Most law firms are late in adopting a sales mentality and need to get on with it fast.
Other professional disciplines, such as accounting and consulting adopted a sales culture over 20 years ago using various processes and training methods developed through engineering and designed as manufacturing solutions from supply chain management to just-in-time delivery. Like anything that’s over 20 years old, these processes have evolved so that even their names seem dated.
In the legal industry, sales has been cloaked in the more palatable term — business development — even though sales and business development are not the same thing.
Business development is part of a process that if done properly and consistently with added dollops of nurturing, understanding, patience and fate can result in an intersection of what a client needs and you provide.
This is the basis of a sales culture and the topic of my April 2014 Lexpert column, Managing Your Sales Pipeline.
Heather Suttie is an internationally recognized legal market strategy and management consultant to leaders of premier law firms and legal service providers worldwide.
For 25 years, she has accelerated performance within law firms and legal service businesses — Global to Solo | BigLaw to NewLaw — by providing consultative direction on legal business strategy, market strategy, management strategy, and client strategy. The result is a distinctive one-of-one legal market position and sustained competitive advantage culminating in greater market share, revenue and profits.
Reach her at +1.416.964.9607 or heathersuttie.ca.