Legal Commentary

Brought To You By A Large Firm With Offices Everywhere

By Patrick J. Lamb

For the past several nights as I have been driving home, I've heard the local NPR announcer say that this programming was brought to you by "Blah, Blah & Blah, a national law firm with offices in 12 cities."  Every time I hear this, I wonder whether anyone ever hears the announcement and says "wow, that is a really unique firm and I am going to hire them."  There is utterly nothing about the tag line that communicates anything of interest about the firm and it obviously does not communicate a value proposition. 

With that personal observation as prologue, I recommend you read Seth Godin's post, "The edifice complex."  Here's the punchline:

I'd replace the expensive sponsorships and buildings with something more valuable, quicker to market and far more efficient: people. Real people, trustworthy people, honest people... people who take their time, look you in the eye, answer the phone and keep their promises. Not as easy to implement as writing a big check for the Super Bowl, but a lot more effective.

I'm not sure people is the answer to telling the world you offices in 12 cities, but if you're going to spend money on marketing, perhaps having real people speak to real people at real potential clients about real value you can provide would be a better investment.

Full post as published by In Search of Perfect Client Service on November 19, 2008 (boomark / email).