How to ‘show value’ to your clients online

Understanding why customers pay more

Contrary to popular belief (or even fears), money may be everything, but price is not.

When a customer completes their Law Superstore journey, they’re presented with up to four matching service providers, each with a price band – so example, ‘writing a will – Gage, Whitney & Pace – £100 - £200’. At that point, you and the customer can connect to discuss the matter.

Some legal practitioners dread this moment, when the price flashes on screen and a customer makes a decision. They’re concerned about whether they’re overcharging or undercharging; they fixate on competitor costs.

But while fees are always important, it does a disservice to only see your firm as figures on a spreadsheet. It’s so much more than that.

Show your value.

The fact is, legal fees aren’t static. Sometimes you’ll charge more, sometimes less. You can adjust your fees The Law Superstore, experimenting with your pricing strategy. And customers appreciate price transparency.
But in many cases, you also need to prove your worth. Finding the cheapest price is never the only driving force behind a customer’s choice.

Best-selling author and marketer Neil Patel, discussing the motivating factors behind making a purchase, has identified the five areas that are defined as ‘value’.

• Response – You stand ready to solve a customer’s problem
• Service – You know how to handle that problem
• Quality – And you can solve it well
• Price – You charge a clear, fair rate for doing so
• Time – Achieved on a clear timetable

 

Demonstrating the value of your law firm

Your value is best demonstrated on your website and social media pages. That’s where customers are, that’s how they find. If your website isn’t up to scratch yet, update your Law Superstore bio – or any other online space you have – with your value proposition.
 

• Know your customer

Before you can begin to demonstrate value, you need to know to whom you’re demonstrating. What’s valuable to Joe isn’t valuable to Moe. If you haven’t already, get your key stakeholders together and determine which kind of clients you want to attract.

Once you know this, you’ll know what’s likely to be important to them, the services they need, the questions they need answering, the fears that keep them awake at night. You can speak their language with total authority.

Show them that you know them. People like companies that share their values – Innocent Smoothie is a good example of this in action. Put those values on the (web)page.
 

• Highlight your expertise

Don’t underestimate the power of your collective expertise. It’s reassuring to customers, and there’s a good amount of trust in legal professionals. You can do something they can’t – practice law, and practice it well – and that’s exactly what they’re after.

You might focus on the number of years your business has been active; your team’s focus on a specialism; your trophy cabinet.

Shout about it – but always in reference to how that experience helps the customer.
 

• Focus on outcomes

Customers don’t really buy a service. They buy the outcome of using a service. People hire a lawyer to get a divorce because they want a divorce, not because they want to hire a lawyer.

Translate this into real-world solutions through testimonials and reviews on external sites like Google My Business and Trustpilot. How did you help others in a similar situation? What can a client expect when they engage you? What does success look like?

Customers should read these nuggets of ‘social proof’, a five-star review on The Law Superstore for example, and feel encouraged that their money will be well spent with you.
 

• Show understanding

Addressing specific pain points is essential – that moment when a client breathes a sigh of relief because finally they’ve found someone who ‘gets it’. They’re not another number, they’re not funnelled down the pipe to the other end.

Multi-service law firms will want individual webpages and online ads dedicated to specific services. This way, you can tailor your message to the audience, demonstrating an understanding of what they’re going through, and how you help. Take it further, if you have time, with content themes across your blog and social media accounts.

If you operate in a niche, you know inside-out what customers are going through, the questions they have, their fears, concerns, and how to placate them. On the other hand, specialist practices often find it harder to attract clients who need those specific services.

On The Law Superstore, users answer a few service-led questions that directs them to the most relevant legal professionals – but the same is true, however your customers find you.
 

• Dare to be different

When all law firms (and their websites) look largely the same, potential customers can end up choosing any of them. A nod’s as good as a wink, after all.

Professional services, like finance and law, tend to struggle to break free from the sameness. But break free, we must.

As we move online, practices are scrambling over themselves to stand out, to attract new clients to them. We’ve previously discussed the importance of defining your ‘key differentiator’ in the crowded legal sector. Success rests on identifying what makes your firm different to rivals. This messaging should then be carried over to your branding.

Strike a balance between getting noticed and meeting the expectations of your field. You probably won’t want to use a talking Russian meerkat to market your legal services (although you could try…).
 

• Display thought-leadership

A good thought-leadership article is engaging, authoritative, inspirational, and informational. It’s an activity legal service providers are well-qualified to pursue, delivering genuine value and demonstrating experience and knowledge of the industry.

You know what millions don’t – and that immediately becomes an intriguing prospect. It might an opinion about a change in the law, or a tip for handling caseloads. Whatever it is, if you have something of value to say, speak up.

Your blog is the perfect space for that. But why limit yourself? Medium and LinkedIn are great for writing leadership content for new audiences – and best of all, they appear in search engine results, broadening your reach. Legal websites and magazines, too, provide a good platform to show you know your onions.

When engaged in thought-leadership, look for opportunities to speak to both customers (on, say, a consumer-focused site) and your industry peers. When customers see this, it inspires confidence.
 
The Law Superstore is the perfect place to demonstrate your value to new potential clients, and increase your online presence and competitivity nationally and locally so everyone can see it.

And there’s no minimum-term contract. No rolling subscription fees. You only pay for the leads you receive.
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