Marketing professional services — like those of attorneys, law firms, and other professional financial advisors — is very different from marketing a product. And law firm marketing — because of the special rules and restrictions governing professional conduct — is in a category by itself.
You, as a consumer, have so many ways to evaluate a product. You can look at it, touch it, taste it, take it for a test drive — and return it if you don't like it. Moreover, when you buy a product you take control over it.
A service, on the other hand, is invisible. The only way to properly evaluate a lawyer's service, for example, is after it has been performed — when it is, in effect, too late. Instead of taking control, when you buy the services of a law firm, you are handing over control. Usually you are buying the service from someone you do not know personally. Usually, also, you are paying some portion, or all, of the fee in advance.
Most attorneys and other financial professionals labor under the impression that the potential client will rationally evaluate the professional's process, or their experience, or their credentials, and pick them.
But that approach is based on a flawed premise: that the buying decision is a rational process.
It isn't. Your potential client is in no position to judge your expertise. For marketing purposes your expertise and experience are largely useless. From the consumer's point of view, they are simply claims that you are making.
But there are effective ways to market your legal and financial services — ways that are driven by the key elements of the real buying process. Law firm marketing may pose challenges, but done well, it can make any attorney’s practice thrive.
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