Attention seeking

I was attending mass at the Basilica of St Francis of Assisi and the nun was attempting to sing part of the mass. The Basilica is a large space to fill and accordingly she had been given a microphone, but appeared a little undertrained in its use. The priest had finished his bit, there was a pause and eyes moved towards the nun who was twiddling frantically at knobs on the microphone and the stand desperately trying to make herself heard. Her voice was small and without the microphone no one would hear her.

There was an irony in this inability to communicate as the Basilica of St Francis is an early example of how the church managed to communicate the bible story. Every internal wall of the Basilica is covered in wonderful murals explaining in detail the life of St Francis, the bible story and much else besides. In the Middle Ages there were very few books, other mediums of communication were rare and those who attended church were able to glean what they could from these magnificent murals and illustrations. It is a fine example of making the most of the best form of communication at your disposal.

The invisible man

Solicitors are not very good at communication. One thing clients often say about my firm is 'We didn't know you were there,' 'All the years I have lived in this street I never knew there was a firm of solicitors here,' and so on. Sometimes it feels like I am the invisible man.

It is all too easy in the hurly burly of every day, answering the phone and clients, picking up the post etc. to think that everyone knows what is going on in our office. In fact solicitors' offices are often anonymous places situated regularly in the high street above a shop and perhaps up a flight of stairs. My offices are smart and above a bank. The bank shrieks out its presence by state of the art neon lighting and signage '“ it is impossible to ignore. In fact when clients are looking for us we tell them to aim for the bank. You forget that people wandering along the street do not cast their eyes on the board inside the door that sets out very discretely, politely '“ almost blindly '“ that there is a firm of solicitors practising in that office.

Solicitors have for far too long worked on the basis of discretion and not relied on making themselves known. Is that about to change?

Shifting attitudes

The major branding exercise which is QualitySolicitors seems to impact on shop front premises and turn comparatively boring solicitors' offices into something a bit more special. It seems to concentrate on a branding exercise which will make people recognise a firm of solicitors in the same way that they identify Boots the chemist or Specsavers the opticians.

I do not know whether the QualitySolicitors brand will survive the test of time. I do know that the vast majority of firms of solicitors in the UK that have got by on anonymity, discretion, and the ability to turn a small profit without much advertising, marketing or signage, are probably beginning to reflect nervously on what is likely to happen over the next five years.

There is undoubtedly going to be a seismic shift in the nature of legal business in the UK. A large number of firms will either merge or go out of business, and I think it will be more difficult for the customer to choose. At that point they may have to give up on old alliances and allegiances, and that family solicitor they may have turned to over many years may no longer be in existence. Will they then turn to the flashy street sign or will they ask advice from their friends about who is good at a certain type of law?

I wonder whether the solicitors' firm with the most professional shop front, the most glitzy advertising and the most sophisticated website is always the best at giving advice on the law. Nevertheless, we have to realise that we all have to communicate our message to the customer. The same way that the church commissioned Giotto to paint murals of the bible story, and the rather unfortunate nun had to come to terms with electronic communications equipment, solicitors are going to have to leap forward in how they present themselves to their customers. There will be much more branding. Anonymous firms in small offices may find it difficult to continue in practice.

Communication is everything. If customers do not know you are there they will not consult with you. Lloyds Bank has the black horse and I suppose I have my black labrador. What price a black labrador brand for a firm of solicitors? Bring it on Cosmo!

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