A Really “Nift-y” Marketing Idea for Lawyers

I just came across this article  about a Boston-based online gift network called Nift that’s intended to help folks discover other local businesses by giving them a reward, in form of a gift card, to try those businesses out.

Here’s a quick summary  of how Nift works in practice:

Someone walks into Biyoshi [a local hair salon] and gets a haircut. The salon then gives the customer a thank you in the form of a specialized gift card. The customer then takes the card and registers it online, filling in their name and area code. They’re then prompted to choose one of two gifts worth around $30 from two other local area small businesses participating in the program. The website’s algorithm ensures all the businesses get their fair share of traffic.  The idea is that the promise of the rather substantial gift takes the customer to a different local business and gives them an opportunity to try something they might not have thought to try. They become a loyal client, and get another gift card and get sent off again.

To me, what makes Nift different from other local reward or discount programs like Groupon is that the gift cards aren’t supplied by the business itself, but by another local business who is using the card to thank its own customers. Thus, in contrast to businesses that promote themselves through Groupon and attach all kinds of caveats to minimize their costs – but that also make the offer useless — because another  business is giving the gift to their customer, it has incentive to provide something of value so that their own customers will appreciate it. (As an aside, regular readers may know that I’m not a fan of Groupon ).

Another participant quoted in the article draws another distinction between Nift and Groupon saying that when businesses offer Groupon discounts, “people just chase those deals and move on to the next thing.” By contrast, when a business gives its customers a twenty dollar gift card to spend at the local liquor store or coffee shop, it gives them more of an incentive to return.

Although Nift costs money since participants have to purchase the gift cards, it helps bring in business and displace other forms of local advertising. The article quotes one participant who says that:

 …she loves that she gets to thank her existing customers and help out other locally owned businesses. “I give my money for marketing but I’m giving it to all the other local small businesses and you get new clients out of it. So far I’ve gotten many long time clients out of it.”

In fact, several businesses mentioned in the article have moved their advertising dollars from sites like Yelp and invested in Nift gift cards instead.

To me, Nift is a really neat idea for lawyers, particularly those with hyper-local practices who focus on serving the community. Buying Nift cards is a way for lawyers to say thank you to a client, while supporting small, local businesses. But lawyers could also offer gifts on Nift as well – maybe not a free consultation or cheap will (which could give rise to an expectation of a discount) – but what about an ebook that you’ve authored on “How to Navigate the Town X Zoning Process” or offering document shredding service or an invite to a law firm seminar on estate planning. And sure, while a lawyer gift card might be so boring that no business would want to buy it for customers, just listing it as an option on Nift can help get your firm’s name out, and establish your reputation as someone who serves the local community.

Of course, before you warm up to the concept of Nift, let’s not forget the chilling effect of bar regulations. Yes, I realize that participation in Nift could run afoul of ethics prohibitions on giving gifts to clients, or providing something of value in exchange for a referral – the theory being that the gift cards provide clients incentive to send all their friends your way so that they could get gift cards too. Or that a local store, grateful for the gift cards that you purchased from their establishment will use your services to thank you. Sure, these are all theoretical possibilities – but they’re also completely ludicrous. Why must ethics regulators always read motive into every little thing a lawyer does and assume that consumers are so stupid that they will send lawyers business because they received a $10 gift card to spend at the town candy store.

Moreover, these ethics rules erect barriers between lawyers and the rest of society? Why shouldn’t lawyers with a store front on Main Street be able to participate in a neat service that all the other businesses on the block are taking advantage of? Why can’t a lawyer who enjoyed a nice lunch at the local pub buy a couple of twenty dollar gift certificates and hand them out to clients who might also appreciate a meal there? We lawyers bemoan that companies like LegalZoom and Rocket Lawyer  are taking over the world – but the fact of the matter is that they’re able to get themselves in front of potential users every day whereas the bar is constantly erecting barriers to lawyers’ ability to do that.

So what’s a lawyer to do. Here’s what I suggest. If Nift sounds like a nifty idea to you, go for it. If you have concerns about ethics, research your local rules, call the bar hotline and document your inquiry for the file. In my view, that ought to be adequate protection in the unlikely event that a regulator comes knocking. Sure, each new technology idea brings some risks (and yes, some are flat out unethical and should be avoided) But as solos and small firms, we can’t afford to reject every single idea that won’t cause harm to clients but where, nevertheless there’s a remote possibility that a bar will call foul. Because if we aren’t willing to take a tiny bit of risk, rest assured that the #altlaw providers will run us out of business faster than a regulator wielding an ethics club ever could.