Rebranding: what's in a name?
- Cheryl Penry
- Feb 29, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 26, 2024
Legal Love Letters and willandprobate.com
Why Rebrand?
A long while ago, I realised the word 'Will' and the word 'Probate', let alone using those two words together, made most people feel a little icky or uncomfortable. Descriptive? Yes, it was what it 'said on the tin'. Appealing? No, it sounded like death - an absolute conversation killer.
Regardless, I was proud of willandprobate.com and for years I'd banged a drum telling anyone who would listen that wills are more about love than money. I often described them as a legal kind of love letter. On reflection, I can see those words always got such a lovely reaction but I wasn't really taking much notice of just how powerful they actually were.
Magical even.
I arrived at a London venue for a training day run by top entrepreneur, author and business strategy expert Daniel Priestley. There were around 120 of us there to learn about creating a clear business identity with, purpose and message. It was called Pitch day and among other things, we would practice introducing ourselves and our businesses in an interesting, confident way. It marked a turning point in my life and future business choices.
There was a point where we were encouraged to rehearse our initial introduction pitch with two others in the room in order to receive some constructive feedback.
Little did I know I was about to experience the best feedback of my life!
A lovely guy called Keran Turakhia was one of the people I was paired with to do the pitching exercise. He had a lively personality and I remember listening to what he had to say about his business and then giving him feedback as we were told to do. It came to my turn and I started by saying something really basic like "Hello, I'm Cheryl Penry and I run a company called Will and Probate...."
Right there, Kieran interrupted me by suddenly flinging his hands up, palms facing me and said "STOP! NO! I don't want to hear anymore! It sounds horrible, I don't want to think about those things"
I'd never experienced a reaction quite like it! "How rude is he?" I thought to myself. I felt annoyed and a bit distressed that he hadn't given me a chance to finish - I'd only got the first line out! But wow, I was so wrong - there was a big lesson staring me square in the face if I chose to pay close attention.
After calming down, I gave considerable thought to what had happened with Keran that day. It finally dawned on me that his reaction to the words 'will and probate' was exactly what I needed. Although it seemed harsh initially, it helped me see that my business name wasn't really doing me or my clients any favours. It crossed my mind that people would always be turned off by the words 'will' and 'probate' and knew that to bring about any improvement, I would have to take what I'd learned seriously and act on it.
It led me to develop Legal Love Letters as brand and change the way my business shows up and stands out in the will writing world.
Legal Love Letters is a big deal and not just a pretty pink name. It's the first memorable will writing brand created specifically to help people feel better about a topic that usually scares the pants off them.
Those I speak to now are curious about Legal Love Letters and they definitely aren't afraid of the conversation before it's even begun! Instead, people want to know more and I can see the cogs whirring as they consider how Legal Love Letters makes them feel.
Such an honest reaction on the training day was exactly the kick that I needed.
Thank you so much Keran!
Legal Love Letters™
Doesn't that feel nicer already?
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#dentglobal#training#lessons#love#willwriting#probate#legacy#business#entrepreneur#
Love Letters | Blog | Rebranding | Why Rebrand | Will and Probate
Hi Keran :) many thanks for your comment here. You weren't rude, that was just how I felt before I realised what an absolute gift your feedback was! I think everyone feels the same way about the words used in the will writing sector, you were just more animated about your view and thank goodness for that. I really hope that Legal Love Letters goes some way to helping people feel better about will writing. Thank you again Keran. x
Thanks so much for mentioning me ,Cheryl, and glad my rudeness has helped! Love the new name and you did point out that "love" was the main driver to writing a will. I do believe "love" is all we need. Legal Love Letters does sound great.Good luck, I have no doubt you will be able to help people make their love for their loved ones be legally articulated in the most efficient manner.