In Part 1, we explored what no-code platforms are and what their developers should consider when building it for their users. I stated that platform developers need to learn how to “share the spade” in the sandbox they’ve made; exploring the need to focus on facilitation, creativity and the process of education to unlock the potential of their platform.
If these are what the platform developers need to do to better penetrate the Legal Market, then there are also logical steps to be taken by the Lawyers and Legal Industry people who would utilise this type of offering to the maximum benefit.
Lawyers, are you ready?
Any attempt to introduce a new tool and conjure a change in behaviour in private practice or in-house requires you to focus on fundamentals in order to achieve any sort of traction. No-code platforms are a specific type of tool being introduced, so your preparations need to be tailored to them. You may be enamored by the shiny new tool, but are you ready for it?
Here are the top 5 things you need to best leverage no-code platforms.
This checklist covers points from your internal preparation to bridging the tool to your business, to sustaining the growth and outcomes you want it to bring. It is a useful exercise in sense-making to bring about real change.
1. Understand your Intended User
It is incredibly important for you to take steps to consider who the intended user or users are for the platform you want to invest in. There is no point investing in tools when you have no idea who will be using it, far less benefit from it. With no-code platforms the basic difference in users are internal (your people) and external (your clients) as both can benefit from using it but drive different outcomes. If you’re personally going to be the user, then these questions will still be helpful:
Who (internal/external/both) are you buying this for?
What do you know about the intended users processes and journey in their BAU work?
What percentage of the work on platform is done by your people vs your clients?
Have you created an environment and business practice that allows for co-creation?
List the beneficiaries and how you believe they will benefit: active/passive, direct/indirect, financial/time, stress/job satisfaction.
2. Do you have buy in?
From strategic direction at board level, to policy that penetrates the organisation, to spend, to human resources, getting alignment and support for decisions to use a new tool will be fundamental to adoption. Buy in can happen in various ways but essentially it is a show of willingness to commit to the proposition that is unknown and new. These questions can assist you in forming a better picture around whether you have buy in:
How many people (internal/external) are behind this decision?
How many people (internal/external) do you need to make this work?
Is it all-in, all at once or an iterative/phased roll-out?
How many of the backers will actually be using the tool?
How much time/resources do you need to bring the tool into the business?
3. How does the tool integrate into your system?
If you have the buy in and understand the intended user, then you will now want to know how the tool integrates into your system. This part is more operational and calls on your ability to understand how your business produces its products and services. IT is fundamental to the success of a new tool that it integrates well into the existing set of tools, not just from a code perspective, but in terms of behaviours.
Of course, part of the implementation of a new tool is that it encourages new behaviours which lend to better outcomes (hopefully) but pull too hard away from your ecosystem and you’ll find the tool gathering a nice thick layer of dust in (digital/physical) storage.
Where does it sit in the ecosystem?
Is an API available or can I connect it to other apps we use?
Is it likely going to be treated like an outlier?
Does it do enough for enough people?
Do you have enough to get started?
Can you build something that generates efficiency/revenue relatively quickly?
4. How will you make money out of it?
None of this venture will make any sense if you haven’t establish a deeper understanding of what sort of revenue or profit can be driven from the new tool. You will have heard plenty from the vendor and may have done some of your own calculations, but a tool is only as good as the way it expands business. No-code platforms in particular have unlimited potential as you can create the benefit and experience in the sandbox environment with “spade in hand”. In this context, you should be working with stakeholders and outside support to develop a business model that will suit not only the type of work, but align the branding and longer term strategies behind this investment.
Here’s a few questions to consider as a starter:
What does it cost?
Do you have a business model that would best leverage the platform?
Are you only looking for quantitative metrics?
Have you thought about qualitative gains?
5. Where’s the Magic?
This part is often the make or break, It is the wonderful variable in business (and in life). This is where the human in you shines out and takes center stage. How you embody this project and express naturally with the tool you’ve been given is what every other person (your people or clients or otherwise) will be looking for.
Something new can be scary and lead to resistance, but it can also be magical and lead to adoption. You have to consider what steps you’ve taken to allow for magic to happen - and you don’t have to do it alone. Here’s a few questions to help in this direction:
Once you set it up, how are you going to inject creativity to draw more clients?
Can you delight current clients and your people with it?
What’s your strategy surrounding this? Have you identified the right people to build it up?
Write down in one paragraph the narrative that would lead you to market penetration? What is the essential pull?
Which experts can assist with the process of education from technical to creative to human? (👋)
And there we go! Now you’ve gained a deeper understanding what no-code platforms are and what Vendors of no-code platforms need to do to make it easier for you, but also explored what you need to do to prepare and succeed in leveraging a no-code platform.
That’s the brilliance of The Lab 🤓
If you’re considering introducing a new tool, business model, or idea into your business and need a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to your future of law journey, reach out:
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As always, the future of law is in our hands 🔥
Q.