How ‘Plusnet Pioneers’ supported Lexoo’s ambition to shake up the legal sector

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At Plusnet, we pride ourselves on our helpfulness. That’s why we launched Plusnet Pioneers– a programme to help startups and small business owners realise their ambitions. We’re proud to have already offered a helping hand to small businesses up and down the country with a series of events and one-to-one mentoring programmes.

After attending one of our events on the marketing challenges faced by startups, Lexoo founder Daniel van Binsbergen was inspired to sign up for some mentoring sessions with one of our Plusnet Pioneers – Ben Bilboul – CEO of leading advertising agency, Karmarama.

Lexoo, an online lawyer-matching service, connects businesses with hand-picked lawyers who typically stem from big law firm backgrounds. Following the mentoring sessions, the brand is now on track to become a challenger brand in the corporate legal sector with a new offering that combines the modern world of tech with one of the most traditional industries.

Established in 2014, Daniel founded Lexoo after working as a lawyer at an international law firm for five years. He launched the online legal service to keep up with consumers’ shifting expectations in the wake of the digital revolution in an otherwise stagnant market. The business works with more than 400 lawyers in 25 countries to offer competitive quotes to businesses within 24 hours. Confident in his business idea, the next step for Daniel was how to market it effectively and reach the right audience.

According to our research, 71% of new business owners agree that finding new customers through marketing is the most common concern that keeps them up at night. As a startup, Daniel recognised the need to establish brand identity and trust among businesses.

Paired with Ben as his mentor, Daniel said: “With a limited marketing budget, we initially focused our strategy on digital campaigns as this felt like the most natural platform. But we soon discovered that many businesses don’t search for lawyers online and as a result, we weren’t effectively reaching our target audience.

“As a B2B platform, we struggled to creatively introduce our digital service through more traditional forms of marketing, PR and brand building. That’s why, when we were paired with a leading marketing expert, we felt particularly positive about overcoming our business challenges.”

Commenting on his role as a mentor, Ben said: “It was particularly exciting to offer a fresh perspective on marketing to a B2B start-up in the legal sector, especially as most of my experience spans consumer brands and campaigns.

“Getting your marketing right requires experience and takes a while to crack when starting out. It’s often a case of trial and error, but there are a few basics to get to grips with before embarking on your marketing journey.”

During the mentoring sessions, Daniel was offered invaluable tools, tips and advice to get Lexoo’s marketing right in the crowded legal sector.

Ben used theories inspired by the book, Eating the Big Fish, which helps brands to develop thorough strategies to compete with the leaders in their industries. Daniel was provided with practical tips, such as the ‘Eight Challenger Credos’, which offer guidance on being more ideas-centred and becoming a thought-leader. These theories have helped Daniel set about defining Lexoo as a true challenger brand and improving the brand’s market position.

Ben also advised Daniel on using The Three-Hour Brand Sprint – a selection of six collaborative team exercises that help create a better brand definition. Daniel focused on ‘The 20-Year Roadmap’ – a strategy that focuses on a business’ long-term ambitions and the route to getting there. This exercise required the team to consider Lexoo’s core foundations by collectively agreeing on the business’ most important values and defining its culture. What’s more, Daniel and his team have been able to establish a common language to describe the company, its tone of voice and brand image more easily.

Daniel commented: “As a legal professional with no prior experience in marketing, the tools and frameworks that Ben provided enabled me to take a step back and follow a more considered approach. I’m now able to think with more clarity about what we're challenging at Lexoo, and how and when to express that to our target audience.”

As a result of the mentoring sessions, Daniel has set a clear ambition for Lexoo to become one of the most trustworthy and recognisable brands in the corporate legal world over the next couple of years.

Daniel continued: “I’ve been able to tap into Ben’s world-class expertise and his unique way of thinking for our business. What’s more, the process has enabled me to create a step-by-step marketing strategy to help realise my goals.

“Thanks to Plusnet, this experience has given me a completely new outlook for Lexoo and I’m excited to reach my business ambition to become a well-known brand in the corporate world.”

Both Daniel and Ben have found the Plusnet Pioneers mentoring sessions effective and valuable, and the pair have chosen to continue building on their experience with further meetings.

To find out more about Plusnet Pioneers, please visit: www.plus.net/business/plusnet-pioneers.