I regularly meet solicitors who have just launched new law practice websites and ask me to have a look. Normally, it passes the 'one second test' in that it 'looks' good. By this I mean that at first very swift glance, the designers have done a good...
Do you have clients or customers? Traditionally, professionals have been quite keen on emphasising that they have 'clients', not 'customers' - and with good reason - the term 'client' implies that the service being provided is professional, is tailored, that there is loyalty involved and that...
It seems that most law practices now recognise the primary importance of the customer experience to their appeal and therefore emphasise service attributes on their websites. The problem is that all these claims look or sound the same. How many of these numerous claims actually work as marketing messages? ...
Marketing and business development in small practices is always a struggle. It's a time management challenge as much as anything: the burden falls predominantly on practice principals - who have to do everything else as well - so marketing and BD often suffers as being...
Does your practice marketing seem to be getting more difficult? Are you struggling to understand why your activities aren't getting the traction that they once did, or that you hoped for? The fact is that you're probably doing a lot of the right stuff, or at...
The most recent Commonwealth Bank legal market pulse identified 'negotiating price with clients' as one of the most challenging business elements in legal practice. This probably isn't too surprising in the current climate. What is slightly more surprising is that more law practices don't invest in developing...
(Am I too early with the Xmas theme? No, I thought not!) The rules of referrals have changed a lot in recent years. Where referrals used to be reactive, informal, occasional, non-exclusive and personal, they are now proactive, formal, strategic, exclusive, and commercial/organisational, with practices increasingly locking themselves...
I've written a lot in recent blogs about the increasing need to differentiate your practice in order to both survive and prosper. Whilst for many, this poses a great challenge, it also poses a great opportunity: the opportunity to do more interesting work! With clients becoming...
Just enjoyed a nice couple of days down in Melbourne and took in the 'Bowie Is' exhibition at the ACMI. He operates in a different world to most of us, but his creativity transcends barriers and lawyers could and should learn a lot from him....
One of the most difficult decisions when starting up a new practice is to decide on the practice name: should you name (or rename) the practice after yourself, or alternatively go for an impersonal 'corporate' brand? There are many considerations, and both good and bad reasons for...