Last week I was in Kansas City, and when I tell you I ate half my body weight in BBQ, that would be hyperbole, but not by THAT much.
Thank you to Mike Whelan for being a great tour guide and always being an excellent chat partner.
I got to try Q39, Pigwich, Joe’s Kansas City Bar-B-Que, and Arthur Bryant’s BBQ.
And here is what it made me think about: differentiation.
At the highest level, you have food or sustenance.
Then you have restaurants that can be:
• Cheap and quick
• Expensive and an experience
• Anything in between
Then we narrow it down to BBQ restaurants, which:
• Still run the gamut but tend to be gritty
• Smell like delicious meat and get you sort of messy
Then Kansas City BBQ, which does not have a specific meat preference but does feature dry rub combined with sweet sauce to carve out the city’s niche. Even within that space, these four places were VERY different from each other.
So what does that mean for your law firm?
It means you need to differentiate yourself from the 400,000 other firms in the country, not to mention the rest of the world and non-attorney competitors.
In their book Differentiate or Die, Jack Trout and Steve Rivkin discuss this topic, why it matters, and provide several examples.
7 Ways to Differentiate Your Firm
The Biggest
Morgan & Morgan (from a plaintiff perspective)
This firm has clearly leaned into being the biggest. From a consumer perspective, there is comfort in that. They became the biggest for a reason. Many clients gravitate toward firms that appear to have seen it all, have extensive experience, produce strong results, and have worked with people they know.
The First
Thomson Snell & Passmore
This firm has operated continuously since 1570. They could have taken cases during the Spanish Inquisition but could not have sued the United States for another 200 years.
From a client perspective, longevity offers many of the same perceived benefits as being the biggest.
Owning an Attribute
Crypto. Cannabis. NFTs.
Airbnb may own the short-term home rental space, even if VRBO existed first.
Uber may own the rideshare space, even if Lyft was also early.
This can be challenging in the legal field because the industry often moves slowly. However, if you are not the newest or the oldest, you might be the first in a very specific niche. You may also leverage being the newest by positioning your firm against more traditional competitors.
The Leader
This category can be tricky and may conflict with some State Bar rules if you label yourself as the leader in something.
However, if you have won awards or received rankings, you can absolutely highlight them. The more prestigious the awarding organization, the more valuable the recognition becomes.
If the Derek Zoolander Foundation gave you the award for Attorneys Who Attorney Good and Do Other Things Good Too, that may not carry as much weight as Yelp ranking you as the most reviewed law firm in town.
Think about which organizations matter to your clients and aim to earn recognition from those sources.
The Preferred Provider
This may not always make perfect sense strategically, but if you are the official personal injury lawyer of a professional sports team in your area, promote it.
Just make sure the distinction is legitimate and ethically marketable. Simply being the lawyer for an organization does not automatically make you their official partner and could create ethical issues.
This strategy can work particularly well for injury firms, especially workers’ compensation firms that serve blue-collar workers.
Having a History
You might not be the first firm in the world, country, state, or city, but do you have history in your community?
Do you have photos of the original partners at a ribbon cutting?
Do you have a black-and-white photo of the office downtown from 30 years ago?
Anything that demonstrates your roots in the community should be highlighted.
Being Hot
This is another positioning angle that can be difficult to use effectively, but it does exist.
Example:
Hottest Firms and Stories on Law360
If your firm is receiving significant industry attention and it resonates with your ideal client, this positioning can create strong appeal. The key is making sure the recognition aligns with what your target clients value.
So how is your firm positioning itself differently from your competition? Let me know by replying to this email.
Until next week, have a wonderful weekend. May you not accidentally summon three witches who want to cause havoc on the world.
Until next Friday!