Andy Cullwick
Head of marketing at First4Lawyers
Get these elements right and they will give you a strong foundation for building trust with potential clients
You can blow your budget on expensive advertising campaigns but, as anyone in business knows, you can’t put a price on trust.
It’s the hard won, intangible asset that persuades potential customers to purchase your product or service. It’s also easily lost, particularly in today’s world where harmful reviews can be instantly posted online.
How trustworthy you’re seen to be as a business may seem difficult to gauge, but the Ipsos Veracity Index 2022—a long-running poll on trust in professions in Britain—provides a useful barometer.
Fewer than a third (32%) of people surveyed trusted business leaders to tell the truth. Lawyers fared better but were still only trusted by just over half (57%).
The good news is that building trust doesn’t have to be an expensive exercise and is only really what you should already be doing as best practice.
Reviews
One of the best ways to enhance your credibility is through customer reviews.
Independent review platforms are recognised as a source of genuine and impartial views from others who have used particular products and services. Further, studies show that nearly nine out of 10 people read reviews before making a purchase decision, with almost 90% valuing them as much as a personal recommendation.
Research for our whitepaper, Trust Me, I’m a Lawyer – Marketing Legal Services in 2023, found that a lot of law firms, for example, are behind the curve on this. Just 37% read reviews about themselves—even fewer did so on a regular basis—and only