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Rival to QualitySolicitors targets corner shops and high street firms

@ are you serious You really don't get it, do you? You have to understand that the nature of a professional relationship is quite different from that of a retail relationship. My clients - and the clients of many similar firms - don't come to me because I'm cheap, which I'm not. They come to me because they have confidence that I understand their needs, that I will do the job well, that we enjoy a good personal relationship and because they basically like doing business with me. Cost is not a significant issue for these clients, and even if I managed to alienate them completely they would choose another firm by recommendation from their peers. They would not dream of selecting a firm that advertised in the local fag shop. In fact, for a firm to advertise in those surroundings is effectively to make a statement that they (a) aren’t good enough to attract clients by word of mouth; and (b) that they only want clients who shop in such places and don’t know anyone who can recommend a solicitor. Like it or not, there is a snob value attached to the purchase of professional services just as there is with the purchase of goods from a shop. Many clients of good firms would not want to be associated with the clients who went to firms that advertise like this - any more than they would want to be seen shopping in the Co-Op or Iceland. You're quite right that for some poor quality firms this may be the only way they can hope to get business. It won’t work, but for the rest of us this new scheme may be actually helpful, in that by being persuaded to part with what little cash they have their demise will be hastened. And that can only be good for the profession as a whole. In fact, the more I think about it I'm beginning to wonder whether this isn't a clever ruse by the Law Society to drive bad firms out of business ... No, on second thoughts, that attributes far too much intelligence and business acumen to them!

21-Nov-2012

3:05 pm