Rethinking Sales As an Act of Service
Lawyers are one of only a handful of professionals whose job requires them both to do the work and generate the business. This “Doer-Seller” Dilemma is particularly vexing for lawyers because of a long-held belief that sales is somehow beneath the legal profession and because lawyers have a limited view of what successful selling looks like.
We hear about the ongoing cost pressures clients face, which force in-house counsel to do more with less, and the pressures on outside counsel to provide greater efficiencies and cost predictability. We also hear that clients hate to be cross-sold. However, this does not mean that clients are not interested to be introduced to new colleagues who can provide insight.
Because Clients Do
Given the increasing challenges facing our planet and our society, and considering our role in creating the current state of affairs, it is up to us to change the way we do business to slow and reverse the damage. CMOs can and should be among the leadership voices to help their firms recognize this as an obligation and an opportunity.
Being asked to join the partnership of a firm is a measure of success as a legal professional. With that achievement comes tax and financial responsibilities that, surprisingly, few attorneys are fully prepared to deal with. These responsibilities include the unexpected individual federal and state and local tax filing and payments.
With every request for external exposure, there is also an assumption that one effort of marketing will result in millions in new revenue. Yet, we all know that the responsibility to implement all marketing initiatives is on the lawyers.
Technology is playing an ever-increasing role in our lives, personally and professionally. One of the emerging technologies that has caught my eye is blockchain.
With the cost of doing business consistently on the rise combined with the increasing difficulty to find/retain great employees, there is no better time to pursue employment-based tax credits. There are both federal and state employment-based credits available that can help businesses offset income tax liability.
Orion's ePrebill Manager allows corrections to prebills to be tracked and applied in real time, with a one-click acceptance and approval process. Further, by distributing prebills electronically, attorneys can see the edits made by others, the overall net effect of write-downs, and how these affect the realization of both the working timekeepers and the client overall, in real time.
We hear that clients hate to be cross-sold. However, this does not mean that clients are not interested to be introduced to new colleagues who can provide insight. Rather, cross selling must be thoughtful and tailored to clients' needs
While ranking directories are rarely the only tools used to find a firm or lawyer, in-house counsel and CEOs often turn to them as informative research sources. For these reasons alone, preparing materials and references for submission, even though time-consuming, may make sense under the right circumstances.
