Firm Launches Compliance Subscription, Sends Same PDF Every Month

A law firm has entered the subscription economy with a compliance service that sends customers the same memorandum on the first business day of every month.

The current month appears on the cover. Inside, the legal position remains reassuringly identical, including a reference to a consultation that closed before the product launched.

The client problem

The pilot customer wanted ongoing monitoring, clear explanations of relevant changes and help identifying which business controls needed attention. It had asked for a predictable annual cost because its existing arrangement made it expensive to find out whether it needed advice.

The firm recognised an opportunity to create a product. It found a memorandum from an earlier matter and added a payment page.

‘We have moved beyond episodic advice,’ the practice head explained. ‘The invoice now recurs.’

The solution

Subscribers receive a named contact, a portal login and a monthly document described as continuously refreshed. The refresh changes the date, filename and small coloured tab that identifies the edition.

A member of the knowledge team checks whether the file has uploaded correctly. Nobody has been assigned to check whether its contents still answer the client’s question.

The service achieved a perfect on-time delivery rate. Its launch report also recorded twelve months of coverage, calculated by multiplying the monthly price by twelve.

The customer test

The pilot customer asked what would happen when a development required action.

Significant developments, the partner explained, would be considered in the firm’s thought leadership.

Who would work out whether they affected the customer’s controls?

That would require advice.

What had the customer subscribed to receive?

The reassurance of knowing advice was available.

A follow-up request for a definition of reassurance was referred to the relationship partner.

The delivery review

A product manager has since asked for an update owner, a change log, a mapped control library and a clear boundary between included monitoring and separately priced implementation. Finance supports this approach because it would make the promise possible to cost.

The practice head is concerned that assigning people to maintain the service will reduce its recurring margin. The product manager has confirmed that delivery is one of the activities a subscription usually repeats.

The customer will renew if the service begins identifying changes that affect its business. It does not require a new PDF when nothing has changed. A short explanation would do.

The proposed second version therefore contains less monthly content and more actual work. Approval is pending.

The first version continues to perform exceptionally well on the dashboard: twelve deliveries, twelve invoices and no recorded updates requiring action. The absence of a person responsible for recording them has not affected the score.