Many legal vendors inexplicably hide their senior executives, especially their founders. Good luck finding bios of these people on many legal vendor Web sites. Are these executives shy?
Actually, I shouldn't even joke because it's a serious marketing flaw that probably costs a lot of sales. With all the scams out there nowadays, you must establish trust. Executive bios do exactly that.
If you're Apple or Microsoft and have spent billions on your brand to establish familiarity and trust, you need not worry so much about this issue (though to their credit, both of these companies provide executive bios on their respective Web sites).
Most legal vendors don't have this luxury. Instead, they must establish trust when lawyers unfamiliar with their products visit their Web site by way of a TechnoLawyer newsletter or other such source.
Executive bios reassure lawyers that the legal vendor and its are products are legitimate. By contrast, when bios don't exist exist, lawyers may conclude that the legal vendor has something to hide (e.g., an undercapitalized home business).
I myself tend not to buy products from small businesses with which I'm unfamiliar if I cannot find out who runs the company (a poorly designed Web site also turns me off, but that's a topic for another day).
Fortunately, some legal vendors understand that making their executives more accessible can boost sales. For example, CaseSoft not only provides bios of its two founders, but also tells a story about how they started the company. No surprise here since CaseSoft has built its rapidly growing software business in large part by making its founders so accessible (e.g., CEO Greg Krehel personally writes all of the company's TechnoLawyer advertisements and lists his e-mail address in each ad).
Another favorite example of mine comes from outside the legal profession. When you make a purchase at Saks Fifth Avenue, your receipt lists the name and e-mail address of the store manager. In a future post, I'll discuss how this best practice resulted in a sale that Saks would have otherwise lost.
In the meantime, I hope this post will encourage more legal vendors to begin making their executives more accessible. Adding executive bios to their Web site is a good first step -- and costs virtually nothing. What do you think?
About TechnoEditorials
A TechnoEditorial is the vehicle through which we opine and provide tips of interest to managing partners, law firm administrators, and others in the legal profession. TechnoEditorials appear first in TechnoGuide, and later here in TechnoLawyer Blog. TechnoGuide, which is free, also contains exclusive content. You can subscribe here.
