Comparison websites are a potential revenue stream—and legal services providers need to recognise that consumers want to access support on an initial fee-free basis and to quickly know how much it is going to cost them, writes Andy Cullwick of First4Lawyers
Comparison websites have become synonymous with meerkats, opera singers and promises to feel ‘epic’. Their advertising has certainly got us all talking.
The Competition and Markets Authority estimates that 85% of consumers have used a comparison site. Covering everything from insurance, utilities, financial services and hotels through to flights and durable goods, you can find most things through a price comparison website.
Comparison sites can broadly be categorised into four areas, namely:
- Directories: Listings of providers who may pay a basic fee to be listed or a larger fee for an enhanced listing
- Feedback: Allowing previous clients to provide feedback on their experience for others to read and often incorporate a scoring mechanism such as a star rating
- Referral: Collecting basic information about the consumer needs and passes the lead on to one or more providers
- Price comparison: Allowing consumers to instantly compare and make a choice between subscribing providers against defined criteria such as price
Yet one area of the market where comparison sites haven’t quite taken off is in legal services.
A 2012 Legal Services Board (LSB) report examined the benefits of comparison websites in the legal sector having mystery shopped 16 sites. Of those, only five remain today: AgentQuote.co.uk, Contact Law, Conveyancing Store, Unbiased and Solicitor.info.
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