Melting Away Client Concerns: How the 'Popsicle Hotline' Can Revolutionize Law Firms
A ‘popsicle hotline’ could generate thousands. NAY. MILLIONS in revenue for your law firm.
Let me explain why.
Many of you will have heard of a little place in America called Los Angeles. It’s the city of Tyrannosaurus Rexes. Cars that transform into massive robots. And men who dress up in Lycra and fight crime.
Very few of you will have heard of Los Angeles’ Magic Castle hotel, however.
It’s amazing because the Magic Castle has historically been rated the #2 top hotel in all of Los Angeles on TripAdvisor (currently #12).
Here’s the kicker. It looks like this:
Source: Tripadvisor
Exactly. It looks like something out of Communist Russia. Thank you for agreeing with me. (I buy one rug from West Elm and suddenly I am Meryl Streep in ‘The Devil Wears Prada’.)
How on earth did this happen? And why do lawyers NEED to learn from this?
Let’s take a quick look below.
How does the Magic Castle smash it on TripAdvisor?
Simple: a popsicle hotline.
The popsicle hotline is now world famous.
Here it is:
Source: LinkedIn
So, the Magic Castle has a pool in a 1950s apartment complex. It looks more like a bright yellow version of a swimming pool Norman Bates would manage.
Next to the pool is a big sign saying, “POPSICLE HOTLINE”.
If you pick up the phone, a member of staff answers and says, “Popsicle Hotline! We’ll be right out.” And then some butler-type character comes out carrying a silver tray covered in an assortment of grape and cherry and orange popsicles. This is all free.
It’s worth noting that these aren’t Dolce & Gabbana, fancy ice lollies. They are the cheap crappy ones you used love as a child.
(So, that’s a key takeaway. You don’t need to spend loads of money to have an amazing impact on your client.)
I’m sure that if you delved into other elements of the Magic Castle business, you’d find a list of many other excellent customer service examples. But for simplicity, I am focusing on popsicles (yummy).
Dan Heath in this article talks about the psychology behind this. It’s all about emotional ‘peaks’.
Dan says:
fixing problems doesn’t make people happy.
If you drive down the road for five miles, and there are no potholes, you’re not giddy about that. That’s what you expected.
But if you want to make people happy, if you want to make people loyal, if you want to have people talking about your service or product, then you’ve got to go beyond that.
… the Magic Castle have figured out the power of moments.
You can imagine the parent-child conversations:
Daddy, I want to go back to the Magic Castle.
Darling, we’ve already been to Los Angeles. What about the canals of Venice? The Orangutans of Borneo?
NO, DADDY! I WANT THE CHEAP CRAPPY POPSICLES FROM THE MAGIC CASTLE!
The Magic Castle have created (at minimal cost, but with great creativity) memories that people cherish.
The Magic Castle also understand an important evolutionary psychology principle. Make a child happy and you make the parents happy.
That’s why the Magic Castle smashes it on Tripadvisor.
To quote Dan further:
two years later, you’re not going to remember, “Oh, the bed was average,” or, “Oh, the lobby was average.” Two years later, you’re going to remember, “Hey, you’re not going to believe this, but there was a phone by the pool where you could order popsicles. Can you believe such a thing?”
How does this apply to law?
Think about Dan’s words:
…fixing problems doesn’t make people happy…
… the Magic Castle have figured out the power of moments.
The same applies to law.
You would have to be a specific type of individual to be made elated by the signing of a disclosure letter. Or a consent letter. Or the issuance of a legal opinion.
You can, however, at least try to make your legal service experience as memorable as a popsicle hotline for a six-year-old.
For this - I want you to do two things:
think of your client as a person. They are not a business entity you are transacting with. They are parents. Gym-goers who sometimes snooze through their alarm. Netflix bingers.
then think of ways to make them smile. And spend a bit of money on those things.
Does your client love running? Do you love running?
Propose that you both go for a run on Primrose Hill to discuss legal strategy.
Is your client working 20 hours a day in the lead up to Christmas?
Provide a Santa Clause (get the pun?) consultation. ‘Our elves will research Christmas gifts for your loved ones whilst you get that deal over the line.’
Does your client love science fiction?
Buy them a bloody light saber.
Does your client have a dog they adore? Have you spent the day negotiating in the office in a haze of coffee and bad sandwiches?
Send your client home from the office with a care package for their dog.
Get the picture?
Source: dnaindia.com
Where do we see the Popsicle Hotline Principle in other businesses?
Bob Bob Ricard is world-famous for having a ‘press for champagne’ button. (Is this just the Russian oligarch version of the popsicle hotline?)
In his MAD Masters, Rory Sutherland talks about how McDonalds increased their sales by 25%... just by giving out free balloons with every happy meal…
Ryanair’s Twitter page is amazing. They make people laugh and get people talking about Ryanair. And that’s nearly completely free for them. They just need to pay a Gen-Z comedian to sit behind a keyboard.
The Popsicle Hotline Principle
I feel that the above is SO important for us as lawyers and marketers that I have created the Popsicle Hotline Principle:
The Popsicle Hotline Principle means: ‘go the extra mile for your clients. Without spending a sh*tload of money.’ Give your clients an ‘emotional peak’. Basically, make them happy.
The Popsicle Hotline Principle will appear again and again across this website. By way of the DIY KAPOW symbol I made in Canva above. (If you like my memes, you should see my oil paintings.)
Are you applying this idea? Let me know!
Send me an email with whether you think this works for your business.
Or your general feedback!
The Dead Snail email is info@thedeadsnail.com. I’ll respond!
If you haven’t already, subscribe to my newsletter below!
Where did I learn this?
Rory Sutherland (have you guessed that I am his biggest fangirl by now?) mentions it across his lectures and podcasts. He mentions the popsicle hotline here.
As mentioned, Dan Heath talks about the popsicle hotline in this article. Heath’s Made to Stick is another banger of a book. Devour it. Inhale it. You won’t regret it.
Harry Dry has an awesome website. He talks about Bob Bob Ricard’s ‘press for champagne’ button on this podcast. I had already been to Bob Bob Ricard before Harry mentioned it. Because I’m fancy. I didn’t press the champagne button though because the financing of my fanciness stopped there.
