The Fundamentals of Successful Cross-Selling

A regular topic of my presentations and workshops at law firm retreats is cross-selling. I'm often asked to produce some magic formula that smoothes the way for law firm partners to introduce colleagues to their existing clients, so the colleagues can pitch their own services.

“When I go on a pitch, which partners from other practices should I bring? I can't bring everyone to demonstrate the broad range of expertise our firm offers, so how do I choose?” Or, “How can I get my colleagues to invite me to meet their clients, because their clients have deep pockets and at present they're using one of my competitors. Shouldn't my partners, after all, have a responsibility to send work my way?” Alas, while there is no magic formula, we do tend to make cross-selling more complicated than it needs to be.

A Best-Case Scenario

I was seated at a crowded bar in a suburban hotel ordering a late-night dinner after having stepped off a long flight that offered no dinner service. The hotel is a nice property in a well-known upscale chain, but otherwise nondescript. It was a chilly Thursday evening in February. While I ate and watched a college basketball game, there was quite a bit of revelry taking place elsewhere throughout the bar.

The clientele tended toward the affluent, as even the younger men and women were ordering expensive wines and designer martinis. The hotel bar was not trendy in the sense that the neighboring community would be drawn to it, so I figured my fellow patrons must also be hotel guests. Throughout the bar were groups of six or eight, chairs askew as small groups pulled in additional chairs and tables to accommodate latecomers, and the loud din of laughter that marks the sharing of amusing anecdotes with old friends.

Perhaps it was the long week of heavy business travel that dulled my senses, but with a start I suddenly realized that I was surrounded by lawyers from the firm at whose retreat I would be presenting the following afternoon. It was obvious that these people enjoyed each others' company. Though the hour was late and the retreat agenda required an early start, the bar was in full swing as I finished my meal and made my way to my room to turn in.

The following day at the retreat the feeling of camaraderie continued, and my workshop on cross-selling was well-received. Participants left the session having made several new connections with previously unfamiliar colleagues, and each new connection was accompanied by an action plan to pursue a dialog about how each might help the other. Essential to the success of the workshop and the follow-up efforts was the belief that cross-selling starts with a desire and an incentive to help one's colleagues succeed. Sadly, this isn't always the case.

Cross-Selling Defined

Most law firm partners generally have no objection to the idea of cross-selling, but they don't do much about it. Cross-selling is really just another way of describing the purchase of legal services by clients from more than one practice area. Most legal engagements commence with one lawyer or within one practice area. As the engagement ensues, other lawyers, possibly from other practices, are brought in for specific subject matter expertise. At the end of the engagement, there may be time billed to multiple lawyers across multiple offices and practices. But this isn't necessarily cross-selling, or at least it isn't purposeful. Drawing on others' expertise to complete an engagement is driven by need, and the collaboration typically ends when the particular expertise delivered by a colleague elsewhere is no longer needed. Contrast this with a more proactive approach to cross-selling, which involves the specific discovery of additional client needs that lead to billable engagements for other lawyers in other practices or offices, unrelated to the original engagement.

It shouldn't be necessary to reiterate why cross-selling is a good idea, yet the lack of a consistent and concerted approach to cross-sellimg in most law firms suggests reluctance or a lack of incentive. Cross-selling is very simply a financially beneficial way to expand the law firm's business by selling additional services to existing clients, which lowers the “cost of sales” as compared with the time, expense and administrative overhead of finding new clients. When a client over time comes to rely upon a law firm for multiple services, the relationships become “institutionalized” and the client tends to remain a client even when key lawyers move on. Of course, this is one of the most common yet unspoken arguments against cross-selling, as institutionalizing the client makes it much harder to bring that client to another firm should a key relationship lawyer wish to do so. We'll focus, however, on the clients, lawyers and law firms that desire long-term relationships and ignore those firms whose culture rewards isolationism.

The Elements of a Successful Cross-Selling Program

For cross-selling to work, law firms must first understand and embrace the financial benefits of doing so. Some imbalanced compensation systems emphasize origination to such an extent that partners spend significant time finding new clients, despite the cost, rather than seeking additional work from other partners' clients. If the compensation system isn't a barrier, then what other impediments to cross-selling exist? Primarily it's a misunderstanding of how to effectively approach cross-selling a lawyer's colleagues.

Some years ago, I met with a partner prior to his first annual retreat, after having joined a new firm as a lateral six or seven months prior. He was disappointed that he hadn't received much work from his new colleagues yet, other than a handful of small matters referred by partners in the satellite office in which he was located, and he wanted to discuss how to get more work from his partners. In his view, his “partners have had over six months to learn about my practice” so there should be more work flowing in his direction. In his first few weeks, he had produced a new practice brochure and had multiple copies delivered to every partner throughout the firm. “I've done what I can do, the rest is up to them,” he sighed. Had he?

The fatal flaw in this approach is expecting other busy partners to spend their Saturday mornings perusing the intranet or reading practice brochures in order to know what everyone else is up to. In reality, almost nobody reads law firm practice brochures. (This goes for most clients, too, though that's a topic for another day!) What's more effective is concisely describing what problems he solves for which types of clients, and providing a simple guideline for identifying the ideal prospect for his services. His reaction: “I can't possibly limit what I do to two or three issues. I have 20 years of experience in this field and I've seen it all and done it all. I would obviously miss an opportunity if I failed to educate my partners about all that I can do, rather than select a few.” As a matter of fact, his comprehensive brochure already displayed his vast experience, but this hadn't generated any activity, so he agreed to try a different approach.

Make It Come to Life

We developed a simple primer, slightly bigger than a business card, smaller than an index card, and laminated it. On one side was his name and contact details followed by a simple statement: “I help X and Y businesses facing A, B and C issues, by offering AA, BB and CC services.” On the reverse side were five simple questions that his partners could ask to uncover and qualify the issues. At the retreat, he and five other lateral additions from the prior year were scheduled to give 10-minute presentations describing their practices to the entire partnership. We developed a plan that had him socializing with as many partners as possible before, during and after the organized activities, and then for his presentation he was to simply distribute the card, reiterate the key points, and then invite questions.

His presentation was fourth of five, and by the time he stood up each of the prior presenters had each talked non-stop for over 15 minutes until each had to be practically pushed away from the microphone by the managing partner who was chairing the session. Our partner spoke for only five minutes and had a robust 10-minute Q&A period that no other presenter enjoyed, and this interaction as well as the concise ' and unusual ' approach to sharing his expertise was memorable to all participants. Not surprisingly, the amount of inbound work to this partner increased dramatically after the retreat, and at a rate far greater than that experienced by the other laterals who had had the same amount of time to present.

Foster a Collegial Culture

Let's not overlook the climate in which these cross-selling discussions take place. The lawyers who were enjoying each others' company in the hotel bar prior to the next day's retreat are far more likely to seek opportunities to collaborate because they enjoy their colleagues. While there is a financial component to cross-selling that should appeal to even the most isolated cultures ' if you help me bill more and I help you bill more, we will both earn greater profits ' collegial cultures always outperform in cross-selling. At every partner retreat I've planned or participated in, I've urged that time be set aside for informal networking. This can take the form of golf outings, dine-arounds, or merely unstructured free time at the bar. No matter what the format, it's critical to foster an environment for lawyers to get to know each other, for even within the same organization the old maxim is true: People do business with people they know, like and trust. Trust comes from familiarity, and familiarity comes from spending time together. Outside retreats, I encourage lawyers to periodically schedule lunches with their colleagues from other practices, or when traveling to other offices to host after hours drinks.

Networking internally is as critical as networking externally, and the same objectives still apply: increase your visibility with your target audience and demonstrate your credibility by showing how you can help them. Successful cross-selling efforts include the following:

• A collegial environment where becoming acquainted comes before doing business.
• A proactive attitude to help colleagues understand what one does, rather than wait for others to figure it out on their own.

Conclusion

Focus on a handful of discrete solutions to clearly identifiable problems for a well-defined target market, and give your colleagues a takeaway designed to reinforce these points.

Timothy B. Corcoran is Vice President, Global Sales, at Hubbard One. He authors the Corcoran's Law Biz Blog and is a regular speaker and writer on business development and business management issues for law firms. He may be reached at 609-577-2234 or via e-mail at [email protected].

A regular topic of my presentations and workshops at law firm retreats is cross-selling. I'm often asked to produce some magic formula that smoothes the way for law firm partners to introduce colleagues to their existing clients, so the colleagues can pitch their own services.

“When I go on a pitch, which partners from other practices should I bring? I can't bring everyone to demonstrate the broad range of expertise our firm offers, so how do I choose?” Or, “How can I get my colleagues to invite me to meet their clients, because their clients have deep pockets and at present they're using one of my competitors. Shouldn't my partners, after all, have a responsibility to send work my way?” Alas, while there is no magic formula, we do tend to make cross-selling more complicated than it needs to be.

A Best-Case Scenario

I was seated at a crowded bar in a suburban hotel ordering a late-night dinner after having stepped off a long flight that offered no dinner service. The hotel is a nice property in a well-known upscale chain, but otherwise nondescript. It was a chilly Thursday evening in February. While I ate and watched a college basketball game, there was quite a bit of revelry taking place elsewhere throughout the bar.

The clientele tended toward the affluent, as even the younger men and women were ordering expensive wines and designer martinis. The hotel bar was not trendy in the sense that the neighboring community would be drawn to it, so I figured my fellow patrons must also be hotel guests. Throughout the bar were groups of six or eight, chairs askew as small groups pulled in additional chairs and tables to accommodate latecomers, and the loud din of laughter that marks the sharing of amusing anecdotes with old friends.

Perhaps it was the long week of heavy business travel that dulled my senses, but with a start I suddenly realized that I was surrounded by lawyers from the firm at whose retreat I would be presenting the following afternoon. It was obvious that these people enjoyed each others' company. Though the hour was late and the retreat agenda required an early start, the bar was in full swing as I finished my meal and made my way to my room to turn in.

The following day at the retreat the feeling of camaraderie continued, and my workshop on cross-selling was well-received. Participants left the session having made several new connections with previously unfamiliar colleagues, and each new connection was accompanied by an action plan to pursue a dialog about how each might help the other. Essential to the success of the workshop and the follow-up efforts was the belief that cross-selling starts with a desire and an incentive to help one's colleagues succeed. Sadly, this isn't always the case.

Cross-Selling Defined

Most law firm partners generally have no objection to the idea of cross-selling, but they don't do much about it. Cross-selling is really just another way of describing the purchase of legal services by clients from more than one practice area. Most legal engagements commence with one lawyer or within one practice area. As the engagement ensues, other lawyers, possibly from other practices, are brought in for specific subject matter expertise. At the end of the engagement, there may be time billed to multiple lawyers across multiple offices and practices. But this isn't necessarily cross-selling, or at least it isn't purposeful. Drawing on others' expertise to complete an engagement is driven by need, and the collaboration typically ends when the particular expertise delivered by a colleague elsewhere is no longer needed. Contrast this with a more proactive approach to cross-selling, which involves the specific discovery of additional client needs that lead to billable engagements for other lawyers in other practices or offices, unrelated to the original engagement.

It shouldn't be necessary to reiterate why cross-selling is a good idea, yet the lack of a consistent and concerted approach to cross-sellimg in most law firms suggests reluctance or a lack of incentive. Cross-selling is very simply a financially beneficial way to expand the law firm's business by selling additional services to existing clients, which lowers the “cost of sales” as compared with the time, expense and administrative overhead of finding new clients. When a client over time comes to rely upon a law firm for multiple services, the relationships become “institutionalized” and the client tends to remain a client even when key lawyers move on. Of course, this is one of the most common yet unspoken arguments against cross-selling, as institutionalizing the client makes it much harder to bring that client to another firm should a key relationship lawyer wish to do so. We'll focus, however, on the clients, lawyers and law firms that desire long-term relationships and ignore those firms whose culture rewards isolationism.

The Elements of a Successful Cross-Selling Program

For cross-selling to work, law firms must first understand and embrace the financial benefits of doing so. Some imbalanced compensation systems emphasize origination to such an extent that partners spend significant time finding new clients, despite the cost, rather than seeking additional work from other partners' clients. If the compensation system isn't a barrier, then what other impediments to cross-selling exist? Primarily it's a misunderstanding of how to effectively approach cross-selling a lawyer's colleagues.

Some years ago, I met with a partner prior to his first annual retreat, after having joined a new firm as a lateral six or seven months prior. He was disappointed that he hadn't received much work from his new colleagues yet, other than a handful of small matters referred by partners in the satellite office in which he was located, and he wanted to discuss how to get more work from his partners. In his view, his “partners have had over six months to learn about my practice” so there should be more work flowing in his direction. In his first few weeks, he had produced a new practice brochure and had multiple copies delivered to every partner throughout the firm. “I've done what I can do, the rest is up to them,” he sighed. Had he?

The fatal flaw in this approach is expecting other busy partners to spend their Saturday mornings perusing the intranet or reading practice brochures in order to know what everyone else is up to. In reality, almost nobody reads law firm practice brochures. (This goes for most clients, too, though that's a topic for another day!) What's more effective is concisely describing what problems he solves for which types of clients, and providing a simple guideline for identifying the ideal prospect for his services. His reaction: “I can't possibly limit what I do to two or three issues. I have 20 years of experience in this field and I've seen it all and done it all. I would obviously miss an opportunity if I failed to educate my partners about all that I can do, rather than select a few.” As a matter of fact, his comprehensive brochure already displayed his vast experience, but this hadn't generated any activity, so he agreed to try a different approach.

Make It Come to Life

We developed a simple primer, slightly bigger than a business card, smaller than an index card, and laminated it. On one side was his name and contact details followed by a simple statement: “I help X and Y businesses facing A, B and C issues, by offering AA, BB and CC services.” On the reverse side were five simple questions that his partners could ask to uncover and qualify the issues. At the retreat, he and five other lateral additions from the prior year were scheduled to give 10-minute presentations describing their practices to the entire partnership. We developed a plan that had him socializing with as many partners as possible before, during and after the organized activities, and then for his presentation he was to simply distribute the card, reiterate the key points, and then invite questions.

His presentation was fourth of five, and by the time he stood up each of the prior presenters had each talked non-stop for over 15 minutes until each had to be practically pushed away from the microphone by the managing partner who was chairing the session. Our partner spoke for only five minutes and had a robust 10-minute Q&A period that no other presenter enjoyed, and this interaction as well as the concise ' and unusual ' approach to sharing his expertise was memorable to all participants. Not surprisingly, the amount of inbound work to this partner increased dramatically after the retreat, and at a rate far greater than that experienced by the other laterals who had had the same amount of time to present.

Foster a Collegial Culture

Let's not overlook the climate in which these cross-selling discussions take place. The lawyers who were enjoying each others' company in the hotel bar prior to the next day's retreat are far more likely to seek opportunities to collaborate because they enjoy their colleagues. While there is a financial component to cross-selling that should appeal to even the most isolated cultures ' if you help me bill more and I help you bill more, we will both earn greater profits ' collegial cultures always outperform in cross-selling. At every partner retreat I've planned or participated in, I've urged that time be set aside for informal networking. This can take the form of golf outings, dine-arounds, or merely unstructured free time at the bar. No matter what the format, it's critical to foster an environment for lawyers to get to know each other, for even within the same organization the old maxim is true: People do business with people they know, like and trust. Trust comes from familiarity, and familiarity comes from spending time together. Outside retreats, I encourage lawyers to periodically schedule lunches with their colleagues from other practices, or when traveling to other offices to host after hours drinks.

Networking internally is as critical as networking externally, and the same objectives still apply: increase your visibility with your target audience and demonstrate your credibility by showing how you can help them. Successful cross-selling efforts include the following:

• A collegial environment where becoming acquainted comes before doing business.
• A proactive attitude to help colleagues understand what one does, rather than wait for others to figure it out on their own.

Conclusion

Focus on a handful of discrete solutions to clearly identifiable problems for a well-defined target market, and give your colleagues a takeaway designed to reinforce these points.

Timothy B. Corcoran is Vice President, Global Sales, at Hubbard One. He authors the Corcoran's Law Biz Blog and is a regular speaker and writer on business development and business management issues for law firms. He may be reached at 609-577-2234 or via e-mail at [email protected].