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Don’t Engage in Monkey See, Monkey Do Law Firm Marketing

There are a lot of lawyers out there, and the landscape is very competitive. For that reason, it can be very hard to stand out. The general public already sees lawyers as commodities, and in their eyes, you are the same as everybody else. Allowing that to happen can relegate you to competing on price (which is a race to the bottom) or desperately trying to answer every phone call on the first ring (which is very disruptive).

It can also cause you to engage in an endless cycle of oneupmanship with your competition. This was a common practice in the phone book days, where lawyers would buy larger and larger ads every year to get to the head of the line and look more impressive. On top of that, the ads designed by the phone book companies would often be rather generic, and thus not stand out to the person flipping through the pages.

Added to that is the tendency for us to look and see what our competition is doing, and then do the same thing figuring it must be working for them. This is also a path to mediocrity. When you do the same thing as everyone else, you are by definition average. A colleague of mine in Virginia calls this “Monkey See, Monkey Do Marketing.”

Don’t Be Average

But you don’t want to be average; you want to be unique.

In order to do that, though, you need to have what’s called a unique selling proposition (USP). Essentially what you are defining is: What’s so special about you? Why should someone hire you rather than some other lawyer?

If you imagine a Venn diagram of three circles that are:

    • What you’re great at
    • What your potential clients want
    • What your competition does

The intersection of those three circles is where you need to target your USP.

For Example . . . A Quiz

Part of my practice involves expungements. There are many different rules and criteria in New Jersey that have to be navigated in order to determine if someone can get charges cleared from their record. My competition had articles and FAQs that discuss these rules, but they left the visitor on their own to figure out whether they could succeed.

I, on the other hand, added a quiz to my web site that asked questions to lead them through the process. If their path took them in a negative direction, it would explain to them why they would most likely not get an expungement (but they should contact me to be sure – for a consultation fee).

If it was in a positive direction it would tell them they had a good chance of succeeding (and they should contact me ASAP to discuss it further – for a free consultation). At no point did the quiz give actual legal advice; it always recommended they contact me. But the quiz did have certain benefits:

    • It helped the site visitor gauge their chances of success
    • It helped to preselect good leads and repel the bad ones (who wouldn’t want to pay the consultation fee just to find out they’re out of luck)
    • It set me apart from everyone else

Do Your Homework on Your Competition

Do a little research on your competition. Check out their websites, if they have them, as well as other advertising, slogans, etc. In essence, whatever message they’re giving in their marketing. Find out what they’re doing . . . .

and then do something else.

Do something that sets you apart, that makes you different. Do that in all of your marketing. In anything that you do, you need to convince them that you’re the one that they should hire.

So do your research and figure that out. Figure out why you’re the one they should hire. In the end, the less they see you as a commodity, the better off you are. Your goal is to ensure that by the time they pick up the phone to call you, they already know that you’re the one that they want to hire. You’re not just like anybody else.

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Need More?

Have you been struggling with identifying your USP? I can help! Just click on this link to schedule an initial, no obligation call with me to discuss your situation and how I can bring you clarity on how you differ from your competition.

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Author

Steven J. Richardson

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