Sales Is Not A Four Letter Word

By Anne Malloy Tucker, Chief Marketing Officer, Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston. She can be reached at 617-570-1790 and amalloy@goodwinprocter.com.

In today’s competitive legal environment, there’s no topic that causes more heated debate than sales.  What to call it, who does it, how it’s implemented, tracking and monitoring systems, credit and compensation issues…pick any component of the process and it is likely to spark discussion and dissonance.  Yet there is clearly agreement among today’s leading law firm marketing and sales leaders on some of the core issues at the heart of the sales conundrum.

With Creating the Sales Culture at Your Firm as the session topic, a distinguished panel of thought leaders joined moderator Mark White, client service partner at Baker Botts, at the annual LMA conference:

• Darryl Cross, chief marketing officer of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff
• Theresa Bomba, manager of business development at Goulston & Storrs
• Mark G. Cowan, partner at Patton Boggs.

They led a fascinating session that provided an in-depth look at the similarities – and differences – in a successful sales model in today’s law firm.

What they agreed upon:

• The difference between marketing and sales continues to be misunderstood by attorneys in many firms. Education is an ongoing process and challenge.
• Sales is a formal process and its core phases remain constant -- from prospect identification to lead generation to tracking, measurement and follow up -- regardless of who is responsible for the delivery or implementation.
• Culture will drive some components of the sales approach depending upon the firm…there is no “one size fits all.” For example, some firms will likely embrace non-attorney team members and others won’t, but insisting that either is the only way to achieve the end result is counterproductive. Every firm is different.
• Hard data is a key – if not the foundation – of a successful process. Sales is a numbers game in more ways than one.
• Business development may involve current clients of a firm or new prospects, but they inherently require different approaches.

An aside about semantics:  Is it  called “sales” or “business development” or another term altogether?  And does it matter?  Both Mark Cowan and Theresa Bomba prefer “business development,” because, according to Mark “that’s what your attorneys are comfortable with.”  Theresa concurs, underscoring the point that the central goal is to actually implement the process, not debate the term for it.

Sales is a discipline

Darryl Cross, CMO of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan & Aronoff is passionate about the process.

“The sales process has worked in every other industry for the last 500 years and it will work here,” he says referring to law firms. Sales is a discipline, a business process like finance, operations, and a host of other institutionalized processes.  As law firms become more competitive, they have to think, and manage, and operate more like traditional businesses. Economies of scale, leverage, and profitability all come into play.  Prioritization and focus are driven by an overall strategy.

“The reality is that a $400 million dollar firm does not wing it,”  says Cross. “The question before us today is how do we package the sales process and how do we make it operational?”

Ernest Hemingway once said “never mistake motion for action.”  If your firm’s overall sales approach relies on quasi-marketing initiatives that could loosely be collected under the heading “stuff” you may need to refocus your marketing efforts in addition to systematizing your sales function.  (Says Cross: The black hole approach is easily recognizable and involves such activities as “strategic eating,” unaligned PR efforts, one-off ad placements and "random acts of golf and lunch.” If the above is justified with the phrase  “if we get just one new piece of business it pays for itself”  you can be assured that a flawed process  is in place.)

“A more effective and efficient approach is to develop a sustainable, repeatable, teachable, measurable process…and that’s what a sales methodology is,” he says.

Five components

Cross illustartes the sales process as a “sales funnel,” moving from pipe dream to intake, underscoring the notion of fluidity. To succeed,  “the process has to keep moving” and should include these five components:

·       Full access by the business development team to firm financial information

·       Business, marketing and action plans (with specific objectives and tangible goals)

·       Comprehensive training programs

·       A constant feedback loop about client satisfaction

·       Measurement of results

He suggests the development of an in-house R&D lab:  At his firm, a Business Development Advisory Board composed of 20 members including newer and senior partners serve as a testing ground and sounding board to identify what works and what doesn’t.  He also hosts weekly sales training sessions open to all, every Friday for 30 minutes to reinforce the notion of an ongoing, consistent process.

Like Cross’ funnel, Mark Cowan has a clear overview of the sales components:

·       Lead identification.  There are two kinds of leads: (1) a person who has a legal problem, such as someone who lost their lease, was in an auto accident or is facing legislation that will cause them to lose their business. (2) an opportunity -- something that helps a client grow their business, like helping an oil company win a lease.

·       Preparation/research. Research and intelligence gathering that produces a vetted list of real prospects.

·       Presentation. The pitch – and not “a bunch of guys sitting around talking about themselves.” The focus should be on the issues and interests of the prospect.

·       Follow up.  "My experience with lawyers is that when the pitch is over, they expect the client to call up and say 'we want to hire you.'  We make certain that the partner calls back the day they said they would."

·       Closing. This is getting the client to sign on the dotted line.

At Patton Boggs, Cowan participates in most new business “pitches” usually with a hand-off  to other attorneys once the business is won, though not always.  "I don't get any origination credit," Cowan said.  "There is no penalty for any partner to work with me."

20 ways to drive sales

Theresa Bomba of Goulston & Storrs offered “20 Practical Ways” that marketing departments can help drive the sales initiative and impact revenue. Broadly speaking these can be divided into several overall categories – Research and Preparation, Client Focus, Systems and Measurables, and Training and Alignment. Some of her top tips:

·       Spearhead in-depth research on prospects and people; use technology to identify relationships within your firm

·       Ensure that strategy meetings take place before the initial external meetings

·       Facilitate a cross-selling program in your firm

·       Separate good clients from great clients - research current client profitability, retention rates, and other data

·       Conduct client interviews

·       Align your firm’s internal departments and efforts to support the business development goals – from training, to administrative client service to marketing

·       Be an ongoing conduit of relevant information – on industry trends, prospects, clients and competitors

Reality check

Just how ready is your firm for a formal approach to sales?  Ask yourself the following questions for a quick reality check:

·       Is marketing an embraced discipline?

·       Does marketing have a seat at the table with firm leadership?

·       At the practice area level?

·       Is the word “sales” used out loud?

·       Does your firm track performance at a variety of levels?

·       Do you have access to all the firm’s financials and metrics?

·       Which is measured – revenue generation or profitability? (If it is simply the former you may need to revisit your efforts – not all revenue is profitable and a successful sales initiative requires understanding, and acting upon, the difference.)

·       Is the importance of  sales-related activity acknowledged through inclusion in “non billable” investment time and other measures?

Marketing and sales go hand in hand – “one does not work without the other,” says Cowan.  A firm’s success at implementing a sales process and creating a sales culture is dependent upon a number of variables. Marketing can move the effort forward in a number of key ways: focus on education, focus on process, focus on support, and focus on results.