If you can't beat 'em

It is difficult to pick up a legal publication these days which doesn't make reference to some aspect of the Legal Services Act 2007, now in the process of being implemented. When this revolution in the way legal services are delivered is all in force it will mean major change, and not only in the delivery of legal services; the market will be deregulated, and there will undoubtedly be new players competing for market share.

We have known that 'Tesco law', as it is commonly named, is on the way since the proposals were first revealed in the Queen's Speech in November 2006, but how many of the 9,000 law firms in England and Wales are actually thinking about whether and to what extent they need to adapt their business and their marketing strategies to deal with it?

When well-known brands enter the market themselves, as they inevitably will, solicitors will have to face up to the fact that these brands know their customers far better than their solicitors do, that the brands react to their customers far more quickly than solicitors do and that they retain considerably more information about their customers than solicitors do. Consumers generally expect higher standards of customer service, greater efficiency and improved price and quality with an established brand.

Of course, those observations don't apply to all medium-sized law firms but there is something in the concept of brand loyalty for us all to learn.

What customers want

Consumers don't consult solicitors often. Making a will, buying a house, getting a divorce '“ all are specific purchases. And they want someone who is professionally trained to do the job properly. But they also want to know not just how much it will cost, but that the final bill will match the quote they have been given. They want to know how long it will take, and be confident that they will be warned in advance and given an explanation if for some reason there is a delay. They want to understand in plain language what is being done. Unfortunately, solicitors haven't been particularly good at this, and they don't like it when there are complaints.

Not only will the brands make sure they deliver the legal services the consumers want, just as they provide other goods and services now; they will also provide them when the customers want them, meaning more services available online and out-of-hours, and more 'off-the-shelf' solutions.

In a survey by Which?, 75 per cent of adults said they thought it would be a good idea to get legal services at supermarkets or high street banks, and six in ten said they would consider doing this in the future. So those members of the profession who have had their heads in the sand cannot afford to wait any longer.

Reality bites

Everyone is affected by the recession in some way. And perhaps one good thing with the current economic climate is that those solicitors who have been burying their heads may now be more likely to face reality. For firms with major insolvency and employment departments, business is probably better than usual. But for most it is a very challenging time.

Property transactions and general commercial activities have decreased considerably. People are thinking more carefully before spending money and, when they are in the market to spend, are shopping around for expertise, service and competitive rates.

Solicitors I have spoken to have had to accept that their 'gravy train' is quite capable of coming to a halt suddenly, and that they need to think about the future. The reality is that within three years we shall see legal services being provided by non-law firms at highly competitive rates.

There are now an increasing number of different options for consumers who want to buy legal services. A search in Google for 'online legal services' returns almost ten million hits. The options available include the provision of documents for such services as making a will or forming a company, do-it-yourself divorces and employment contracts. Some services provide the toolkits; others include an element of vetting by a law firm.

One well-known brand has its own legal store selling books and information on varying types of legal services, even offering loyalty card points on purchases made. Another site offers answers to any legal question posed by a consumer. The questions will be answered by a solicitor or barrister with a satisfaction guarantee.

Networking for business

There are increasing opportunities for solicitors too. While the idea of networks of law firms is by no means new, in the past law firms have formed networks to enable greater buying power and to share opportunities for such activities as training and marketing. Historically the firms in these networks may have shared ideas and in some cases shared resources. Now however there are networks organised to generate work for their member firms. There are networks which exist to place advertisements in newspapers directed towards consumers and offering legal advice through the web or a 24/7 helpline phone number. These services are provided by the law firms in the network and the consumers who call are then routed through to them.

Clementi and other research however suggested that while consumers would indeed be more likely to buy legal services from their supermarket or their building society, those same consumers also preferred to buy locally even if they had to pay more to do so.

The network in which I am involved, The Legal Alliance, is an alliance of independent medium-sized law firms across England and Wales which have joined together to benefit from work which is to be delivered through affinity relationships with well-known brands. In this network, the consumer is not approached directly. Rather, the brand offers legal services to its customers and those services are then provided by the law firms in the network. The aim is to ensure that the service is operated locally wherever possible at a fixed price accompanied by the same standards of service that the consumer would expect from that brand.

Whatever law firms decide to do '“ and there are many options to choose from '“ now is the time to be doing it. At the very least they must be considering how best to offer clients legal services in the way they want them, trying to exceed their expectations and making sure the price is fair, transparent and preferably fixed. And most importantly law firms need to be developing ways of ensuring that when those clients next need a legal service they know who to turn to.

Since I retired from full-time legal practice I have delivered training in a number of law firms on a range of marketing skills designed to help generate new business including networking, communications and presentation skills. I have constantly been astonished in law firms where partners have readily admitted to me they don't know exactly what work other partners do and have asked for advice on how to put procedures in place to share that information. Without those fundamental procedures, how are these firms going to be able to retain clients and compete in the future? How are those solicitors going to take advantage of opportunities to sell legal services outside their own personal speciality?

Law firms need to look at the opportunities available to them, consider how they are going to position themselves in the future and make sure that all those years of training and development are not wasted.