Local SEO is the collective term for a set of tactics deployed to improve the visibility of a content snippet or a business listing, in the organic sections of a search engine results page.
A SERP showing organic results only 
A Knowledge Panel
I believe the impact of even a small incremental increase in rankings can have an extremely positive impact on enquiries, and in turn conversions to your business goals.
For searches with local intent, these pages often include a Local Pack – above, left – which typically appears towards the top of the page, below the Ads, but above the organic listings.
For some searches a Knowledge Panel – above, right – will be returned which provides in-depth information about one business or entity.
I understand some of the factors the search engines take into account when it comes to deciding who to rank in these positions, and how rankings can differ depending where the search was conducted. As such I can advise clients what they should do to enhance the chances of their content or business listing ranking for the keywords that matter most to them.
Actions are likely to include optimisation of their business listings – Google My Business, Bing Places For Business or both – monitoring competitor listings, customer review management and a citations strategy.
The first thing I’ll do after the consultation, is the keyword research and rank tracking to establish the search terms to target, and to assess your current performance. From there I’d look to optimise for these target keywords.