This Year’s Top Three Trends

It’s no secret that 2004 may go down as the year that the provision of legal services in the UK changes, forever.

Are you ready? Is your law firm ready? Almost certainly your clients, future new clients and competitors are.
Ignoring the impact of these events will almost certainly cause you to lose new clients and may even cause some of your existing “loyal” clients to defect to other solicitors.
A fall in revenue and profit, less interesting work and a general gloom may well be the consequences of ignoring these events. Are you ready?

THE CLEMENTI REVIEW
The review of self-regulation, due in 2004, is forecast to recommend changes in the delivery of legal services. Clementi will almost certainly recommend that organisations that are currently not regulated by the Law Society are allowed to offer legal services. Without being too dramatic this could be the Big Bang! Resulting in more choice for clients, increasing competition amongst suppliers of legal services, less and less general practice and more specialists. The legal landscape in will change
forever. Are you prepared to meet these changes?

INCREASING COMPETITION BETWEEN SOLICITORS
"Many solicitors on the high street have been hard pressed to make a decent living and there are pressures coming at them from every angle."

Janet Paraskeva
Law Society Chief Executive
The Lawyer January 19th 2004

The large law firms in the UK have a plan…they want to grow larger, increase their revenue and service even more clients. The growth of start-up new specialist boutique practices will continue to cherry-pick lucrative niches. New and existing clients are going to be charmed as never before. If you are in a traditional practice expect the demands from new and existing clients as never before. Clients are going to expect more services for lower fees, because your competitors are able to offer it.

GREATER INVESTMENT IN MARKETING
Some law firms are now spending up to 5% of annual revenue on marketing. Marketing has ceased to be an activity that the Managing Partner toys with on a quiet wet Thursday afternoon. Whether it’s a direct investment in existing staff, hiring new marketing or sales skills or employing an outside consultancy, more and more law firms are investing in their marketing activities. The result is that their marketing activity is almost certainly like to be noticed by your clients.

So what should you do?
Many law firms will not believe that these trends affect them or they will batten-down-the hatches and have a defensive response to the marketplace. I believe that either of these actions could severely damage your practice, resulting in lower income and profitability and a higher staff turnover. The alternative is to embrace these opportunities and grow your business. Which would you rather do and how should you start?

Update or rewrite your 2004 Marketing Plan
Now is the time to sit down review and update your Marketing Plan. If your firm doesn’t have a plan, now is also the time to start. Your plan will tell you what you expect to accomplish in 2004. It’s your roadmap to keeping existing clients happy and winning new clients.

If you don’t know how to write a Marketing Plan then you need to read Rod Sloane’s Special Report “How to Write a Marketing Plan that Wins New Clients …Without Blowing the Budget” available from the Solicitors Institute at £17. Call FREE on 08000 832 597 or visit www.solicitorsinstitute.co.uk.