Welcome to the first issue of 2011 of the Kingsley Green newsletter. Our aim is to produce a newsletter that is informative, educational and interesting to our readers. We are particularly interested in receiving feedback and articles from external contributors that will be of interest to our readers.

Kingsley Green is running a half day marketing workshop called “Marketing on a shoe string”, for rural businesses in Cheshire on the 9th February at Cranage Hall Hotel, Holmes Chapel.

The workshop is aimed at small rural businesses that provide B&B and self catering services.

This workshop is heavily subsidised. So if you are a rural business in the Cheshire area and you want help with your marketing email ray@kingsleygreen.com for more details.

Please note rural businesses in Lancashire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, & Northern Marches also qualify for funding.

Came across a good online service recently, called AuctionTables.com. Basically it’s an online auction service for booking tables at restaurants across the North West.

You simply bid for meals at your favourite eateries and you could save up to 70% on the restaurant’s menu price.

Visit www.AuctionTables.com

The legal market is changing and competition is set to increase. In October 2011 the Legal Services Act will come into force. This means that the Legal Services market is going to be opened to a wide range of organisations other than solicitor’s practices who can supply legal services to clients.

Potential entrants into this new market include Tesco and other supermarkets (hence the term Tesco Law) Already the Co-Op have created their own department for legal services, Virgin are doing likewise, the Halifax and many of the banks are considering their positions as well.

The brand name entrants to the market will be immensely powerful and attractive to consumers, being approachable, convenient and accessible. They will prove extremely attractive to the public who on the whole remain apprehensive about using law firms.

The effects of the Legal Services Act is going to put many Solicitors practices under pressure to compete for clients making them vulnerable to new entrants to the market. Quite simply their will be too many choices for the client.

For those not in legal services think the opticians market which can provide a stark reminder of what happens to a fragmented professional service when the brands decide to enter the market with their economies of scale and brand strength. Three major brands – Specsavers, Vision Express and Boots now control over 70% of the market.

It’s not hard to see the possibility of this happening in the legal services market.

To ensure their practice was ready to face the challenge of new entrants to the legal services market, Kingsley Green were recently invited in by a large law firm of solicitors in the North West to provide support to over fifty fee earners and staff through a series of workshops aimed at improving internal culture and communications, developing customer services and improving fee income by getting more from each client.

Senior partners were very pleased with the outcome: “The workshops were an immense success and whilst the culture will not change overnight there is a noticeable change in a significant number of staff to confirm that it was the right step to take”

If you are a solicitor and want help in ensuring your practice is ready for the challenge of new entrants, email ray@kingsleygreen.com for a no obligation discussion.

A case study is one of the most cost effective ways to tell the world what you do and how good you are. The best case studies are simple, concise and packed with customer benefits.

Here are some simple tips to help you create effective case studies:
Know your target audience. Who is the case study aimed at? A clear understanding of your target audience and their needs will help you structure your case study so your readers will identify with what you say.

Keep it simple. Be clear about your message and stick to it.

Promote the benefits. Demonstrate you deliver on your promises and exceed customer expectations. Convey the benefits from the customer point of view. How have you enhanced their business and what are the results?

Pack a punch. Write concisely while holding the reader’s attention with interesting and valuable information. The contents must make people sit up, take note and say ‘I want that!’

Include customer testimonials. Instead of simply describing what you did, ask the customer if they can provide a testimonial. A customer quote adds weight and authority. It provides the evidence that you really are as good as you say you are.

Keep your customer happy. You must seek and gain approval for the case study from the customer. Above all, make sure they are happy with the contents prior to publication.

Invite feedback. Make it easy for your customers/contacts to contact you by including a ‘call to action’, compeling readers to pick up the phone, email or, at the very least, view your website.

Be consistent. Your message must be consistent in style and tone and with your company brand.

Have a range of case studies. This is far more effective than just one. It enables you to promote different aspects of what you do, in different markets.

Use a professional. It is very hard, not to mention time consuming, to write about your own company. The problem is condensing months and often years of work into a few paragraphs which will compel readers to want to find out more.

To Finish:

I came across this and would like to share,

An Irish Blessing
" May your troubles be less
and your blessings be more
and nothing but happiness
come through the door”.