Technology over the past two decades has radically reworked the way we purchase and read books, watch movies, and listen to music. Amazon, iTunes, Spotify, and Netflix have sprouted from nowhere and dominate the entertainment industry. That’s fantastic for those who enjoy their affordable convenience, but what about those left in their wake of progress? Remember Blockbuster Video?
The one-time rental goliath could have purchased Netflix back in 2000 and adopted the fledgling company as its mail rental arm. Instead, it challenged it head-to-head and was demolished. Blockbuster’s folly was that it assumed it would be successful because it had always been successful.
Those industry disruptions were initially concentrated around retail and media, but the impact now expands well beyond. Look at Uber, AirBnB, and yes, that elephant staring at us all from the corner, LegalZoom.
LegalZoom is offering a “Basic” Last Will for $69. A Living Trust is $249. That’s madness, right? LegalZoom’s home page features glowing praise from the Huffington Post, Forbes, and The Wall Street Journal. It runs national TV commercials in prime-time spots. Millions of people are using LegalZoom and assuming the documents they’re getting are “good enough.”
Of course those documents may not have all the provisions and protections that your documents provide, but that’s a difficult argument to make to a person without a law degree. Local pizzerias can charge $14 for a pizza because anyone with a tongue can tell the difference between their pies and Domino’s $7 boiling-hot slabs of cardboard. But, most people don’t understand the nuances that make one set of documents better than another.
Plus, it’s safe to assume that the documents are only going to improve as technology advances. Netflix didn’t crush Blockbuster with its online mail DVD service, but once technology advanced, its streaming service made Blockbuster as obsolete as an 8-track.
DocuBank has been working with estate planning attorneys for more than 20 years, and we’ve watched attorneys adapt to new technologies. How do you compete with this new threat? There is no easy solution, but it’s important to change the perception of what you’re selling; change the conversation. You can’t compete head-to-head selling documents: their prices are too low, and their quality will eventually truly approach “good enough.”
The way you can compete with LegalZoom is by providing the one thing they can’t: a relationship. You can provide a level of service and that surpasses the cold, impersonal monolith. It’s up to you to make your office a warm, inviting place that exudes personality. That might include a smiling assistant to greet your clients in your well-lit reception area, freshly brewed coffee, cookies (or some other local treat) from a local bakery, or complimentary trinkets such as a mug (branding opportunity!). The more you can do to distance yourself from a souless website, the better.
Of course, you are your firm’s greatest asset. Whether it’s through newsletters or through a formal maintenance program, your clients need to feel like you’re there for them after they walk out your door. You aren’t just an attorney facilitating a transaction of documents; you’re their advisor: someone they can approach with problems and who looks out for them.
You can also enhance your client packages beyond the bare-bones documents available at LegalZoom with additional services, such as DocuBank. DocuBank lets your clients (or their medical providers) access their advance directives and emergency information 24 hours a day, anywhere in the world. Providing a DocuBank membership with your client’s estate plan lets you market yourself as not just an attorney, but an advisor that wants to be sure your clients’ documents actually work when they’re needed. Plus, there are numerous touch points built into the service that remind clients of your relationship.
As the list of industries the Internet transforms continues to grow, the one thing that remains certain is that those who ignore the change will be left behind. The law industry is now at the same crossroads the music, print, and video rental industries faced a decade ago. Don’t repeat their mistakes and ignore the elephant.
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Mike Wall, Marketing Manager, DocuBank
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