The competition between legal networks is becoming more intense by the week. The stream of new entrants continues, their marketing campaigns are increasing in size and there is a growing acceptance that they are a permanent part of the new legal landscape.
I’m not going to debate any specific names out there, but I am interested in how a network could create long term value for high street law firms, in addition to economies of scale in promotional activity.
Q) What do most high street firms lack?
A) Commerciality*
At present I’m not aware of any networks that actually have a programme in place to help their members become more commercially focused, operationally lean and marketing savvy. The merits of blanket advertising for legal services has yet to be proven, but assuming this meets the objective of raising awareness of the firm and generating enquiries what happens next?
A dedicated business consultant for member firms could be a key point of differentiation for legal networks. By this I do not mean a sales person, but a professional business advisor who can assist the firm across a range of areas including:
- Client service
- Operational efficiency
- Marketing
- Finance
- Strategic human resource management
A tall ask for anyone perhaps, but many management consultants will charge upwards of £1000 per day to advise on such matters. Having a dedicated resource for members who will actually assist in the development and implementation of new ways of working would be of huge significance for many firms, who could not afford to have such a person on a full time basis.
For this to succeed of course, member firms would need to accept that change is not only necessary, but welcome - and that’s another article altogether.
*Not based on statistical research but my interactions with hundreds of high street firms, the majority of which recognise and tell me that they need to be more commercial in running their practices.
We'll be interested in reading your thoughts on this and welcome feedback to connect2law@pannone.co.uk.
