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Is your marketing budget actually delivering a return?
“Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted: the trouble is I don’t know which half.” Marketing pioneer John Wanamaker may have been forgiven for his lack of insight into his advertising budget back in the late 19th century, but what of today’s marketers? Surely in today’s data-driven age, accessing and utilising marketing budget data is commonplace? But in a world where there is a plentiful supply of data and information to aid marketing planning and decision making, it was quite shocking to see in new research that so many firms are investing in marketing activities that they openly admit are neither important nor effective.
Succeeding online – what lawyers want to know
Before you spend any money, it’s vital that you understand where your audience is and what the most effective channels for reaching them are. No matter what your budget is, you want to make sure that you are using it smartly. For sure, depending on your area of practice and location(s), the level of budget required to gain and maintain online prominence can vary quite dramatically, but in our experience, smaller firms can compete with their larger, more illustrious neighbours for prime online real estate by spending smarter.
Why legal regulators need to get their geek on
As a regulator with a proud history of supporting innovation in the delivery of legal services, we’re keen to support lawyers who want to find new ways of responding to changing client expectations and who harness new tools to do so. That’s why we have set up a collaboration with Legal Geek and its network of legal tech entrepreneurs. We are excited to explore with them how the delivery of legal services is likely to evolve over the coming months and years so that we are ready to support innovation in the interests of consumers, licensed conveyancers and other lawyers.
The moment of panic that can end a career
Solicitors are a very honest, law-abiding bunch, as they should be. All but a tiny handful carry out their duties with absolute propriety and never stray from compliance with numerous professional rules, or break the law. That said, anecdotally, there has been an uplift in recent years in the number who falsify documents, sometimes to cover up small but consequential errors that are difficult to admit to clients or colleagues. So what might explain it?
Why are law firms still so bad at sales?
How good are law firms at communicating with their clients? It’s a deeply intriguing question which has certainly given us pause for thought; and inspires us to conduct our secret shopper research each year. This year’s research suggests that there’s still an anti-sales mentality in many law firms. In fact, our contact details were taken on just 36% of the secret shopper calls we made to law firms about a new enquiry. And we received a sales follow-up on less than a quarter of these calls! Although our research found some progressive firms, these are in the minority; the sales function must be an integral part of the modern law firm if it is to survive and compete with them. So how come law firms still don’t have effective sales communications?
Building a strong business case for IT investment
Investment in IT is necessary for forward-thinking law firms looking to succeed in today’s market. However, the value of IT is often under-appreciated and seen as just another overhead by senior management. It’s therefore important to understand how to write a convincing business case that helps decision makers understand why IT investments are necessary and the potential impact on the firm’s ability to compete.
Are you prepared for the ‘must do’ period?
Are you feeling the effects of being back at work yet? Holidays are over for most and we are instead daydreaming of the summer gone… I can still smell sun tan lotion. But the autumn is now upon us. And with it, the subconscious knowledge that a busy period is around the corner. This is the watershed moment in our working year that occurs in September: when the holidays are over and everyone gears up for the return to work rested, refreshed, with a ‘must do’ attitude.
The ethics of the SRA’s social media warning notice
Social media portals are regularly used by firms and those who work for law firms in both professional and personal capacities. Their informal nature and the fast pace of use makes it all too easy for regulated people to get carried away with online discussions or comments which can fall foul of the regulator. This is more likely to happen on social media platforms as these are virtual, accessed in the solicitor’s own time and space. It can be easy to forget that solicitors are regulated just the same at 11pm on their home computer as they are at 3pm in the office or at court.
The battle to remain relevant
The future is now. We all face a battle to remain relevant and change must be embraced. Law firms and lawyers who are agile of thought and action will continue to prosper. The days of a discrete brass plaque as the only calling card for business are gone. The internet is your new shop front, and it’s open 365 days a year, 24 hours a day as customers look for and assess you. Even normal routes to business, such as referrals from friends, will be impacted by the internet. No matter the recommendation, it will become the norm to assess a business online before engaging them. If you aren’t talking to them in a way that they value online, you may one day be pulling down the shutters for the final time.
Law firms and Google – the future is now
The internet is revolutionising every aspect of our lives – and the pace of change will continue to increase. All of society is feeling the impact, and the legal landscape isn’t immune. The internet is changing how lawyers work, communicate, win business and retain business. In 2017, how can lawyers and law firms remain relevant to their audience, an audience almost permanently connected to the internet? The pace of change is so rapid that it can be easy to think that things have always been as they are now – we are used to relentless technological change but it wasn’t always this way.
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