I was in Lisbon a few months ago (speaking at the LAWorld international law firm conference) and ended up wandering into one of its oldest cafés, A Brasileira, which has been open since 1905.
It’s the kind of place that feels like it has stories baked into the walls. And as it turned out, it did. The power of the ‘taste before you buy’ strategy
The Bold Move That Turned Bitter Coffee Into a Lisbon Institution
The founder, Adriano Telles, had a problem.
He’d made his fortune in the Brazilian coffee trade and returned to Portugal wanting to sell Brazilian beans.
There was just one obstacle: the Portuguese didn’t like Brazilian coffee. They were used to African beans, and considered the Brazilian variety too bitter. He could have simply opened a shop and hoped for the best. But he didn’t.
Instead, he made a bold offer: buy a kilo of beans and get a free cup of coffee. The idea was simple: if people could actually taste the product, prepared properly, they’d understand its value.
And it worked. What started as a retail promotion became a legendary gathering place. People came for the free cup, and they stayed because they’d been converted to the new taste.
Here’s what strikes me about this: Adriano didn’t try to convince people through advertising or clever branding. He educated them through experience.
What Adriano Knew That Most Law Firm Owners Don’t
This is exactly what Education-Based Marketing does for your law firm.
Most of your ideal clients don’t know they need you yet – not because they don’t have problems, but because they haven’t yet understood the value of what you offer or the cost of not acting.
A well-crafted Client Magnet guide, a useful email series, a genuinely helpful piece of content – these are your ‘free cup of coffee.’ They let prospective clients sample your expertise before they commit.
The mistake most law firm owners make is waiting for people to arrive already convinced.
Adriano didn’t wait for the Portuguese to come round to Brazilian coffee. He showed them.
So here’s your question for this week: what are you doing to educate your prospective clients before they even pick up the phone?
If the answer is “not a lot” then you need to work out “what’s my version of a free cup of coffee”?
Take Action
A Brasileira also has a signature dish that surprised me: gourmet French toast served with a tangy local cheese sauce. It sounded odd, but turned out to be a winning combination and completely delicious (alongside a coffee, of course).
It reminded me that some of the best results in business come when you stop following the conventional “norms” and take a different approach. I talk more about this – and specifically why you need to stop following the conventional law firm model of “add more” – in Episode 7 of my podcast, Breaking the Million Pound Myth.
And if you’d like to discover the practical strategies we’ve used to help hundreds of small and boutique law firm owners attract more of the right clients, increase profits, and build a Freedom Firm without working more hours, I’d love you to join me at my half-day online Profitable Practice Growth Secrets Workshop on 24th September. You can find out more and register for your complimentary ticket here:
