Are ABSs and other legal entities doing enough to innovate legal services for the customer or are they simply changing the window dressing?
By ‘innovate’, we’re going to make a bit of a leap here and suggest that a key way to do that is to make the ‘buying’ process for customers easier. Generally, the simpler and more convenient the ‘buying’ process is, the happier customers will be… and the more ‘buying’ they will do.
To illustrate this, one of the best places to look is the big online retailers and how they do it (so Amazon, for example).
Despite operating in a very different sector, what facets of their service make the buying process easier? Generalising (again), it comes down to:
- Simplicity of finding the right product (service)
- An easy and streamlined way to buy the product (service)
- A clear and simple way to keep track of the transaction
- An easy and convenient way to stay in touch (via a range of devices, e.g. iPhone, tablet, etc)
In the days when everyone spoke of ‘Tesco Law’, everyone assumed that the new wave of legal service providers would roll out this more ‘retail’ based approach to buying legal products. And the assumption was that it would happen on day 1.
In reality, the change has been more ‘subtle drip, drip’ than ‘big bang’. Yes some organisations are moving more towards this ‘make the process easy’ model for their customers. But it’s a slow transition, and the likes of Tesco have not marched along and transformed legal service provision overnight. So the scope for innovative service delivery is still there, and that is very exciting.
And note that there is nothing to stop ‘traditional’ law firm structures from innovating here – it’s just a mindset change and a marketing focus that is required.
The market is waiting!
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