Why is ‘sales’ only whispered in the legal profession?
Three articles in the 14 October edition of the Gazette made me wonder why the word ‘sales’ is still rarely used within the profession.
Page 1: Accountants to apply for probate rights
Accountants have simply spotted an obvious sales opportunity and are seeking to take advantage of it. Are solicitors looking for similar opportunities?
A good accountant, who has taken an active interest in the affairs of their high-net-worth clients for many years, will see probate as a natural extension of the service that they currently provide. It is a way of adding another string to their bow. It provides clients with a seamless service.
From their position, accountants will have a clear sales advantage over lawyers and even the likes of the Co-op who sell probate along with wills and funeral plans. They see their clients much more frequently than lawyers tend to do, if only to prepare their annual tax return, are more proactive at suggesting planning opportunities. They are also more adept at cross-selling.
Page 2: Profession 'inherently masculine'
There has been a great deal of coverage about the inequalities within the legal profession, but little coverage of ‘diverse’ professionals who are successful and why. In my experience, the successful professionals are good salespeople (the term 'rainmakers' tends to be used), but this is rarely mentioned and I am not aware of any studies into this in the UK, although there is some in the US.
When working with good rainmakers, I have often found them to have some sales experience. I recall one very successful corporate finance partner who financed his student travels in the southern hemisphere with a holiday job selling paintings door to door. He said that ‘once you have experienced that sort of rejection, there is nothing to fear in picking up the phone’.
Another successful female partner told me of her student holiday job in one of the major electrical retailers where the sales culture and performance rewards had influenced her approach to business development (another euphemism for ‘sales’).
Page 12: Ticking the boxes is no longer enough
How can a student, such as Carly Moore-Martin, differentiate themselves from 300 other students with a similar degree and an impressive array of extra-curricular activities and interests?
Put yourselves in the shoes of the employer. Of course, you need someone who knows the law, but you can take your pick of those. Your other objectives will be to build a profitable practice in the face of growing competition. So all other things being equal, a candidate with sales and marketing skills is going to stand out from the rest. Alternatively, if you operate in particular target markets, a candidate with knowledge, experience and contacts within that sector will be more attractive.
Is a reticence to embrace and recognise the importance of sales making it easy for competitors to enter the legal market?
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Comments
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Legacy factors still prevail?
When I looked at law firm market strategy as part of an MBA dissertation, I found that there are a number of historic factors that lead law firms to have a strong internal focus (which manifests as a tendency to focus more on the improvement and presentation of their services) rather than focussing externally on the marketplace. A lack of a sales culture is another consequence of this (although there are undoubtedly other reasons).
Having said that, there has undoubtedly been a recent drive to improve sales (even if the word is not used explicitly) as firms have taken cost cutting as far as possible in the short term, and know that they must drive revenue if they want to grow. During my time as an inhouse lawyer, I saw some very sophisticated sales approaches from law firms (using both lawyers and business development professionals) and some very poor ones!
I wrote about the BD challenge here http://intelligentchallenge.wordpress.com/2010/08/16/smarterbd/
Get People To Buy And You've Already Sold
Nothing happens until something is sold. Unless you are a volunteer.
Most people don't like asking for money. And solicitors are no different
from most people.
It's much better to have someone offering to pay and then you just
say yes. You're not selling - they are buying.
And it's possible to do this through people liking, trusting, understanding and seeing value in your services. Oh and the fact their success is ultimately your success.
Rephrasing sales into buyers helps solicitors make the change into a systematic approach. Without which your whole process will be random and under-performing.
Does any solicitor actually have a "How To Get People To Buy Our Services" manual.
I think not. But the first one to have one will have a system of value and one that can be leveraged everyday for maximum profits.
When I know that about 5% of all leads are simply missed because people don't answer the phone it makes me hopeful that marketing will be the core subject for law firms within a short period of time. Because the firm that knows how to get leads and convert them profitably will never go out of business.
We're just a business selling legal services
You are absolutely right. It's high time that solicitors stopped being shy about using phrases like "sales" and "marketing". In the end we're just a business selling legal services -- albeit with high professional standards. We have always had to market -- what's a brass plaque with your name on if not a classic piece of marketing. It's about time that solicitors really started to appreciate the value of their work. Too many solicitors especially those with a legal aid background, are still embarrassed to talk about money with clients. If we're going to survive, we have to sharpen up to the new economic realities and run our practices as if they really were businesses .
Why is ‘sales’ only whispered in the legal profession?
Sue
Up until 2 months ago I practiced as solicitor but now work as Business Development Manager for a medium sized, South West firm. The title says it all. If it were any other business they would not be so bashful: Sales Director, Key Account Manager or even Telephone Sales executive. Solicitors do not think or act like sales people although the mood is changing. If the whisper is going to receive a bigger chorus of approval we need to fundamentally change the way in which solicitors operate their practices. Save perhaps for the tender or presentation stage, they should get comfortable with letting go and allowing someone else who is 'trained' in the art of selling to take up the reins.
Regards
Julian
Selling In The Current Economy...
Wiltshire solicitor is spot on.
Sales/Asking for the instruction is even more important in the current economy. With benefit cuts and job cuts etc, people have to be persuaded (sold) to part with their money. Whether your clients have plenty or not is not the point, the economy will make them far more careful when parting with it. If you have an ongoing relationship with your clients through a database then you can and should still be able to generate plenty of business as long as you ask for the instructions (i.e. sell) and give a clear reason why it is in your client's interests to do so (benefits to them).
If you saw the word "database" and came out in a cold sweat (as I know so many solicitors do) you do not need to worry - it really does not have to be painful these days. There are so many easy to use database tools available to make this task so easy and with email marketing it is virtually free too. You can see some of the resources I recommend and use in my own business on my resources page http://samsonconsulting.co.uk/law-firm-marketing-resources/index.html.
You can be the best solicitor in the world, but if you never ask for the instructions you are going to struggle in the new economy.
Sales is not a dirty word
Most law firms rely on word of mouth except of course for the recent import from the USA of the "no win no fee" style in your face promotions.
However hard times might force a rethink by all professions.