Lawyer Monthly Magazine - February 2019 Edition

59 Professional Excellence www. lawyer-monthly .com FEB 2019 clients. While relationships matter, experience, data and fact based insights are now the differentiator making clients choose the right partner. Sharing insights also indicates collaboration and adaptability to the client’s needs than selling solely on what you have. Modern Day Selling So, how has selling and rainmaking changed? What should law firms and other professional services firms consider when trying to win new clients? In traditional professional services selling, the buyer states a need and the seller positions their offering as a solution to their problem, and previously, this used to be enough to win the sale. But today’s buyers often perceive sellers and their capabilities to be somewhat interchangeable. This leaves sellers stuck in a battle, trying to push themselves hard for the sale which can often put people off. Legacy Sales Approach • Describe your entire organisation, products, services, features etc., and showcase capabilities. • Listen to clients’ problems and explore whether you have a solution which can help. throughout the lifecycle and expect education and collaboration before the persuasion of ‘purchasing’. Gone are the days when sales teams had the keys to sales of knowledge-based services, such as consulting, law firms, IT services etc. Shorter attention spans of executives attributed to an ocean of undifferentiated information and value propositions, pushes the need for shorter sales material. Retaining clients and selling your service through insights not only demonstrates your knowledge but also unlocks pathways to the unarticulated needs from your prospective clients. If traditional professional services sales people and Partners make the highest impact by positioning their services against articulated needs in served clients (to a degree in unserved clients), insight-based selling can unlock one of the largest value creation zones across unserved clients who have unarticulated needs. Anticipating issues and getting ahead of the game, whilst developing both foresight and insight is critical, yet not enough; professionals need to know how to package information in a way that resonates with • Ask prospective clients a lot of questions to get information which will enable a trigger point to describe your capabilities. • Relyheavilyon relationships. The conversation will contain phrases, such as: o “We can do this…” o “Our firm is…” o “We are good because…” o “If you hire us…” Modern Day Sales Approach • Enter conversations with a point of view, sharing research, data or hypothesis relevant to the client. • Focus on sharing insights from key clients, competitors, similar business models or industry trends. • Make clients see things differently by providing value in the sales meeting itself. • Build a relationship by expanding on expertise, values and insights. The conversation will contain phrases, such as: o “Here is what we are finding…” o “At other places we see…” o “Competitors are doing…” o “The biggest opportunities for you are…” o “In your situation…” Characterising Sales Styles It takes all styles to make a firm successful and this diversity can be seen in the sales styles of its partners, directors and other senior executives. Based on experiences in multiple firms, they can be categorised into a few different types: Relationship Builders Relationship builders always build and nurture client relationships and strong advocates within the client organisation. They network very rigorously, creating strong advocates. They also allocate time to help others and get along with everyone: typically, the type of person who likes to be liked by others. They are generally not insight based sellers or suited for complex sales but can be exceptional door openers. Lone Wolves Lone wolves tend to hunt alone and follow instincts more than the rules and can be difficult to control as, at times, they go against the pack. They are very self-assured and know their niches inside out, by bringing good insights to the table and making them terrific at selling complex solutions. Lone wolves can complicate simple sales with complex analysis and insights and are generally known to fend for