LexisNexis recently launched a new version of its martindale.com Web site. The site originally launched 10 years ago as a platform to connect buyers and sellers (the law firms) of legal services. The new version promises to deliver an even better experience for buyers by providing more information they can use to make a purchasing decision.

Among the enhancements are: activities data (which includes information about litigation and mergers and acquisitions activity for individual law firms), capabilities data (provides an understanding of a law firm's operational infrastructure, a snapshot report (an executive summary of a firm’s offerings and capabilities) and an enhanced side-by-side comparison (a comparison tool that aggregates all of the new data to present a single view of selected firms). All of these features are designed to give buyers a richer, more complete look at the capabilities of the law firms they are researching. The new site will also include a series of Top 10 lists, highlighting the top 10 law firms in a particular category.

These enhancements emphasize the fact that, regardless of the history of your products, you can’t rest on your laurels. Customers are always looking for more and publishers have to offer it, especially if they have it. In this case, LexisNexis is leveraging data from its atVantage product to power the activities data feature. It just proves that publishers really don’t have to reinvent the wheel to make their products relevant for customers; but ensuring that products evolve with their customers' ever-changing needs is crucial in today's extremely competitive marketplace. If your product doesn’t have or do what customers want, they will find another product that will.