What are you trying to say?
How much of the material produced to reflect you or your firm is WOW, memorable or gasp-worthy?
Does it leave you feeling: “OMG what an amazing piece of design etc.”
Design is not just branding but so little thought is given to the emotional connection of a business card, a brochure, a pamphlet or even such mundane things as the carpet at the entrance to your offices. But design has the power to move, to inspire and leaves an impression that no amount of free offers or half-baked marketing guff can live up to.
Think Big ~ Your Success Manifesto
Reserved, cautious, status quo: The touchstone of (professional) practice.
To think anything other than now, or, in a lot of cases, casting your net back to the halcyon days of practice, is in flagrant disregard to the ‘hold on’ mentality that has inculcated its way into the way you do business.
Absent legislative change, would you really look to embrace innovation, change or difference?
Imagine if you were starting out in business right now. Are you (seriously) suggesting that you would approach the market in the same, nervous way?
Making the most of FAQ’s
Frequently Asked Questions (in case you are wondering) can be a wonderful device to drive lead generation and conversion i.e. more paying clients to your door.
Every practice area, even the most obscure, will have a set of standard issues – legal, procedural or commercial – that practically every client will wish to explore with you either in person, by telephone or by email. Unless you are newly qualified or practising in a new area, you can predict, with an increasing degree of accuracy, exactly what they are going to ask.
A Good Old Fashioned S.W.O.T. Analysis
S ~ Strengths
W ~ Weaknesses
O ~ Opportunities
T ~ Threats
When it comes to understanding your firm’s business model, the SWOT analysis is amongst a plethora of stock-in-trade but highly maneuverable tools at your disposal. That said it never ceases to amaze me how few firms have taken the time and or trouble to analyse the likely investment in a new practice area using a SWOT analysis. Perhaps it is too simplistic but complex doesn’t abet better and if anything knowing where you stand in the line of competition is invaluable.
The Hierarchy of Lawyer Preference
There is a definite order:
- You are the best in the business.
- You are the only one with the expertise.
- I am paying you to do a Job.
- You are my lawyer.
- I want you on my side.
- You come (highly) recommended.
- I found you by chance.
- Because I have to.
Is your Brand REMARKABLE?
I am hooked on the word REMARKABLE?
It is one on of those words which evinces of something outside our normal thinking.
Law firm branding is not founded on any science. It has grown by accident. And for most partners it is just there.
In many ways, it does no more than provide a roof over their heads.
Is apathy the New marketing strategy for law firms?
Pardon?
Double pardon?
No, I don’t mean you – the internal market. I mean should you be focused on those people who don’t like change.
Even though as a nation we are prone to look for the best deals, on-line or otherwise, there is still a significant cohort of the population who don’t like change. They have banked with the same institution for 20+ years. They have used the same utilities supplier. And they make a routine out of going to the same prized shop because they can’t be bothered to shop around.
