Theodore Levitt famously said
People don’t want quarter-inch drill bits. They want quarter-inch holes.
He was right of course. Few people would claim to actually WANT to own a drill and series of drill bits. But they also know that by buying a drill with a quarter-inch drill bit, they’re guaranteed to get the outcome they seek – a hole.
The same is true when people buy legal services. Clients will have a desired outcome in their minds (a divorce, a financial settlement, resolving an employee dispute), however, the path to achieving that isn’t quite as straightforward. There are no quarter-inch drill bits in the legal sector!
If we think about it, a product will always have a technical and physical spec. A service? Not so much. So whilst we may be selling a desired outcome the route and the cost of achieving that outcome is often very different for each client.
Why is marketing services so challenging?
Services aren’t a tangible thing – they take longer to explain
There are few commonalities in services. No generally accepted size 12. No colour palate. No easily recognisable standard and luxury models.
Service products can be complex. They can be packaged to a degree but this isn’t always easy to do when the matters involve opposing parties and other as-yet-unknowns. So we can’t always be succinct and get straight to the point so easily.
Services bring more risk than products – they have a longer-term impact
It’s true. In the legal sphere we are dealing with someone’s family, their career, their home or the future of their business. A prospective client isn’t buying a rug that they’ll throw away when they redecorate; they’re buying something very personal to them. And in business situations, they may feel that their reputation is at stake.
For the client, there will be a perceived personal risk if they do not achieve the outcome they were looking for.
There is no ‘buy now’ item – decision making is a long process.
Unlike products, a service cannot be separated from the service provider, therefore everyone is buying something unique because firms are providing a different service experience with every fee earner they have.
The client isn’t buying something they can see, feel, taste, smell, hear or touch but an intangible process. The process, the fee earner and the experience needs to suit them. As a firm, we need to build their confidence in us so that they know we are going to deliver and that a given solicitor is the right one for them.
So what do we do?
We learn how to market our firm from the perspective of our client. We stand in their shoes.
When marketing legal services, we need to be clear on the outcome or matters that we can represent. And we need to recognise that one size will rarely fit all. We need to communicate specifically, but efficiently. Clients will check the credentials of our firm and the people that may represent them. They will probably obtain more than one £ estimate and look for referrals and reassurance. To them, the stakes are high.
Aside from marketing a result, we need to take the time to build trust and relationships. It’s essential for long term survival … and is something a quarter-inch drill bit will never need to achieve.
Carmen Gray is a Chartered Marketer and Member of the Chartered Institute of Marketing and can be contacted via 07989 202009 or chat@camengray.co.uk
