Show your best side

Private client has changed dramatically over the last 20 years and it is set to continue evolving over the next ten. The work is a core offering of new alternative business structure competitors and significant market consolidation is expected. ?How are you and your firm facing and embracing the new world?

This perfect storm raises many questions and various answers, which a range of speakers discussed at the marketing and managing a private client practice conference hosted by Central Law Training in September.

There's a range of actions to consider: identify competitors, use professional regulation to reduce risk, conduct a cost analysis, look at where the work should be delivered, and ensure marketing is not only carried out efficiently but effectively. What can law firms afford to do in terms of time, money and resource?

Solicitor Helen Clarke set the scene, highlighting several key demographics of interest:

• 259,989 estates in 2010–11 notified for probate, which is approximately 47 per cent of all deaths
• 35 per cent of law firms did probate and estate administration in 2010–11 but it contributed less than 10 per cent of total turnover
• 15,584 were taxpaying estates, which was approximately 3 per cent of all deaths that year
• 1.4m people are aged 85 in the UK

Clearly there is a need and demand for private client services, but who will secure and retain this in the future?

Ultimately, the successful firms will be the ones that recognise the need to evolve and understand that they must grow. But traditional business development is missing a trick in this challenging climate, according to non-practising solicitor and consultant Julian Summerhayes, who said the distinctive practice of marketing has been left by the wayside for years.

Too much emphasis is placed on sales - lead generation, lead conversion, client-winning referral strategies - and not enough on changing a firm's culture, intra and interpersonal skills and "the elephant in the room: the billable hour". "[Solicitors] can tell you what they have to bill every month," he said, "but they don't know what that relates to in terms of super pleasing their clients."

'Super pleasing' may be foreign vocabulary for some practitioners. For Summerhayes, however, it's a key part of survival because service is a firm's best marketing weapon. And it all starts with the individual.

His focus in private client marketing is the idea of 'brand you'. It's something he feels strongly about and wants lawyers to emulate that passion. Addressing those who feel disenfranchised and disillusioned at work, he said it's time to reconnect with your career drive and ask yourself why you got into law in the first place.

"It's really important because you're connecting with people all the time," he said. "When you're dealing with a private client, especially a vulnerable one, if your heart's not in it, they'll know that."

Self-promotion was floated but should not be confused with narcissism. Summerhayes recommended solicitors decide on two or three areas to be known for - adding a new subject in a year - and use LinkedIn or a professional network to build connections. And how about writing a regular blog? Apparently accountants are way ahead of lawyers on this front.

Standing out

Hitching his wagon to Summerhayes' star concept, John Eaton, solicitor and director of Lupton Fawcett Lee and Priestley, revealed that's the secret to success in the face of competition: solicitors don't have to be better, they just have to be different. There may be plenty of fish in the sea, but a client must pick one. "We all have a personality and a service to offer that nobody else does," he said. "We are all unique."

Eaton also trailed the emotive angle: clients don't care how much you know, they know how much you care, he said, which is key to giving personal service.

It's not about what practitioners have to sell, it's what the client wants to buy, which is predominantly services not commodities. Protection, provision and preservation are what they demand, and the common thread through all private client work is financial advice. Whether it's splitting assets on divorce or writing a will, money is an integral part of the matter. So, he asked, is it time to think about integrating financial services in your firm?

"We need to go back to not just being private client lawyers but to becoming the trusted adviser," said Eaton. "Because however you offer them to private clients, financial services are a distinctive, valuable, essential and rewarding way of doing just that and generating and retaining private clients."

He added: "The ability to sleep at night and to have trust in the lawyer, to my mind carries, the most weight of all, particularly in financial matters."

This is where cross-selling can come into its own. Eaton's firm created a basic matrix covering the breadth of services it offered to record that all clients had been 'told' and, hopefully, 'sold'.

As conference chair Helen Clarke said in her closing remarks: "I think the financial services aspect is extremely interesting and I think a lot of firms will look now and think about diversifying.

"The reason why the Co-op is going to invest and continue to invest in this area is because they want to cross-sell and they already do. If they get the funeral, they'll be on the phone."

Adding to his 'three Ps', Eaton also discussed the three Rs: recurring, regular and repetitive. Solicitors want customers, not shoppers, and to complete the set of initials, Eaton said they must remember their unique selling point, which comprises the three Is: independence, impartiality and integrity.

"Trust is one element that the ?Co-op cannot provide because they haven't got the history of dealing with the client. We're in pole position. We should be able to maintain it and develop it more," he claimed.

The reality is that clients are now more discerning and their customer journey starts online - one delegate described the internet as word of mouth at the speed of sound. Summerhayes asked whether anyone knew what their firm's website said about them in their individual profile, and to think about how their services were presented.

Does your main phone number have enough prominence on the home page? Does your site align with your business goals? Are you checking the private client pages regularly? These are obvious questions, of course. Websites must be taken seriously along with content marketing, which will differentiate you and your practice, he advised.

Service promise

Summerhayes also underscored the power of service, noting that:

• The value added for most law firms, tiny or enormous, comes from the quality of the experience provided to the client.

• When we talk about service, what we actually mean is your unwavering commitment to your clients to deliver the most amazing, 'wow' experience possible.

• Too often we take things for granted.

• Clients, even those with limited use of law firms, can smell, touch and feel the service they receive.

And of particular note were his comments about commitment to service, from getting everyone in the firm on board right down to how presentable your toilets are to clients.

Supplementing the marketing speak and the personal stance, the numbers were crunched. Management consultant and chartered accountant Andrew Otterburn looked at improving profitability through outsourcing, using voice recognition software and reviewing staffing levels, and strategic marketing consultant Kim Tasso discussed pricing. There was also a session about the Law Society's wills and inheritance quality scheme (see comment).

Regardless of the means, though, the end result for all was upholding excellent client service, which must be managed internally and externally.

 

Jennifer Palmer-Violet is acting editor of Private Client Adviser

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