The whole is greater than the sum of the individual parts – a new marketing initiative for lawyers.
Government plans to ban referral fees in personal injury claims on grounds that they fuel compensation culture and have led to a rise in insurance costs will put pressure on law firms to up their marketing. These firms will no longer be able to rely on leads being passed on under the old referral scheme and may not be in a position themselves to compete with the new wave of legal services providers coming into the market with big marketing budgets.
Personal injury, whether caused by a motoring accident or otherwise, will continue to happen and the victim will still need good legal representation to make the claim for compensation. For a large number of law firms, following a ban on referral fees, the problem of visibility to potential clients will become an even more serious problem unless they develop their profile on the web and other media to put their expertise and services before the potential client. Most people do not routinely have a ‘family solicitor’ and may well have had no cause to consult a solicitor before an accident happens. When an injury occurs they will, inevitably, seek advice on a local solicitor or search google. Some larger law firms and the new breed of legal services provider will have the budgets for television and other media advertising and will dominate the media, however most may not even get a nibble if they aren’t on the first page of google?
Accidents Direct are developing a co-operative where leading regional law firms, specialist personal injury practices, high street firms and sole practitioner solicitors can become a member of the Accidents Direct ‘co-operative’ and invest in the national marketing provided by Accidents Direct which will include television and other media. By buying a share in the co-operative members will be able to benefit from the national reach of the annual media campaigns and benefit by taking their share of the clients coming through Accidents Direct on a pro rata basis.
The whole being greater than the sum of the individual parts concept has worked well in other co-operatives and this initiative by Accidents Direct, who do have national reach, must be an option well worth considering for law practices that do not have the budget or expertise to compete with some larger firms or legal services providers.
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