I can imagine the growing volume of conversations across the country as people meet and chat about families and life in general.Conversations that lead to, ‘I saw the AA will do a divorce for 200 quid and it’s all on the computer so you see what you get…..’, or, ‘Oh solicitors are too expensive, I’m going to use the Saga legal thing for my will/LPA/divorce/complaint, when I get round to it…’.

Whatever you may think about this method of delivering legal solutions there is one key issue that underlies these new services. In advertising circles it’s referred to as ‘head space’ or ‘mind share’. Which service or brand is in the heads of potential consumers when they encounter a particular situation?

The AA and Saga, along with many other brands are promoting the benefits of their service to position themselves in that ‘head space’. They want to be seen as the first choice when one of their customers thinks ‘maybe I need some legal help with this’. The result is that traditional firms do not get an opportunity to compete, the AA and Saga systems capture the enquiry and are likely to hang on to it.

However, recent Solicitors Regulation Authority research indicates that consumers of legal services prefer the traditional image of a solicitor. I would suggest that in the heads of the public and small- and medium-sized enterprises here is a rather unclear but discernible image of a traditional solicitor that the new brands are trying to displace.

The challenge for solicitors' firms is to compete on a different level but using the same marketing management techniques, technology and their inherent advantages to at least remain as a choice in people’s thinking. In other recent articles, we have looked at marketing management and the technology tools available, including a similar technology platform to the system the big brands use. So how do solicitors firms compete differently when facing big brand promotional power?

Understanding what makes your firm different is a vital component in the competitive positioning. What are the benefits of your firm’s service from a consumer’s point of view when they come to thinking of seeing a solicitor? Each firm will be different and needs to spend time and effort to distil their benefits and communicate them to the clients they want in the future.

But those clients that start to use the branded services may not always be lost. The value of solicitors is in the advice that comes with the paperwork. While the new brand services have and will take some of the market, their promotional efforts raises the awareness of all legal services. Given the traditional view suggested by the SRA research and the complex nature of many legal solutions, people and SMEs will still want to have their solicitor. A local professional that’s available to help and advise them.

This presents a new type of client. One who has had a go with the online available resources but now needs some further help, locally and in person. To understand these clients have a look at the AA and Saga’s service. If you understand how that system works you will be in a better position to provide a suitable solution to the client.