Earlier this week, I watched the documentary on around McDonalds and their business model. This blog is not about turning the legal industry into a “fast food style service” far from it.
The key area I learned was over the years McDonalds has adapted to change within their market. The two brothers Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California started flipping fatty burgers. It wasn’t long before Ray Kroc came on the scene and saw what the brothers had to offer. This is the first change McDonalds really experienced. Ray saw the opportunity to franchise the brand to a wider audience. Sound familiar? Just look at QualitySolicitors or Star Legal.
The next stage in McDonalds development, was how they delivered their product to their customers. They needed a fast, efficient and cost-effective way. They embraced technology, reviewed their current methods and streamlined the process. How have we seen this in the legal sector? Technology is now helping law firms fine turn their process, deliver better results for clients and save on overheads. More and more firms are going paper-less or using intuitive ways to engage their clients online. Moneypenny and Chatbots are now making waves in this area.
The final stage and this was the part that I was most intrigued by, adapting to the market. McDonalds got a lot of back lash from their fatty burgers, high calorie meals and lack of healthy options. They didn’t just sit back and ignore their critics, instead them embraced the criticism and acted on it. They adapted to their client base and delivered on what their customer base wanted.
The legal sector is changing, clients are buying services in a number of different ways. Your clients engage with you through, a multitude of channels. The legal sector in the same way as McDonalds needs to adapt to change, embrace it and not wait for things to happy. McDonalds is still one of the leading fast food providers, with fierce competition online and on the high street.
I ask you this, how will your law firm adapt? What changes are you seeing in the legal sector? And what could we as suppliers to the legal sector do to help you more?