Increasing use of the internet and recommendations when looking for solicitor

More and more consumers are embracing the Internet as a route to finding a solicitor, according to new independent research from YouGov PLC for Legallybetter.com

While recommendations from friends, relatives, and colleagues are still by far the most important method of choosing a law firm or solicitor, Web sources are the next most important channels.

Alongside general search engines like Google, Yahoo etc, the survey points to a clear interest in Web sites containing consumer reviews and ratings of law firms and solicitors suggesting that word of mouth marketing about legal services is moving increasingly to the Web.

The results are another wake-up call to any law firm which has yet to build up its presence online and focus its marketing towards the Internet. The key results are:

• Over 60% of those surveyed would take recommendations from friends, relatives, or work colleagues.
• The second most important method of choosing a solicitor – mentioned by 21% of those surveyed – would be to use a search engine (Google, Yahoo etc).
• Web sites with independent consumer reviews and ratings of law firms and solicitors were the third most popular method – mentioned by 20% of those surveyed.
• Next in line would be advice from Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) and other local agencies noted by 18% of the survey and then come traditional channels like Yellow Pages and other local directories mentioned by 16% of respondents.
• Some way behind are price comparison sites for law firms - favoured by only 10% - suggesting that many consumers have yet to be convinced that legal services can be compared just on price.

All figures unless otherwise stated are from YouGov PLC. Total sample size was 2,266 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 2nd-4th March 2010. The figures have been adjusted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

If you would like more information about the survey, contact David Mort (Client Marketing Director at legallybetter.com) by email to david.mort@legallybetter.com

Do solicitors value their reputation as a marketing tool?

The following statement was made to me by a solicitor ‘Clients often do not fully understand what they are buying, hence any client review is meaningless’. I take the opposite view – it is because clients don’t know exactly what they’re buying that they rely on reviews from others.

My question is – ‘Do solicitors value their reputation as a marketing tool?’

A few observations:

• People will ‘buy’ on reputation but many law firms don’t seem to want to ‘sell’ themselves on that basis.
• Is this part of that strange paradox where collectively solicitors seem sometimes not particularly highly thought of; but individually, between the client and the solicitor, the trust is absolute.
• The bigger picture must be ‘How to leverage the role of the trusted advisor?’; to engage more regularly with clients and potential clients by providing services that clients would be happy to purchase from their legal advisers.
• Competing on price makes no sense at all and client’s perceptions of value are certainly not just about the cost of legal advice.

I would be most interested to hear your views