Blog Post by Steve Marshall

I get asked A LOT about how our trademark slogan came to be. It’s a simple story actually. Since we started concentrating mainly on personal injury claims over 30 years ago, we noticed a couple of disturbing trends: One was that people were calling us a year or so after their accidents asking us could we re-open the claim. They had settled on their own because they were continuing to experience symptoms from the collision and were missing more time from work as a result.

A review of the “full and final” release that these people had signed when they settled their claims led to the obvious and unfortunate conclusion that there was nothing we could do for them. That is a tough pill to give, with no sugar.

The second trend we noticed when speaking with these people who had settled on their own too early, and for too little compensation, was that they didn’t consult a lawyer at the time they were injured. They were under the impression that they would wind up owing the lawyers more than they would eventually get from the settlement. When we told them the facts: that in most cases, we work on a percentage fee basis, meaning the client has a risk-free arrangement with us. It was another hard pill for them to swallow, given that they had already settled their claim on their own.

So, we sat down with our advertising team to figure out the best way to deliver a short and powerful message: It Costs Absolutely Nothing to Talk. Call us and get our opinions and advice on your situation, and we’ll work FOR YOU on a percentage fee arrangement, meaning you retain the vast majority of the settlement amount we obtain for you.

After many hours of meetings, coffees, snack breaks and brainstorming on how to sum up our message, we arrived at our conclusion when someone in the room—we can’t remember exactly why—said: “Look, we just want to get people to MAKE THE CALL.” The obvious thought was that once they call us—free of charge—we can quickly analyze the situation, usually over the phone at first, and provide advice. That way we can give them the assurance that they are in good hands if they allow us to take up the case against the insurance company for the person who caused the accident. At that moment, our slogan was born: MAKE THE CALL.

In addition to being a strong call-to-action (i.e., pick up the phone and call us!), Make the Call is also an appeal to do the smart thing—the right thing for you.

Simple, concise, accurate and helpful. End of story.