Sat 20 May 2006

As you know I recently attended the lectures given in Manchester by Professors Porter and Hamel, two of the world’s leading strategy gurus.
I am also in the process of undertaking an MBA at Manchester Business School.
One of the cornerstones of the course is strategy. The basic level of MBA strategy comprises 5 full days of lectures plus presentations and a written assignment.
There is then an optional course in Advanced Strategic Management, which is 10 full days plus a range of assessments.
As I approach day 9 of this course I have been reflecting on the law firm market and wondering why law firms do not try harder to show their clients that they are different from other law firms?
Why do they not seek competitive advantage?
There are two basic ways to seek to win the business of a client:
•    I am different; or
•    I am cheaper
Please do not go for the second option. That is the road to misery and despair.
For law firms the answer is to be different. To find a group of clients you want to act for and find ways to meet their needs better than your competitors can.
To do that what you need is to decide what game you are in and then devise a game plan, a strategy. Welcome to my world.
If you think you don’t have time for this stuff think again. Find time.
It can make the difference.
If you think you cannot be different from other law firms I offer you the example of Cemex. What do Cemex do? They sell cement. How can one cement company be different from another? Cemex have found ways. One example is that Mexicans working in the United States are often doing so to earn enough money to build themselves a home in Mexico. Cemex devised the idea of cement as a wedding gift. If a Mexican couple are to get married, their friends can buy them bags of cement as a wedding present. The cement is delivered in Mexico and can then be used to build their new house.
What a stupid idea?
Do you know what is the most popular wedding gift among Mexican couples in the USA?
Cement.