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A lawyer, who wants to run a successful law firm, must realize that he is also running a business. Most attorneys don’t like to think of themselves as businesspeople, but as providers of a service. Regardless of how you choose to describe your practice, having one means being in competition with other firms. It would be great if being the best lawyer in your field was enough to bring in client after client. The fact is that having a law practice means that you are going to have to compete to keep clients coming through the doors.
If you don’t know what the competition is doing, then your law firm needs to do a competitive analysis.
Big law firms might spend thousands of dollars trying to find out what the competition is doing. This is because large law firms understand that knowing what the competition is up to is just as important as anything else they can do for their practice. Smaller firms may not have the financial resources to go out and hire a top marketing firm to perform a competitive analysis. Nevertheless, there are still ways that you can analyze the competition without spending too much of your hard earned money.
What exactly is a competitive analysis?
A competitive analysis is a series of steps that lawyers can use to determine the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential firms who might be after the same clients that you are. Lawyers are usually very good at competitive analysis because it combines their research and analytical skills. Here are the steps to doing a basic competitive analysis. If you would like get more scientific, the web offers a variety of matrices and formulas that lawyers can use to track the competition.
Figure out which firms you are competing with. Do a basic search for lawyers in your city who work in the same area of law that your law firm does. Look up other firms in legal directories. Get a list going of which firms may potentially be competitors.
Sometimes the firms you think are your competitors really are not. Make sure that you know what type of clients your firm wants to pursue. Then determine whether or not the firm that you are analyzing is after the same pool of potential clients? With new technology, many attorneys are setting up a home base in one city, while most of their clients are in another. Some attorneys who are highly specialized may also have clients from all over the country or around the world. Just because there is a firm down the street who appears to practice in the same area of law that your firm does, isn’t necessarily a sure sign that they are competition for your firm.
Get to know the competition. Once you have figured out who your competition is, it is time to get to know them. Go to their websites. What do these firms say about themselves? Try to learn the basics. How many lawyers do they have? Do they have multiple offices? Where are they located? Visit law.com to see how their firm is ranked. Search for them using key words to see if their website has a high listing on the popular search engines.
Additional questions to ask include: Who are the key attorneys in their firm? What are they doing to get recognized for their work? Do they do their own marketing or do they outsource? Is it working for them?
Create measurements for success. Think about what qualities a law firm in your geographic location and area of law will need to do in order to be successful. Then measure other firms based on these factors. Make a list of the strengths of the other firm and their weaknesses in these areas. Next, think about how your firm is similar to theirs and how it is different. One of the hardest things for lawyers to do is to articulate what sets them apart from the competition. Looking very closely at other firms, examining their marketing, and the cases they’ve handled in the past will help you to find the areas where your firm excels and their firm doesn’t. Keep these things in mind as you market your firm.
Create a plan for gaining a competitive edge. There may be some things that the other firms are doing that your firm may never be able to do better because of a lack of resources. Don’t focus your energy on those things. Instead, focus on the area where your competition is not doing well and think about how you can grow your firm in that area. For instance, if they rarely have repeat clients it may be because they don’t know how to treat clients well. This can become your edge; it can become what your firm is known for.
When the competitive analysis is complete you should have a clear idea of who your top competitors are. You should be able to explain what they are doing well and where they need to grow. Not knowing what firms you’re competing with is like running your firm with your eyes closed. Be informed about the other law firms in your area. Chances are, they are well informed about you.