Solicitors could learn a lot from greengrocers in Nailsea, says Nick Jervis

In the 1980s and 90s Bert used to run a greengrocers in Nailsea, a thriving town with a population of around 20,000 people located eight miles outside of Bristol. By all accounts it was a very successful greengrocers and Bert was busy pretty much all of the time.

Bert did so well with his greengrocers that he decided to invest in the property market and bought the freehold to the shop from which he traded. The freehold also included an office above the shop, which Bert let out to businesses, including solicitors.

Humble beginnings

He managed to slope off now and then to take part in his new found favourite pasttime of golf, often playing with other local business owners from Nailsea. Bert came from humble beginnings in Scotland, so he really appreciated all that he had. It was fair to say that everything was pretty rosy in Bert’s life. He didn’t want it to change and couldn’t see that it ever would.

But it did. First of all, a small supermarket by the name of Somerfield came to town, just a few yards from Bert’s front door, as if to rub its very presence under his nose. However, despite a slight dip in sales, Bert was still doing well, thanks to a loyal customer base that came back week after week.

If this was as bad as it got, Bert could cope quite happily.

But it wasn’t. Tesco were the next to announce their arrival in Nailsea. They saw an opportunity to make more profits in a growing town with good schools and, once the usual promise to build a play area for the community and put a few hanging baskets around town won them the necessary planning permission, the build started.

The new store was open within 12 months and this time Bert noticed a real slump. Tesco was at the other end of town and had its own parking. His old loyal customers now had no need to walk from one end of the town to the other just to buy their fruit and veg, it was easier to buy it all from Tesco.

After a couple of years, Bert, who was now nearing retirement age, decided that time was right to hang up his green apron and let someone else carry on the fight. He sold the shop, but the new owner only managed to keep it running for a couple of years after Bert sold it to him. Apparently, Bert was the main reason the last few loyal customers kept coming back, so when he was gone there was no need to return.

The shop where Bert traded from is now a cafe, and the premises above it is now my office. The rent I pay to Bert continues to support his love of golf, and he has no complaints about his life, he still feels he did very well.

Work smart

The interesting part of the story is this, though. While Bert and his predecessor gave up the fight, there are still two thriving greengrocers in Nailsea doing excellent business. I know because I often shop in them and have to queue for quite some time to be served.

One of them, Burchills, employs more than ten people. Not bad for a sector that was expected to disappear with the onslaught of the supermarkets; even better when you consider the fact that as well as Tesco, there is also now a Waitrose, a Budgens and a Co-op.

And thereby hangs a tale. As we all know, the Co-op has been one of the first to enter the ABS fray and provide legal services to all of their customers. On top of this there are also the many legal umbrella brands, the most high profile being QualitySolicitors.

While this leaves many solicitors feeling much like Bert did in the late 80s/early 90s and thinking about selling up or simply giving up, others seem more prepared to fight it out, like Burchills did.

And that makes me a very happy man. Not only because most of my clients are solicitors, but because whenever an independent solicitor decides to fight it out, I know that they can succeed. For every three firms that throw in the towel, another five will slug it out, work smarter not harder, and attract more clients than they helped each of the previous years.

Are you a Bert or a Burchills? Think carefully, it is an important decision to make.

Nick Jervis is a solicitor (non-practising) and the managing director of Samson Consulting, a marketing consultancy for law firms. He offers a free guide “8 ways to win new clients” from his website www.samsonconsulting.co.uk Email njervis@samsonconsulting.co.uk