- – -

A perfectly competitive market is generally defined as one in which at least all of the following conditions exist together:

• zero entry or exit costs (there are no/low startup costs),
• zero transaction costs (customers are free to go where they please),
• firms have a relatively small market share (no single firm dominates the market),
• ‘factors of production’ are mobile in the long run (labour and capital can be modified easily), and
• an homogenous product (an easily substitutable product, characteristics do not vary across suppliers).

In such a market there are only two conditions which can be altered by the firm itself; one is modifying labour and/or capital, the other is defining their product so it is perceived to be ‘less substitutable’ or to use plain English – different. The latter is also the only way a firm can command a price premium above that of ‘the market’.

The perfectly competitive market is mostly a theoretical concept; this specific set of conditions do not generally occur together, although some industries have notable similarities and are what you could call “near-perfect”. Utilities are one example; how many times have you been asked to change electricity companies and not really understood (or cared about) the difference?

The professions are arguably another; relatively low startup costs, few barriers to entry, clients can easily change suppliers and our ‘factors of production’ (our people) are fairly mobile. Notwithstanding their similarities, all professional firms say they differentiate their product – but in reality do they?

Value propositions, marketing strategies, corporate values and the like, are often part of a carefully crafted ‘Differentiation Strategy’. Despite careful consideration putting these into the ‘right’ wording and attractive designs, these efforts often fail to help customers see a firm as something different to another firm because these efforts generally focus on ‘table stakes’ rather than highlighting anything that truly makes the firm different. Of course “Honesty, integrity and respect” are important principles, as are “partnering with our clients” and “providing cost effective solutions” but would you ever knowingly work with a firm which didn’t have these values?

Founder of Ignition Group,  a thought leader and consultant to top advertising agencies of all shapes and sizes and advisor to Fortune 500 companies, Tim Williams has built a career advising his clients how to truly differentiate themselves. His most recent book,  Positioning for Professionals: How professional knowledge firms can differentiate their way to success (2010)  is an excellent guide for any professional firms wanting to move beyond ‘table stake’ definition.

Tim discusses many myths about professional firm differentiation- especially taking a well researched and justifiable dig about most firms positioning strategy. “Size” is not a strategy… neither is “full service”, “middle-of-the-road-stand-for-everything” nor is “hope” or “effort”. He clearly defines what a differentiating positioning strategy is – being different: meaning “going deep versus wide”, narrowing your focus and defining not only the features you have, but more importantly the features you don’t have.

Written in plain English (not marketing or academic speak), Positioning for Professionals is a brilliant collation of proven methods professional firms can use to create an effective differentiating positioning strategy. It is not only a resource to assist firms develop a truly differentiating value proposition and define their brands boundaries- a firm’s “calling, customers, competencies and culture” as Tim calls it and he also suggests steps to implement and bring that strategy to life (without execution, “initiatives remain good intentions”).

Tim is also a Verasage Senior Fellow, so it goes without saying that he has little sympathy for those firms that cling to the “we sell time” mentality and he is also not shy about his disapproval of benchmarking or “institutionalised imitation”, favoring “next practices” over mirroring what others have successfully done.

Needless to say, we cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Of course it is great to be better than your competitors but frankly most of your customers really would not know if you are, or are not- and you probably don’t want them to know. Tim sums it all up nicely by saying “If you stand for nothing, you will have nobody against you, and nobody for you.”

What differentiates your firm from your competition? No, truly differentiates your firm?

—

by Jess Hadley, John Chisholm Consulting

You can read the original blog post here

Melbourne, 19th January 2012 – FilePro, a leading legal software provider, is pleased to announce the appointment of Vivienne Storey to the role of National Marketing Manager.
FilePro offers law firms a single, intelligent software system designed specifically for running legal practices efficiently and at a higher profit.

Since its establishment in Western Australia twenty years ago, FilePro has captured 60% of the legal practice management software market in WA, and is now looking to expand its relationship based legal services in the Eastern states. As a testament to its commitment to quality servicing of clients, FilePro’s very first client remains a client today, having grown from a 4 user law firm to a 70 user firm.

Vivienne brings with her a wealth of experience having worked with many global corporates such as, Deutsche Bank, ING Bank, Nestle, Phillip Morris and Deloittes in both marketing and practice management roles.  This places her in an ideal position to understand a law firms’ requirements when it comes to the critical decision of selecting legal practice management software. She says: “I’m really excited about this opportunity. I met David Keeler, the owner and CEO of FilePro, while in the process of choosing practice management software for the law firm I managed in Sydney. Both his commitment to his clients and the software itself stood out way above the other solutions I considered. ”

“We are really excited by our expansion into the Eastern States market and Vivienne is very much a part of our strategy to grow the business”, comments David Keeler. “She brings a professionalism to the table that most importantly matches our culture of relationship building rather than just selling a piece of software”.

FilePro is a private Australian company with a philosophy of providing an innovative, high quality and user-friendly legal software option in a single platform solution. It has a reputation for strong, long standing relationships with clients, with product and user support being a particular strength.

Fore more information on FilePro and its legal practice management software services, please call 1300 65 33 80 or visit their website www.filepro.com.au

###

Press Contact:
David Keeler
FilePro Pty Ltd
Level 17 – 499 St Kilda Rd
Melbourne – VIC – 3004 – Australia
info@filepro.com.au
1300 65 33 80

Easy to Master

There is no good having the most powerful legal software on the planet if you need a computing degree just to open a file. Smart systems use powerful behind-the-scenes software to make your life easier by offering tight integration with the various components of their system. Some products even offer integration with common office software that will likely be already used internally (such as the Microsoft suite).
If staff can quickly learn how to master even the most advanced features, then they will be able to use them to improve the quality and capacity of their work, meaning your investment can instantly offer a higher return.
Staff will spend less time sitting in training rooms and more time working, and will be appreciative of the minimal demands on them to learn new skills.
Often a vendors website can tell you a considerable amount about the company and how they approach the development and support of their legal software. If you find it easy to use, then chances are their software will be easy to use too.

Features that mean something

Legal software with every bell and whistle is not necessarily the best option. Finding software which offers tailored features that your staff need or desire can be a very effective way of instantly improving your business efficiency. The trick here is not to be dazzled by features or brand names, instead get the vendor to do the work by requesting a demonstration to see how the legal software’s features actually relate to your business and your staff. The more specific the better.
Try to find a legal software provider that has an active future product development program that has involvement from their customers. This means that any new features will likely be more effective for improving your legal practice management.

Can it make money?

Let’s face it, the aim of legal software is to make money by improving legal practice management components such as staff productivity, time management and business efficiency.
Weighing up the short and long term costs means considering initial outlay along with ongoing costs such as support and upgrade fees. Some legal software systems offer a pay-as-you-go pricing model which is becoming far more attractive as it allows for cash reserves to stay within the business and be used to the benefit of the practice.
Some legal software systems can actually provide smart pricing models which are designed save money directly by allowing some software expenses to be charged as an outlay.
Look for legal software solutions that offer free or competitive upgrades to reduce expenditure, and to prevent costly migrations in the future if your choice of product becomes less competitive.

Smart use of your IT infrastructure

Considering the technical requirements for using legal software can be the single most difficult aspect of choosing a solution. With hardware and software ageing and deprecating quickly, the aim is to maximise the potential of existing IT infrastructure. Performance is also an aspect to note. A provider may claim a lighting fast product but the small print reveals that you need a military grade supercomputer on every desk to run it.
Check minimum software and hardware requirements for each legal software product you look at, and ask about the providers policy on upgrades – are they compulsory and expensive?

Support worth talking about?

When the heat is on and you need some help with your legal software, then how easy is it to actually talk to someone who has experience and knowledge of the product, and can you understand them clearly? Support is often the most overlooked aspect of choosing legal software because it is hard to quantify its impact. Consider what your requirements are for legal software and then find out whether the provider has nationally based, or even local state based support teams. Again get the vendor to do the hard work by request a demonstration from the their staff to ensure their competence and a good fit. Does their website contain detailed information on support or just gloss over it? Don’t forget that a good provider will also take the time to support you in making an informed purchasing decision by offering detailed information about their product in an accessible and clear format.

The Save method allows you to select to save just the email, the email with attachments, or the email with some attachments. Save to folder allows you to select where you want the email/s saved.

To add to the list, go to General > E/M General Ledger > E/M Line Descriptions

Select the form type where you wish to use the line description. Enter the line description which is to be available to the selected form. Global descriptions are available to all forms.  When entering a description for one of these forms, the field is automatically filled with the first matching entry from the common lines list.

The first event in early August will explore how the process of globalisation will affect the legal profession and if/how social media and mobile technology can benefit businesses.

Speaking at the event is Joanne Cameron, Partner-in-Charge at Mallesons Stephen Jaques. In addition to managing Mallesons’ Melbourne office, Joanne Cameron advises extensively on regulatory (ASIC and APRA), corporations and insolvency related matters, has been highly recommended in the area of Restructuring and Insolvency by PLC Which Lawyer? since 2007 and is named in the Financial Review’s “Australia’s Best Lawyers”.

The second guest speaker is Jon Kenton, Chief Information Office, Corrs Chambers Westgarth. During the last three years, Jon has driven a significant technology based change program at Corrs. This has included a major upgrade of the organisation’s disaster recovery and business continuity plans, a refresh of the technology infrastructure and an upgrade of all core business applications.

With so many questions facing the legal profession, we are excited to be part of this event in the quest to see the impact of Globalisation, Technology and the Law.

B & C Legal is bringing 20 years of experience in the area of legal practice management software to the table. Margaret Stockdale owns BHL B and C series products nationally and currently supports the clients using these products. It was decided that Filepro would be the logical growth path for her own clients and also a very credible alternative to other legal practice management systems available to legal firms.

A very strong alliance has been forged.

We welcome Margaret and her team to the Filepro family