Last Updated on July 16, 2026
Most accountancy and law firms do not have a marketing problem. They have a superiority problem. They decide marketing is beneath them, do almost none of it, then blame the market when the phone goes quiet.
The mistake everyone in the profession makes
Here is something the profession will not say out loud. The standard line is “we grow through referrals and reputation.”
Translated, that means “we have no system, we got lucky with a few good clients years ago, and we are praying it continues.”
Referrals are not a strategy. They are an outcome. When a firm says it relies on referrals, what it really means is that it has handed control of its growth to other people and called it a business model.
The uncomfortable truth is that a referral-only firm is one retirement, one relationship breakdown, or one bigger competitor away from a very bad year. They are not stable. They are exposed. They just cannot see it, because the danger stays invisible until the day it arrives.
The short version
- Relying on referrals is not a growth strategy. It is the absence of one, dressed up as good fortune.
- “It would not look professional” is the most expensive excuse in the industry. It is usually fear wearing a suit.
- Hiding your prices does not signal quality. To a growing number of buyers it signals that you have something to hide.
- Clients want three things almost no firm gives them: plain English, a rough idea of cost, and permission to ask a basic question.
- The fix is structure, not more marketing. Get the message right first, then the basics, then spend.
Contents
The “professional” excuse is a hiding place
Accountants and solicitors love the word professional. It is a fine word. It is also the most expensive excuse in the industry.
| What the firm says | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| “We can’t run ads, it wouldn’t look professional.” | We are uncomfortable being seen, so we do nothing. |
| “We can’t talk about price, it wouldn’t look professional.” | We would rather size you up before we commit to a number. |
| “We can’t post on social media, it wouldn’t look professional.” | We are not sure what we would even say, so we say nothing. |
Meanwhile the client sitting at home does not care about your professional reserve. They are frightened of a tax bill, a contract, a dispute, or a deadline. They are searching for someone who can explain things clearly and make the fear go away.
The firm that shows up and speaks plainly wins. The firm hiding behind professionalism loses, and never finds out why.
Hiding your prices is not classy. It is cowardly.
This is the part the profession hates hearing.
When a firm refuses to publish any pricing, it is not protecting margin or signalling quality. It is avoiding an awkward conversation. “Prices on enquiry” is a polite way of saying “we want to size you up before we tell you the number.”
Clients know this. They feel it. And a growing number of them simply close the tab and pick the firm that had the confidence to be straight with them.
What clients actually want (and almost never get)
Strip away the jargon and clients want three things.
| What the client wants | What most firms give them |
|---|---|
| To understand what you do without a translator | “Bespoke solutions” and “proactive partnerships” |
| A rough idea of cost before they have to ring up | “Prices on enquiry” |
| To not feel stupid for asking a basic question | A wall of jargon that quietly says “you should already know this” |
Most firms fail all three. The website is full of “we go beyond the numbers” and “trusted advisors.” None of it means anything. It is corporate wallpaper, and every competitor has the identical wallpaper.
Clarity is the entire opportunity. In a profession addicted to vagueness, being clear is a competitive weapon.
The structure most firms skip
This is where our view differs from the usual advice. The answer is not “do more marketing.” A confused firm doing more marketing just spends faster.
The order matters.
Start: fix what you actually say
Who do you help, what specific problem do you solve, and why you over the firm down the road. If you cannot answer that in one sentence a normal human understands, no amount of advertising will save you.
Build: make it easy to choose you
Put pricing signals on the site. Write in plain English. Make it easy to enquire without dread. Turn happy clients into a system, not an accident. Stop relying on the receptionist and a prayer.
Scale: only now do you spend
Once the message is clear and the basics convert, you put real money behind it. Spending on ads before this stage is pouring water into a bucket with no bottom.
A simple, slightly uncomfortable audit
Sit with these questions honestly. If they make you wince, that is not a marketing failure. It is a structure failure, and structure is far cheaper to fix than a wasted year of ad spend.
- Can a stranger tell what you specialise in from your homepage in five seconds?
- Can they find any indication of price without phoning you?
- Could a competitor copy and paste your “about us” onto their own site and have it still make sense?
- If your two biggest referral sources disappeared tomorrow, where would next month’s clients come from?
If you want to see how firms in your field actually perform on these basics, our solicitor marketing data report lays out the numbers behind the gap.
The takeaway
The firms that win the next decade will not be the most qualified. The profession is full of qualified people. They will be the clearest.
The ones brave enough to be understood, brave enough to name a price, and brave enough to stop hiding behind the word professional.
Being good at the work is the price of entry. It is not the thing that grows the firm. Being clear is.
