Go Upstream
Let me start with something that will upset many small law firm marketing professionals – your biggest problem isn’t the large law firms with their massive marketing budgets. Your biggest problem is that you’re playing their game, on their terms, with their rules.
Both Dan Heath and Dave Trott have written extensively about the power of upstream thinking. Heath, in “Upstream: The Quest to Solve Problems Before They Happen,” uses the analogy of rescuers pulling drowning people from a river versus going upstream to stop them from falling in. Trott takes this concept further in his work on creative problem-solving, emphasising that success comes from addressing root causes rather than symptoms.
The big firms are downstream, spending millions on SEO, content marketing, billboards, and radio ads shouting about their experience and track record. If you try to outspend them or outshout them, you’ll lose. Every. Single. Time.
Let’s break down how small law firms can compete by thinking upstream, combining Heath’s preventive approach with Trott’s emphasis on creative problem-solving:
1. Market Orientation Through Root Cause Analysis
Trott emphasises identifying root causes before attempting solutions. For small law firms, this means understanding not just what clients say they want, but why they seek legal services in the first place. What are the underlying factors driving their decisions? What problems are they trying to solve?
This doesn’t require expensive market research. It requires having real conversations with clients about their fundamental needs and concerns.
2. Strategic Focus Through Prevention
Heath argues that prevention is better than cure. For small law firms, this means shifting from reactive legal services to preventive legal solutions. Instead of waiting for legal problems to arise, how can you help clients prevent them?
The key is to find specific areas where preventive legal services can create unique value. This isn’t about being better than the big firms; it’s about being fundamentally different in your approach to legal services.
3. Clear Targeting Through Innovation
Trott’s work emphasises the importance of creative solutions to complex problems. For small law firms, this means innovating in how you target and serve clients. Instead of trying to compete for everyone, focus intensely on a specific segment where you can innovate in service delivery.
This might mean specialising in particular industries, developing unique service models, or creating new ways to deliver legal advice. The narrower your focus, the more innovative you can be in serving that specific segment.
For example, we’ve done exactly this, consistently helping one of the most internationally recognised surrogacy lawyers, Stephen Page grow his niche practice through a diverse, integrated marketing strategy and associated campaigns and tactics.
4. The Power of Upstream Communication
Both Heath and Trott emphasise the importance of addressing problems at their source. In marketing communications, this means developing messages that resonate with clients before they even realise they need legal services.
Small firms need to tell one story well – not about their services, but about how they help prevent problems and create value upstream. This means shifting from traditional legal marketing (experience, track record, expertise) to communicating about prevention, understanding, and proactive solutions.
5. Systemic Innovation
This is where Heath’s and Trott’s thinking converge most powerfully. Both emphasise looking at systems rather than symptoms. For small law firms, this means:
– Building preventive legal health check systems
– Creating early warning systems for potential legal issues
– Developing educational programs that help clients avoid legal problems
– Building networks of complementary professionals who can help address root causes
We’ve helped Bourke Legal build out smart technology to both engage and onboard their target clients, injured Police Officers.
The Strategic Framework
For small law firms to compete effectively, they need to:
1. Focus on prevention rather than reaction
2. Address root causes rather than symptoms
3. Innovate in service delivery
4. Communicate value upstream
5. Build systems that prevent legal problems
The Truth
Most small law firms will continue to fight downstream battles against bigger competitors with deeper pockets. They’ll continue to lose these battles. But for those willing to think differently, to go upstream and address root causes, there’s an opportunity to build something distinctive and valuable.
As Trott would emphasise, the key is not to compete better, but to compete differently. And as Heath would argue, the best way to solve a problem is to prevent it from happening in the first place.
The key is to stop obsessing about what the big firms are doing and start focusing on what they can’t or won’t do – preventing legal problems rather than just solving them, understanding root causes rather than just addressing symptoms, and building systems that create value upstream.
This combination of Heath’s preventive thinking and Trott’s emphasis on root causes and creative solutions offers a powerful framework for small law firms. It’s not about being bigger or better – it’s about being fundamentally different in ways that matter to the right clients.
The future belongs to firms that can prevent legal problems, not just solve them. That’s where the real competitive advantage lies for small law firms in today’s market.
Get Our Help
At Practice Proof, we can not only facilitate “upstream” workshops (sprints, we like to call them), but then, we have the capacity to execute everything that is required. In other words, strategy, augments with a plan, and the plan is augmented with the requisite tactics. After doing this work for close to 2 decades, 90% of firms get stuck in the weeds of strategy, and, if they’re able to crawl out of it, they simply lack the impetus and skill to do the rest! And…that’s why they continue to stay small, year after year!
