of the Crowd to come up with a list
of benefits to using a solicitor rather than a legal services provider.....
I'll start and maybe if 50 people contribute over the next 10 days we'll have a brilliant list.
1 You can visit your local solicitor and speak face to face.......
Next anyone?
benefits 2
2. You can prove benefits by getting testimonials from local people that use you - local is more believable.
especially video...like www.fsp-law.com do....(which helps you with your Google ranking too...they've jumped up to 5 place on Google for organic search for "solicitors in Reading" neat huh?
PS anyone else for number 3
It's FAB - No. 3
When you're considering what the benefits of a particular services are, remember FAB: Features, Advantages & Benefits.
A serivce has features that convey an advantage that leads to a benefit! Clients buy the benefits of the service, not the features or the advantages. An example of a benefits statement:
"Our experience means you don't have to worry about ......."
Alastair Moyes
lawgazetteblog@marketlaw.co.uk
Benefits..
Are you giving me a marketing lesson Alistair?
No one has written any benefits yet (and you may say I've written features not benefits)
So, let's start again...
1 You can visit your local solicitor and speak face to face which is a BENEFIT because the last thing you want is someone at the end of a telephone misunderstanding what you want to happen.
2 Because we are a local firm we know how the planning department works and this is a BENEFIT to you when it comes to getting your plan approved.
3 The BENEFIT of working with us as a local firm is that we will come round to your house and work with you on estate planning, going over all the documents you have at home.
4 The BENEFIT of working with a local firm is that you know you can trust us because we have already worked for people you know in your street.
5 The BENEFIT of working with us is that we already work with Romans Estate Agents and have done for many years, so you're getting two people that work together on a regular basis which means you've got the best possible team taking care of your property...
marketing lessons
My apologies for the confusion, my comments are directed at the readers, not your marketing abilities.
Customer service
Have we missed a major point?
The big providers will offer much, much better customer service than almost all law firms.
It doesn't even have to be very good to be better than most!
If we use conveyancing as an example, people regard that as a thing to buy at the best price with as little bother as poss. Balls to "benefits" for that sort of purchase.
Value added services, then you're talking. I know property lawyers will go on about what value they add but the public don't--and I think never will--get it.
Benefits
I have long admired Andrew Woolley's Emperor's new clothes approach.
I think he is pretty accurate in his view on perceived benefits in the Conveyancing market. The market is almost exclusively dominated by estate agent referrals or recommendations and the internet.
The recent survey on behalf of the SRA, and headlined in the Gazette, maintained that 26% would now be likely to decide on their solicitor from the internet alone.
My opinion is that on the Internet, benefits are being replaced by content. The result being that a content rich and ineractive site will be more likely to win you an instruction than the espousal of so called benefits alone. Obviously, it is still important to broadcast benefits, but it is going to take much more than that to win the instruction. Added value will be in the eye of the internet surfer as they compare the "look and feel" of competing websites". Price as always is a factor but value much more important.
And I speak as someone who has, literally overnight, received my first conveyancing instruction online.
Benefits
Congratulations on your first instruction. I've got a feeling it won't be your last.
You are right about quality content that turns a prospect into a buyer.
As well as helping you with search engines etc great content will always be read. No matter
how long it is. And you don't have to write the content - it can be user generated.
May I make a suggestion? When you successfully do the business for this
customer grab your video camera, (a Flip will do at £70) and upload a video
to YouTube of your happy client. Stick this on your website. And everytime someone comes along
looking for a conveyancing solicitor they'll see this happy client of yours. That's social proof and is
one of the key influencers.
You can also shoot your own 2 minute video about how you do conveyancing. Video is a great tool.
http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/video_scripts_for_lawyers
Another influencer is the psychology of compare and contrast, so you are right once again that people compare sites, content and feel. And they also like it when you offer a USP which can be a simple as a weekly email update on what you have done so far for the client. Is there something you can expressly say you do that answers the question, "Why should I choose you?"
http://www.greatlegalmarketing.co.uk/LawyersUniqueSellingProposition
Never be the lowest price supplier of services. It's a one way street. There's always someone cheaper. And what do you do then?
All this reminds me of a law firm that did a weekly newsletter for estate agents. I think it was a take off of the Racing Post. With competitions, sports and stuff about getting houses sold and sorted quickly. It helped a lot with referrals from Estate Agents.