If You've Got It, Flaunt It
Did becoming Lexcel accredited or gaining any of the Law Society’s accreditations help in marketing your firm?
It’s not likely you’ve seen a flood of new enquiries or noticed many clients seeking you out directly because of these standards. We can blame the Law Society for not raising the public awareness, but in reality the cost to build that level of brand recognition would be huge.
So how can you squeeze some marketing advantage from your existing accreditations? I’m assuming you already have some mention of them on your leaflets, website etc but let’s revisit what you’re actually saying.
Analyse your text using these two easy techniques:
- Feature Vs Benefit – having any of the accreditations is a feature of the firm, but you need to be explicit in telling the client why it’s of benefit to them.
- WIIFM (What’s in it for me) Every time you mention an accreditation does it answer this question in a client’s mind!
You can vary the exact wording afterwards but my favourite phrase to use is “which means that.."
We have Lexcel Accreditation, the Law Society’s Practice Management Standard, which means that you benefit from:
- A clear explanation of what we can do to help, the options you have available and how long it will take.
- You will be kept up to date by phone/text/email, which ever you prefer, so you’ll know what’s happening and what the next stages are.
- We’ll let you know as soon as possible if anything is likely to affect the original estimate we provided, which means no nasty surprises.
- We will let you know if we do not have the expertise to provide help on a particular area of law so that you can select a firm with the experience you need.
- If you are unhappy in any way we have a complaints procedure in place, which means we will investigate any issue reported to us and let you know the outcome.
Where did I come up with this from? The good old Law Society, just adapted slightly. http://www.lawsociety.org.uk/for-the-public/quality-marks/legal-practice/
If you have CQS….
We have the Conveyancing Quality Scheme Accreditation….
- Which means that we can act for all mainstream mortgage lenders
- Which means your mortgage lender won’t need to use a separate firm to act for them
- Which means that you’re not having to pay for two firms
- Which means the process will be as efficient as possible
- Which means there’ll be fewer delays and you’ll move home sooner
- Which means your children will get into the school you want next year
An exaggeration of course, but the point is valid.
Final thought. I started off using the example the content in your marketing materials, but where this is really valuable is in your enquiry handling over the phone, face to face and on quotes. It’s a horrible phrase, but ‘sell don’t tell’ is exactly right when it comes to explaining why a client should instruct you.