Is your law firm a Thorntons or a Hotel Chocolat?
Thorntons was a well respected, long standing, high street brand but its reputation has taken a battering this week as we heard the news that is in serious financial trouble. What has this got to do with law marketing you may ask. Well, I drew some parallels because Thorntons' bosses blame the crippling cost of running their high stores and say they are placing their faith in the internet, franchises and supermarkets going forward.
Furthermore, Jonathan Hart, Thorntons' new chief executive says he now wants customers to buy chocolates as a gift all year round, not just at Easter, Christmas, Valentine's Day and Mother's Day, the traditional high points of this highly seasonal business. Some commentators put it down to a confused brand and hot competition from Hotel Chocolat.
Tough economic times produce winners and losers and the challenge for law marketing experts is to identify what clients want and where they want to buy it. Thorntons has finally seen the light and it may not be too late to implement a strategy to save its own skin but many law firms won't be so lucky if they fail to move with the times.
There are two key points in Hart's strategy:
1. All year round services: Lawyers will do well to take Hart's advice and apply it to their own law marketing strategy. It makes good financial sense to have a pipeline of work coming in all year round. Better still, if you can retain commercial clients you can insulate your firm against the vagaries of boom and bust.
2. Being in the right place at the right time: The message I take from Jonathan Hart's strategy is that he clearly believes there is money to be made in retail, it is a case of being in the right place at the right time with the right product to gain the sale.
If your law firm is on the High Street it may not be convenient for your client to visit your offices and if your clients use the internet to manage their business, then they are attracted to lawyers who can offer them the flexibility of online services. Successful firms have acknowledged this development as a fact and taken appropriate action. As a result, they will attract business from the most proactive firms, the innovators and the winners. Has your firm done likewise... can you afford not to?
Many marketing experts believe that if you fail to demonstrate to your clients that you care enough to make their lives easier then they will do business with your switched on competitor whose law marketing strategy takes account of the basic rules of good business and the buying trends of its target market. That theory is borne out by the Thorntons story.
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I recently spoke with Lara King of BBC Radio Humberside on the subject of Employment Law. Click on the Play button, above, to hear the interview.