Test Demand by Phone Before You Open a New Practice Area

Law Firm Growth Playbooks · Part 14 of 23

Why testing first saves money

I have seen companies spend a year and a large budget building a service the market did not want. The cheaper path is a month of structured calls to the people who would buy or refer it. If those conversations show the problem is not real, you have saved the build; if they confirm it, you start with language, objections and early demand already in hand.

The same logic applies outside law: anyone planning to build high-priced apartments should first call the people who could afford them and learn what would make them buy, before construction starts.

Why do law firms open practice areas that underperform? Because the decision is based on partner interest or a competitor’s apparent success. Why? Because no one asked the referral sources and buyers first. The root cause is building before validating.

Why surface research misleads

Asking “Would you use this?” produces polite yeses that never turn into purchases. The fix is relentless curiosity: keep asking follow-ups until the answer is specific. Use a 1-to-10 scale:

“On a scale of 1 to 10, where 1 is ‘I’d never use this’ and 10 is ‘I need it now’, where are you?”

Then two follow-ups: “Why not lower?” (what they value) and “What would make it a 10?” (what is missing).

Running a demand test for a firm

1. Write the hypothesis in one line: “General-practice firms in our county refer out at least two employment cases a month and would send them to us if we offered monthly updates.”
2. Pick the respondents who would create the demand: referral attorneys, business owners, HR leaders, or existing clients for an add-on service (permitted contacts only, see playbook 10).
3. Make 100 to 200 calls over 30 days with a short question set (below).
4. Record notes verbatim (and recordings where lawful and consented).
5. Score each conversation 1 to 10 and note the “make it a 10” answer.
6. Decide using a pre-set threshold, for example: at least 15% of conversations score 8 or above and at least five commit to a specific next step (a referral, a meeting, a pilot matter).

Question set

• “How often does [problem] come up for you or your clients?”
• “What do you do with it today? Who do you send it to?”
• “What’s frustrating about that?”
• “If a firm solved [specific frustration], on a scale of 1 to 10, how likely would you be to use them?”
• “Why not lower? What would make it a 10?”
• “If we launch this, can I call you first?”

Reading the results

Guardrails

• Research calls are still calls; follow Rule 7.3 on who you contact and honor opt-outs.
• Recording laws vary by state (some require all-party consent).

What to measure

• Conversations completed against target.
• Score distribution and commitment count.
• Cost of the test versus the projected launch budget.

30-day checklist

• Write the hypothesis and decision threshold
• Build a list of 200 respondents
• Train callers on the question set
• Complete 100 or more conversations
• Hold the go or no-go meeting with the data

Want help putting this in place?

Book a 15-minute call with Sagar Pratap Singh, Founder and Host of WhoBringsTheBusiness, at sagar@whobringsthebusiness.com or pick a time online. Mention this playbook and I will come prepared with a starting point for your firm. Implementation is delivered through Dizital Connect.

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Next in the series: Part 15: The Five-Minute Rule: Why Intake Speed Decides Signed Cases