The Law Superstore (www.thelawsuperstore.co.uk), a new web-based comparison site for customers and legal service providers is to be launched with substantial institutional shareholder support and an experienced management team led by Matthew Briggs, former CEO of Minster Law Solicitors and Brilliant Law Solicitors.
Aimed at simplifying the complex procedure of knowing which legal service is required and then finding the right provider, the comparison platform is designed to help customers and legal service providers transact in as fast, efficient and transparent manner as possible. The online platform will empower customers and SMEs to compare legal service providers quickly and easily across a wide range of criteria and then choose the most appropriate offering and purchase legal services directly via the platform.
For customers, The Law Superstore will enable them to make better-informed choices when searching for legal advice and access more clarity on the range of services on offer by giving them the ability to quickly and easily compare legal providers on criteria including quality rating, services, location, expertise, accreditations and price.
Individuals and small businesses will have more certainty as to what exact work will be undertaken by the legal provider and at what overall cost, as the platform presents users with the options of fixed pricing, stage pricing, hourly rates and other innovative pricing models enabling them to transact and purchase legal services in an quick, efficient and transparent manner. Jargon busting user guides with informative descriptions will also ensure customers can easily understand the relevant legal service they require.
The Law Superstore will offer legal providers a new and future proof route to market for their legal services resulting in high quality lead generation at a fixed price lower than traditional marketing methods. Other key benefits include management information detailing the exact return on investment for their marketing spend, no up-front fees with payments only made for pre-qualified leads received and the ability to manage volumes and staff utilisation by a flexible approach to accepting work.
The platform also provides a focused channel that enables legal providers to target preferred and specific areas of legal work and a digital shop window that allows them to showcase their offerings and brand.
Legal service providers are now being invited to join and become Partners with The Law Superstore. Once confirmed as a Partner, they will be able to market their services, fix their pricing strategy and set prices to account for varying complexities within categories and cases. The Law Superstore ensures that Partners will only receive pre-qualified and relevant leads by asking a series of quick and simple questions, thus allowing the comparison platform to determine the complexity of the customer’s needs and present them with a selection of suitable providers based on their individual requirements.
According to Matthew Briggs, The Law Superstore is a unique proposition, never seen before in the legal sector. Having consulted with many legal services providers, it brings together the wants and needs of providers together with those of the consumer and SME markets. It also aims to provide greater reach for service providers and support some of the LSB’s strategic priorities as mentioned in their 2015-2018 Strategic Plan including unlocking the significant ‘Access Gap’ of consumers not using legal services when they should, estimated to be worth several billion pounds annually.
Matthew Briggs said: “The Law Superstore offers a hugely positive step forward for legal service providers looking to attract new customers using innovative technology and marketing strategies not often seen in the legal sector. The site allows firms to tap into a nationwide pool of people and SMEs who are ready to instruct a legal expert and, having used the search engine on our platform, can be confident they have found the right provider to use according to their specific criteria.
“Whilst word of mouth and personal recommendations will never be fully replaced, more and more people buy services through online platforms which has led to greater competition amongst lawyers for visibility on line. The Law Superstore aims to sit alongside existing marketing activity to provide cost effective and intelligent marketing that generates well-matched and pre-qualified leads that can be fully measured as part of a modern approach to assessing marketing campaign effectiveness and return on investment.”
He added: “The future drivers of both customer demand and digital disruption will only place further pressure on legal service providers to future-proof their marketing activity. With The Law Superstore that headache is removed allowing Partners to focus on providing excellent advice and client care.
“Only quality vetted Partners can join and use the comparison platform to showcase their services. In return the Partners will have full control over and 24/7 access to the details they share. This will enable them to generate more potential customer connections, have greater control over their marketing spend and access new potential clients through wider coverage.”
The Law Superstore is now looking for forward thinking national and independent legal service providers including solicitors, barristers, conveyancers, and regulated patent and trade mark attorneys to join as Partners in advance of the official launch in March 2016. It will initially be offering a limited referral service across Scotland with plans in place for a future roll out the full comparison service to Scotland and Northern Ireland. As an additional benefit for prospective Partners, it will be offering some special early adoption incentives.
Briggs added: “Our market research clearly indicates that the public are ready to procure legal services in this way; a staggering 79% of the 3,000 respondents we questioned said they would consider using a legal comparison site, so we are pretty confident there is a market.”
Firms and legal professionals can find more information and register their initial interest by visiting www.thelawsuperstore.co.uk/partners.
