Salespeople? In a law firm? Whatever next!

For certain professions and sectors, the word “sales” has traditionally been variously viewed as tasteless, unnecessary and even vulgar. As a result, the sales mentality, tools and infrastructure in place across the legal industry are woefully inadequate, says Simmons and Simmons’ Lee Curtis.

Lee Curtis, Head of Sales, Simmons & Simmons

lee.curtis@simmons-simmons.com

The word “sales” can evoke a range of emotions. Within the legal sector it’s often been considered an activity undertaken by others, not to mention something beneath such an esteemed profession.

But, with the entry of new players into the market and the proliferation of online legal products and more commoditised legal services, it’s clear the situation has to change. 

Lee Curtis (LC) of Simmons and Simmons - complete with his new head of sales title – talks to Centrum editor David Leck (DL) about a PSMG webinar he’ll host in March.

DL: How much of a shift was it for the firm – and for you personally – to adopt the word “sales” into the business and into your job title?

LC: Personally, none whatsoever. In my head I have always viewed myself as being in the business of selling legal services to clients in conjunction with the partners at Simmons. The change in role and title has allowed me to bring into focus a recognition that different/additional skills and approaches are required to successfully sell legal products (as opposed to legal advice) and there is a real need to professionalise the sales function within the firm to ensure the market is aware of the non-traditional offerings we can provide.

For the firm, the shift has been similar to any change which takes place within an organisation – stakeholders engage with the change at different speeds – some require more explanation and people within the business who were willing to back me and give me the opportunity to prove that a non-lawyer can sell legal products.

DL: How did the change come about? What was the thinking behind it?

LC: At Simmons we have a great track record in innovating and bringing new products to market. Historically we have invested heavily in the development of these products and spent relatively little time in marketing and selling them to both existing and new clients. From a business perspective this meant we were leaving money on the table due to a lack of awareness both internally (within the firm) and externally (wider marketplace) of the types of products that were available to assist and support our client base.

As the digitalisation of all aspects of business continues at pace it was clear to both myself and firm management that the development of new digital legal products and non-traditional legal services would not only enhance our existing offering but would also generate new revenue streams and enhance our reputation as a legal innovator. In order to support our ambition, I discussed and agreed with the firm that I would dedicate my efforts on selling our product suite through existing client relationships and increasing the wider market awareness of our offering to realise the significant opportunities we have to grow this part of our business.

DL: Did you meet any resistance and, if so, how did you go about addressing it?

LC: Surprisingly little actually. As mentioned above there remain a number of partners and fee earners more generally who justifiably ask the question “So what is it you actually do?” Generally, I have found if I take the time to explain how I can assist them in widening the addressable market for their product or service they are usually very amenable to me coming on board.

The key point to remember here is that, in my experience, law firm partners are all very different and bring a wide variety of selling skills to the table. Some partners I work with are natural salespeople and require little or no assistance from me. Other partners and fee earners are more adept at the provision of legal advice and would prefer to concentrate on this aspect of the business. In this case I find I can help significantly in developing a strategy to get the product to market and wearing out the (digital) shoe leather talking to clients about the products.

“As the digitalisation of all aspects of business continues at pace it was clear to both myself and firm management the development of new digital legal products and non-traditional legal services would not only enhance our existing offering but would also generate new revenue streams and enhance our reputation as a legal innovator.”

DL: Where there any concerns about putting the sales word centre-stage when it came to existing clients and new business acquisition?

LC: Not really. Our clients are commercial organisations and recognise that we exist within a highly competitive marketplace where we need to sell/differentiate our capabilities relative to the competition. As I mention above, I believe we are already selling on a day-to-day basis to our clients – for some of the reasons identified in your intro the legal industry has just chosen not to call it selling.

Viewed from this perspective the challenge is therefore much more internally focussed than external. To counter the potential rejection associated with the word “sales” we focused one of the five themes of our 2020 partners conference on a session around the art of selling. We interviewed 12 clients from across the world on what sales within a legal environment meant to them and how they liked/did not like to be sold to. In this way we ensured we concentrated on the most important voices (our clients) when changing the language to a greater level of sales focus.

DL: If I were a BD operator in another law firm or accountancy practice and I came and sat with you for a morning what might I typically notice about the way in which you’re now doing things?

LC: The first thing you’d notice is the amount of client interaction. Typically, I’m on client facing calls between three and four hours a day, demoing our existing product suite to interested clients. This level of client engagement provides a fantastic opportunity to speak with our clients about their current business challenges and how we able to support them in other areas or through new product development.

You would also notice that in my new role I still engage heavily with the international marketing and business development team on a daily basis. In particular, I work a lot with our digital comms and social media colleagues to raise the awareness of our product suite via targeted email campaigns and social media posts.

The other thing you would likely notice is the range of internal stakeholders I deal with from across the firm as each client engagement now moves through the sales lifecycle. Over the previous three months since starting my role I have worked with risk, compliance and IT to get my head around client onboarding, data privacy considerations, PO numbers and a whole other world of systems and processes I knew little about!

DL: You’ll cover this in the March 30 webinar I’m sure, but what have you learned so far about this change?

LC: 1. You cannot sell what you don’t understand: As a non-lawyer the learning curve for some of the legal and business problems our product suite solves has been exponential. Over the past three months I have been working on products as varied as Brexit equivalence for financial services, global clean energy regulation and the requirements for the Senior Manager Certification Regime in the UK. Unless you have a good working knowledge of the issues that your product addresses, you’ll have a hard-time convincing clients to buy from you. 2. You have to kiss a lot of frogs: Sales is not easy. Rejection comes with the territory and you have to be resilient. Procurement processes within a lot of client organisations is protracted and can be frustrating. That said, the feeling when you clinch a sale makes up for all of the rejection! 3. Use every scrap of data to identify your target market: As a firm we collect a large volume of client data. Every mailing we send out, every webinar we run, and every page viewed on our website all has data attached that can inform me about the interests and preferences of our clients. Understanding and using this data in a systematic and structured way can greatly assist in the identification of qualified leads for existing and new products.

DL: And what would you say to others about looking afresh at how they describe their function, especially given 2021 will bring with it further challenges but hopefully new opportunities as well?

LC: Working at Simmons I am very lucky that the firm recognises the additional skills provided by non-lawyers as an increasingly important part of our overall offering. This includes not only sales but legal project management, data science, recruitment specialists, pricing experts and many more. My advice would be to clearly identify and articulate the additional value that your function delivers to the business/your end clients and how the skill set you/your team have can combine with the skill sets of fee earners to create a more powerful and compelling client offering.

Lee Curtis will host the PSMG webinar Salespeople? In a law firm? Whatever next! on March 30.

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