Law Practice Management Asked and Answered Blog
Category: Advantage
Nov 17, 2009
What Can We Do To Be Different
Question: During a recent firm meeting one of our partners asked what the firm could do to be different than every other law firm. What are your thoughts?
Response:
Creating a competitive advantage that is sustainable over time is difficult at best. It is so easy for your competitors to copycat your recent innovations. Clients of law firms advise us that they hire the lawyer – not the firm. However, this only partly true. The firm – its image – its brand – provides a backdrop for the individual attorneys marketing efforts as well – makes marketing easier – and provides backup and bench strength that many clients require before retaining a lawyer.
In general the law firm is faced with the dual challenge of developing a reputation (brand) at both the firm and the individual lawyer level. In general – client delivery practices and behaviors that are part of the firm's core values and have been burned into the firm's cultural fabric are the hardest to copycat.
Areas in which you can consider differentiation strategies:
- Services offered clients
- Fee pricing (amount and method)
- Methods of producing, staffing, and all other aspects of service delivery
- Promotional methods used and messages used
- Client service
- Managing client expectations
John W. Olmstead, MBA, Ph.D, CMC
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