Podcast Ep. 70: How Law Firms Can Grow Their Revenues

In this podcast, Janine Buis of GrowthTera explains how law firms can grow their revenues through digital marketing and providing lawyers with sales training.

Podcast Show Notes

Janine Buis of GrowthTera is an experienced business leader, helping organizations build meaningful connections between customers and employees – as a marketer, strategist, M&A integration leader, human resources leader, and consultant. At Nokia, she brought together teams from around the globe to create a mobile services unit and a unit to support the app developer ecosystem. She has managed change initiatives – including M&A integrations, as well as organization and cultural change programs. She has launched pioneering technologies in the market. Janine started her career as a consultant at Deloitte and Arthur Andersen.

Connect with Janine on LinkedIn or Twitter

Connect with GrowthTera on LinkedIn or Twitter

What impact has digital had on the buyer seller relationship?

Digital has been transforming a lot of businesses. Clients can access more information than they ever have before – they already know about your firm and its reputation before they have a conversation with you. Because of this, It’s really important that your conversations add value beyond what can be found online. Yet, digital is also allowing for law firms to engage with prospects and clients in new ways and it provides tools for law firms to automate interactions, understand their audience better, and track what their clients are doing.

What does a firm need to do to stand out in today’s environment?

The legal industry is going through a transformation. Law firms need to change their mindset and shift to thinking strategically about their clients – how can they become a trusted partner and advisor?

As a consultant you need to define the scope of your services and provide more visibility to the client in order to stand out from other firms. Minimize information overload, but be transparent.

Sales: Training, Process, Tools

Law firms that have introduced sales training amongst their lawyers are starting to see the benefits. Lawyers need to have the skills to reach out and engage with their clients. The training is about how to conduct this outreach, how to maintain relationships, and how to use the concept of value to leverage services.

Process is a critical piece of the sales puzzle along with the skills. You need to support skill development with the right process and tools – all three work together. Think of three gears working together – if one is not working properly will affect how the others work. Without the process you don’t have a method to manage business development strategies.

When it comes to sales tools, first lawyers need to understand their strategy – who is your ideal customer? Buyer personas are a key piece of your strategy to know the challenges and goals of your target audience. Then, provide them with tailored, valuable content such as thought leadership pieces, references, and case studies to showcase your firm’s expertise.

Takeaway

Business development is a team sport. Everyone within the firm needs to play a role in sales.  Sales success requires the right mix of skills, processes, and tools. It’s critical for sales and marketing teams to be aligned and work closely to ensure that your revenue engine is firing on all cylinders.