The legal services market is entering a turbulent period in October 2011 with the relaxation of ownership of law firms permitting external investment opportunities. Some firms have embraced this, some have buried their heads in the sand and some not knowing what to do have signed up to a common identity considering that being part of something bigger will provide long-term stability.
Through the years, solicitors have allowed external providers to enter the legal services market and instead of protecting the 'profession' have in fact funded the growth of the competitor by paying for referred business and then in recent years deciding to rebrand and advertise their services mimicking the external business referrers, including the adoption of cartoon style characters to represent the ‘profession’.
In 1991 solicitors were permitted to advertise their services for the first time going beyond erecting a brass plaque at the door of their offices - starting with an advert in the phonebook, a mention in the yellow pages and perhaps the odd 'awareness' advertisement in the local press, we now see full page advertisements of solicitors alongside claims management companies, and yet today it is difficult to tell the difference between some solicitor adverts and that of a claims management company.
If the 'profession' does nothing it will become a long distant memory and the new entrants to the market will provide the only form of access to legal services. It will be cheap, it will be fast and it will be faceless.
Recent surveys indicate that the public is more likely to use a brand they know and trust for their legal service requirements rather than use a solicitor because of the jargon, the unknown cost factor and the impression that solicitors aren't as approachable as the brands they know. Interesting concept as the face they put to the alternative brands is the pleasant checkout girl in their local tesco!
Solicitors need to reinsert the word 'profession' in the service thereby creating a two tier legal system giving the consumer a choice between the cheap, fast and faceless service supplied by the new kids on the block or a professional service reserved for the consumer that requires a quality service, and who is prepared to pay more than s/he could have done at the checkout tills.
To regain 'profession' to the service offered by solicitors we should recognise the mistakes made along the way, work with the new kids (because now they're here, they're here to stay) but recognise the fact that they provide a different and inferior service.
Stand proud once again and recognise that you are a 'Solicitor' - a purveyor of fine quality legal services and resist the temptation to lose your professional identity.
Simon Oates is a director of Oates Consult Limited, a specialist business development and marketing consultancy for law firms and can be contacted on 0845 3 299 585 or via simon@oatesconsult.com. He can help firms to create a professional marketing brand through to developing new business, applying a collaborative approach to professionally marketing legal services.
Marketing for Law Firms
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