Do You Know Your Law Firm’s Brand?

Imagine that you’re someone who has suffered a serious injury in a car accident, and you’ve decided that you need to find a personal injury attorney. You begin your search where we all search for services these days -- you go online and start Googling your options.

The first firm you come across says a lot of things that you find appealing. They put clients first. They genuinely care about their clients. They fight for maximum compensation and make sure they get clients the payment they need.

It sounds great, but because there’s no cost in looking around, the injured person looks at a second firm. As it so happens, this law firm also cares deeply about their clients. They even put them first. AND they fight for maximum compensation. The injured person can’t believe how lucky they were to find two firms with such dedication to their clients!

You can see where this is headed. Search after search, website after website, this potential client sees the same message from countless law firms. In the span of half an hour, we’ve turned an earnest person with a genuine need for help into a jaded skeptic of personal injury firms.

If we ask ourselves whose fault it is that people think of personal injury attorneys as a monolithic, disingenuous bunch, we might just come to the conclusion that we are the authors of our own narrative. However, it’s essential for law firms not to resign themselves to this reality. Changing your narrative isn’t just possible, it’s vital.

Your Brand is You, and You Should Embrace It

After reading our account of this hypothetical client searching in the wilderness of the internet to find their attorney, your brain might have shifted into overdrive thinking of things that you can say that don’t sound like every other competitor. That’s good, but you don’t need to look as far as you might think to find a way to distinguish yourself from other attorneys. The answer is staring you in the face every time you look in the mirror.

If you really want to be different, then all you need to do is be yourself. Far too many attorneys hide their identity behind buzzwords and messages that they believe clients want to hear, even if they are somewhat true. Unlike the lingo so many firms use, you are unique; so, if you simply tell people who you are and why you do what you do, you are guaranteed to stand out.

Your background, experiences and values are interesting to potential clients. They want to know that they’re hiring a human being. They’re constantly being told what attorneys think they want to hear, but they almost never hear an attorney being themselves.

If your brand is true to yourself, then you can take comfort in the fact that you will never need to worry about being dishonest or misrepresenting who you are to your clients. You’re not a sound bite, catch phrase or platitude. You are a professional who does what you do for a very specific set of reasons. Once you find a way to relay that through your brand, you’ll be able to distinguish yourself from all the lawyers that never take the time to figure it out.

Resist the Urge to Say the Same Thing Everyone Else is Saying

Whenever you catch yourself saying something that could apply to any law firm, take a moment to ask what that contributes to your brand. If the message you’re pushing isn’t genuine, then it’s not doing your practice any good.

Remember that your brand isn’t a logo or a tagline in an advertisement. It’s the articulation of your identity and your motivation for practicing law. If you connect with that, you’ll connect with clients who are looking for something real. If you are wondering how to determine your differentiators, to develop your firm’s brand and how to communicate it, contact Lauren and the rest of the LMA team and let them help you and your firm develop who you are and why you’re different.  Let them help you stand out from the crowd! Call her today at 919-637-9144 or www.lawyersmarketingassociates.com.