Building Trust: Showcasing Your Team
In the second in our series on building trust with your site users, we’re looking at how your team members can be a huge resource to call upon.
It’s often said that a company’s employees are its biggest asset. When it comes to inspiring trust in your prospective clients, your colleagues could prove invaluable.
There are so many ways you could incorporate your firm’s experts into your online presence – from having them discuss their cases on your site to sharing their answers to questions asked by your social media followers.
Let’s take a look at some of the ways you can get your team to enhance your site and external networks.
Share their experiences
Your case managers will have a wealth of knowledge they can call on to give your site a boost of credibility. Case studies can be a hugely persuasive tool. Think like a potential client – would they be more likely to convert if they see that someone with a similar injury to theirs was successful in their compensation claim?
A case study can be seen as an extension of a review – and we’ve discussed how important reviews are. Customer success stories detail a person’s experience and shows how your firm achieved their seal of approval and recommendation. By putting across your case manager’s perspective on the claim, you’re adding an extra dimension and allowing people to see the kind of work you do.
Getting to see how the client felt during the process, as well as how your team managed the case, could provide the kind of reassurance and guidance prospective new clients were searching for.
Feature them on social media
Social media can be used for marketing, as well as building less transactional connections with people. It’s an environment where you can be slightly more casual – to a point – and perhaps introduce a more human side to your firm and your work.
Why not incorporate your team members into your social calendars? Share their work anniversaries or major career milestones – promotions or new qualifications. Letting your social followers get to know them a bit more could help enhance your public persona.
If you really want to engender admiration in your followers, consider running a series of live Q&As hosted on a social media platform. If it’s successful, it could be worth running it regularly. Give your legal experts an incentive to get involved and offer free guidance on some basic – and likely pre-vetted – queries.
Capitalise on their knowledge
When your firm has business clients, they’ll need a different kind of approach. This is something your solicitors and legal professionals will be able to contribute to.
They can break out their expert thought leadership for these clients. Let them go deep into their field of expertise and discuss the area’s important matters. Give them space on your blog or media centre to delve into the issues of the day.
This lets your firm build up its credibility and highlights the knowledge and competence your team members possess. That can go a long way towards helping a business understand that your firm is worthy of a conversation, if not a contract.
Let them help boost conversions
Your colleagues can be equally as valuable for personal law clients. Psychologically, photos of real people could help conversion rates.
When someone’s been injured or is dealing with another sensitive issue, their emotions might be running high. Seeing the friendly face of a legal professional who’s going to help them secure the resolution they want could be the catalyst for them picking up the phone.
Feature a photo and a short bio – less than you’d place on a dedicated Our People page – on strategic landing pages to add credibility and reassurance to visitors. It can act as a trust-builder, showing that your firm is made up of qualified and experienced professionals who are there to help.
Introduce colleagues to users
It’s increasingly common for legal firms to have an Our People page or section on their site. They’re so important to these organisations that these sections frequently appear in the sitelinks (the links that appear below your company’s main result on search engines) of many high-profile firms – including some within the Magic Circle.
This focus on your firm’s employees highlights the humanity behind your brand. It gives prospective clients an idea of who might manage their case and what their experience and qualifications are. This can be vital when a potential lead is looking for the firm to give them the greatest chance of success.
If you don’t have an Our People page, it could be genuinely beneficial to invest in one. It won’t take a whole website redesign and it could be just what certain prospective clients are looking for to convince them to give you a chance.
Consider your options
How you choose to include your colleagues in your online presence will depend on your end goal. Think about what you want to achieve and whether your firm’s experts can help you do so. Careful consideration, analysis and planning will help you decide if it’s worthwhile.
Just don’t forget to check that they’re happy with your plans. Forcing your team members into becoming the faces of the firm won’t go down well. Not everyone will want a public persona, so check who’s willing before embarking on the project.
Once you do, you could see the benefits quickly.
