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.