Why cross selling is so popular and so rarely works — easily or at all?
Most lawyers and even law firms have a preference for cross selling over developing new business in the market.
And quite rightly so as there are huge advantages in cross selling if it works efficiently and effectively. But if that is not the case, the challenges and the potential for frustration are immense.
As Business Development is generally perceived difficult, cross selling is often considered easier than winning new clients in the market. Neither the first nor the second impression is right – provided you know what to do and have the right kind of mindset for it .
And let me be clear, cross selling is more difficult for the person seeking the cross sale to an existing client than for a partner wishing to give away work. Partners at the receiving end of any cross selling efforts are phenomenally open to go along with and support the partner who seeks to give away work as that is low hanging fruits for them. But the reverse – trying to persuade another partner to introduce me to that partner’s clients – is much more of an uphill struggle in many cases.
It is this latter scenario of cross selling that I want to discuss firstly in this article.I will then add a few key considerations for the client partner who wants to introduce other partners or colleagues to his existing valuable and important clients
I) What are some of the advantages of cross selling ?
Cross selling strategies offer a number of advantages over the alternative sales technique of invading and conquering a (new) market on your own.
1) Building on an existing relationship
First of all, there is an existing client relationship which can form the basis for cross selling and thus new work in another legal area, another industry sector and/or another branch, division or subsidiary of the client. All the usual efforts of establishing very first contact with a potential client and of making inroads into the target for some very first piece of work are not required
However, the latter issues certainly may remain on the level of the partner to be referred and cross sold to an existing client.
2) Limited preparation
If the client partner manages to make the introduction of the new partner at a lunch or a meeting in the office, the amount of preparation for cross selling may be rather limited. For it may not be necessary to produce a big written pitch or a like document.
Always provided, however, that both partners are sufficiently familiar with the client’s business and the new area for which that client shall seek support from someone other than the existing client partner.
However, if the introduction is to be done in writing, one or both partners will need to produce some documentation; but it is normally up to the partner to be introduced to come up with the bulk of the written materials as it is his specialty area of expertise that needs to be set out.
More importantly even, if the introduction is to be well prepared and focused on a real or at least well researched perceived need of the existing client, the underlying research and preparation needs to be done as well.
What is spared though is identifying new opportunities to address the market, to attend relevant events and possibly prepare a speech, a presentation or the contribution for a panel discussion. Or more generally, the marketing strategy is somewhat easier than a sales technique for entering a new market on your own.
3) Limited costs and expenses
Similarly, in comparison to attending a conference and even giving presentations there ( which these days mostly is only possible when the firm subscribes to some form of sponsorship or partnership arrangement), the costs of introducing another partner are rather limited (perhaps a lunch, perhaps some travel costs and accommodation when visiting the client at its offices).
4) Identification of a the client’s need is fairly simple
Cross selling usually works best, if the partner with the existing client relationship with has identified a clear need of the client for advice in another area of law or for a different division or subsidiary of the client. Unless he finds out automatically during a work-related conversation with the client’s representative or the client even calls him for advice outside the client partner’s realm of expertise, he may have some initial work like calling his contacts at the client and ask some questions ( see further below at IV.).
II) Challenges for cross selling
But there are also challenges for the partner or lawyer seeking to be cross sold to a client partner’s existing client:
1) Enough trust?
Trust is a key requirement and it usually needs to be built over time.
The issue of trust.
Does the client partner trust you? Does he know you, your way of working, your expertise and experience, your service dedication, your client handling skills, your successes with and for other clients well enough to entrust his precious client relationship to you?
Building trust
And how does he get to know you? He will only get to know you by experiencing you, and the way your think, act, speak, behave (whether in a firm setting, a client relationship or over lunch or coffee) – and hopefully he will start to trust you.
Getting to know you and developing trust takes time.
This is a particular issue for lateral joiners. However many interviews they may have had, they are not really known by any of the existing partners. So the process of getting to know each other only starts on the joining date.
2 ) Which client is worth the cross selling effort?
How do you identify the suitable client worth the effort to be introduced to you by its client partner? Just because they are active in the area of your specialisation? And happen to be a client of your firm?
Chances are, your potential clients
- already have legal advisers,
- are reasonably happy with them,
- have a long history and great familiarity with them, and
- see generally or for other reasons little need to change and try out a “new kid on the block”.
Therefore, prior to any cross selling campaign the investigation into any existing client of the firm and its potential for successful cross selling promotions to you is required and may be substantial.
3) The client partner may generally not be keen on cross selling
How willing is the client partner to really help you to be introduced to his or her client? Is he as keen on cross selling as you are? Why should he be?
Effective cross selling strategies are not in a partner’s nature
For some partners it is simply not in their nature or character to take any proactive steps in cross selling.They rather prefer to wait until they have a conversation with the client anyway. When that happens, chances are that they forget to mention you or to ask about the client’s needs for which you would be the perfect fit.Also, the client’s dedicated time for the call or meeting with the client partner on a case or client matter may be fully used up or the call or meeting has already overrun. In the worst case the call or meeting has taken turns that the client partner does not think are conducive for any cross selling attempts (i.e. to introduce someone else from the firm at the moment).
Such partners often have never experienced any positive cross selling example or role model in their training and career.
Related is the issue that a partner supposed to refer you to one of his clients is generally weak in business development – not least because he or she simply has no routines or habits for continuously and regularly pursuing business development initiatives and opportunities. Or they hide behind excuses like “I am too busy “.
No financial incentive
Maybe the client partner has no real incentive for cross selling to other partners or lawyers in the firm. This is an issue of the firm’s reward system — how does the firm financially reward cross selling ? Is there a system of referral fees or other financial benefit from the increased revenue due to the cross selling success?
No culture for cross selling in the firm
It also matters whether the firm generally has a culture of cross selling and whether the firm’s management actively pursues that, tries to “enforce” it and fights those partners in silos. This is subject to how powerful the management is, what the partnership majority prefers, and the evaluation and remuneration system of the firm.
Mutual referrals
Partners often have an incentive to accommodate another partner’s request for an introduction to one of their clients if they can expect some reciprocal cross selling to them from that partner. That is more likely with partners that have a decent business case of their own and less so with those who have just joined the partnership or are still struggling to do so.
Lack of appreciation of the overall financial benefits of cross selling
Sadly, often client partners don’t realise that by generating cross selling opportunities for others in the firm, they will often increase revenue for themselves but at least ( subject to the remuneration system) for the firm and thereby gain financial benefits in any event. And increasing revenue and turnover should really be at the forefront of their business development and in particular cross selling strategies
4) Timing: It may take forever
But even if a partner is in principle willing or at least has financial incentives to assist in cross selling, the efforts of arranging a meeting with one or more representatives of the client, yourself and the client partner may take ages.
First, it often takes weeks and months to persuade an existing client to want to meet someone new at all and to find a timeslot suitable for the client, the current client partner and the new partner to be introduced.
Once a call or a meeting are agreed, they always run the risk of being postponed once or twice and taking into account holidays, illnesses or periods of an overload of work some introductory meetings or even only calls may take months until they take place for the first time.
And any follow-up may not be much quicker.
All of these delays have the potential of great frustration for the one seeking more work.
Nevertheless there is a general perception and expectation that it requires less work to arrange a meeting to be introduced to an existing client than to develop a new client on your own. It is an important takeaway that that is a misconception in most cases.
An effective cross selling strategy should at least take that into account — cross selling, however beneficial, is not a quick fix solution to boost business.
5) Cross selling does not make you a successful “client getter”
Last but not least, and subject to the kind of remuneration system of the firm, a client that you do billable work for on account of this client having been referred to you by way of successful cross selling will never be “your own” client even though the cross selling success was due to your initiative and pro-active approach to the client partner. Nevertheless you will not be recognised as the ‘client getter’ and your internal reputation and standing within the law firm will not grow as much as if you had acquired a client entirely yourself (on the market, from your personal network of friends or acquaintances, etc.).
And your reputation and standing in the law firm as a successful business developer and client getter will be relevant for the influence you have, for the support you get, for the budgets that are granted to you and for the number of associates and team that are easily and quickly approved.
Having said that, it is fair to emphasise that I have seen nevertheless some extremely successful and influential partners who have never acquired a client on the market, but have almost completely and exclusively built their book of business through successful cross selling.
6) Transaction lawyers more difficult to cross sell?
More generally is to be noted, that it is probably easier for an M&A lawyer to recommend and cross sell a specialist/niche lawyer in the firm than the other way round.
Nevertheless, of course it is possible, to also cross sell transactional and in particular M&A expertise, it may just be more difficult because the choice for the client in the legal market is so much bigger. Here the industry expertise of the transactional lawyer may help and maybe he or she needs to start on a smaller transaction on a trial basis for the client.
Thus, good cross selling techniques may include to offer the existing client/existing customer great client or customer satisfaction on a trial case before going full in.
III) The inherent attraction of cross selling
But in spite of the challenging circumstances and examples of cross selling just outlined above under II) many partners and lawyers still prefer to rely on cross selling rather than seeking in true entrepreneurial spirit their fortunes on their own with the support of their team and perhaps the firm’s business development department in the market.
Consequently I have often wondered about the attraction of cross selling.
Here are a few thoughts and conclusions :
1) Feeling more comfortable or having more confidence in your business development efforts.
Many lawyers ( including partners ! ) feel more comfortable if they have the client partner at their side for any introductory calls or meetings. Perhaps it’s even a matter of having enough confidence to expose yourself to selling yourself.
They don’t have to go it alone.They expect to be able to rely on proven cross selling techniques. They expect greater “customer satisfaction” from their cross sales attempts with someone else from the same law firm in attendance.
In particular, many partners or lawyers find it easier to make conversation with a second person from their firm around as it is normally up to the introducing client partner ( as the “sales leader”) to turn the conversation towards the cross selling purposes and introduction of the new partner.
2) Providing a structure and a process for business development
Cross selling in principle is more of a process than anything else: You look for a suitable client for whom you want to work. You approach the relevant client partner. If he agrees, he will approach the client. If the client is interested, the client or the partner will set up an introductory call or meeting or the client even issues instructions right away.
In essence, this cross sales process provides a clear step plan and after each step you’ve either moved forward or you can stop altogether for the time being with this particular target. And the whole process is embedded in the safe structure of the law firm.
These processes and the firm’s underlying structure seem to make cross selling so much more attractive than the unruly chasing after new clients and work in the market.
Sadly this perspective of the market is grossly overestimated.It is rather a matter of setting up your own structures, processes, habits and routines for being active in business development in the market.
3 ) Failure is easier to cope with
If the cross sale offers for additional services do not succeed, you are not alone.It is not anyone’s own fault. Explanations are easily found jointly and you are able to release each other from any responsibility and perhaps even sense of failure .
In more positive terms, frustrations are shared, more easily borne and next time looks more hopeful. Certainly, there can be mutual encouragement not to give up, but be undeterred and try again.There may also be mutual consolation or joint blame of the client (“ they only wanted a second quote, they were never serious about instructing us in any additional new area, not yet covered by us”) or of the “circumstances” ( economy went down, the market is bad, the responsible person with the client changed jobs etc.).
4) Benefitting from the trust for the existing relationship to the firm and client partner
It is often expected that the trust of a client in one partner and perhaps the firm in its entirety will automatically transfer onto another partner.
In a legal world that gets more and more fragmented and requires more and more specialised expertise, experience and know-how it is doubtful that such expectations are justified.
Even less so in view of the increasing competition in marketing, brand building and business development.
The choice for general counsels or members of legal departments is today greater and easier than ever before. Therefore, the work and service quality need to be as excellent as the client expects and any assumption to be able to rely on the favour granted to the client partner is dangerous.
Conversely, the relationship of the client partner may rather suffer if the cross sold partner does not perform equally well or better.
And there are further potential issues that are often overlooked or only hypothetically acknowledged unless and until they become manifest:
- the personal chemistry with the new partner may not work in the same way as with the current partner;
- the client has no real need for the services of that new partner;
- and the firm or the new partner has not a good enough reputation for the new area of law for which he is introduced.
5) No knowledge how to successfully acquire clients in the market
From my observations over more than 3 decades it seems that a lack of knowledge of effective and efficient business development often drives people into their cross selling initiatives.
Often people who consider cross selling important and are keen to be at the receiving end of any cross selling efforts of other partners lack the know-how, the experience, the entrepreneurial spirit, the motivation, the confidence, the courage and stamina to address the market on their own. Likewise, they shy away from the perceived additional workload of making themselves visible and approachable in the market.
While I fully appreciate the cross selling aspects of any big law firm and have myself benefited in part by receiving work from partners and colleagues, I was most successful when going to the market and promoting my team, my own expertise and experiences and my firm.
The real formula for success is a healthy combination of both cross selling and being active in the market.
Effective and efficient cross selling in particular requires that you find the right kind of people to do it with. Search for successful cross selling examples in your firm and seek to work with these partners.In other words: There needs to be a match between partners or lawyers on the giving and receiving end of any cross selling activities.
And attend any training programs on Successful Business Development and in particular how to increase sales through cross selling technique. There you will find great and successful examples of cross selling that inspire and encourage you, If such training programs are not offered at your firm seek help elsewhere or move firms.
IV) Finding the key selling arguments
One way of cross selling is to try to get involved with almost any client of the firm. Conversely, as a client partner of an existing client I could try to introduce almost any colleague and partner active in any fields of law or industry sector different from my own. Such attempts of cross selling are usually not terribly successful.
What is more likely to be successful within a reasonable period of time is a well focused and targeted approach based on the known, researched or perceived needs of the client.Or to cross sell products that are proven winners with other existing customers or clients.
1) Talk to the client about possible needs
But that of course requires that you either know or find out what the needs of the clients may be that would him open up to your cross selling approach:
The client may need expertise on issues that he is not even aware of yet.
For instance new regulatory or legislative developments and their likely impact; new case law and the risks or potential liabilities that may arise from it. If the existing client buys a new business in a different/diversified industry sector and has no own legal expertise. Or the existing client develops a new business model for which it is not prepared legally-and neither are the existing client partner and his or her team experts in these new areas.
The client may need help on issues for which its own legal department lacks the capacity to deal with
Cross selling work that the existing customers or clients cannot discharge themselves for lack of capacity ( for instance manpower, experience or knowledge , project management capabilities ) may be a good example of cross selling and boost the client partner’s and the firm’s sales revenue
This may apply in particular to larger projects like transactions, compliance issues, audits, litigation et cetera
The current advisors are conflicted in a particular area
This is the chance to develop a client or customer relationship in a different area of law or industry specialisation or to cross sell additional products or services.
The current advisors have not done the best job in the world for the client and the client is open to exploring new advisers.
If the client or customer experience with any lawyers or law firm are not great, there may be a fair chance for your cross sales tactic to provide for the potential of “increased customer satisfaction”. If that potential is then realised by providing excellent service your satisfied customers and clients will stick with you, their average order value will increase, and you will be able to maximise profits from that client.
The need to talk to the client
Therefore, the partner or lawyer having a good relationship with the existing client needs to find out which other team or partner may be worth introducing to the client to address a particular need of the client.
2) So how is that done?
By having meaningful conversations with the client before you introduce your colleagues or other teams.
For instance
- call the client and ask him about the client’s business and its development
- have lunch with the client on your own and find out what’s going on at the company or in the legal department.
- meet with the client at a trade conference, business reception or your firm’s client event and explore what the client’s issues are at the moment.
- send the client a very specific personal mail with information on recent legal or regulatory developments that you would deem relevant for the client, one of its divisions or subsidiaries, highlighting possible risks and exposures and proposing to discuss possible ways of assistance.
It is to be emphasised that this must not be a standard email which goes out to all clients but rather a very bespoke well drafted note.
3) No reaction by the client — no interest?
If you do not get any reaction to any of your approaches to explore the client’s need for more assistance than just your and your team’s help, be patient, follow-up from time to time.
If the client does not react immediately there may be lots of different reasons for this lack of response:
For instance the client
- is too busy to respond right away
- is away on holidays, on sick leave or has a family emergency
- first wants to check within the company before reverting to you
- has simply forgotten about your conversation or your email and may be grateful for a friendly reminder after a while, and perhaps even repeatedly.
Never assume that the client is not interested in your proposals unless and until he has expressly told you so.
Assumptions kill!
If you assume that the client is not interested for all the wrong reasons – see the list of possible explanations above – you’re likely to lose out on wonderful opportunities, simply because you’ve given up too early.
V) The client partner’s perspective: Seeking other specialists in your to serve your clients
But cross selling has also its own challenges for the client partner who wants to introduce colleagues.He functions in effect not only as a sales professional but as one of the firm’s sales leaders – both of his own team and the team of the partner to be referred and cross sold; he is encouraging existing customers/clients not only for repeat purchases of the same services but also for complementary products and services.Ultimately the goal for any client partner is to offer to any existing client an “increased customer lifetime value” with him and the firm.
Much of what we have discussed above from the perspective of a lawyer or partner seeking to receive work from existing clients by being referred to them conversely applies here as well, and therefore we can limit the text to a few key questions.
1) Entrusting your precious client relationship
Do you know the partner or lawyer whom you want to introduce and cross sell well enough to entrust your precious client relationship to them?
2) Is your client ready for a cross selling approach?
Can you be sure that the client appreciates your introduction of another partner, lawyer or team?
And how do you find out whether that would be the case?
3) Identifying the client’s needs
How do you identify any gaps in the legal advice that the client gets from all its different advisers in order to be able to fill that gap with another partner and his or her team from your firm?
Likewise, are you aware of any actual needs of the client that you yourself cannot cover?
Or are you in the process of finding out what the client needs?
Especially the last 2 points are key to the success of your cross selling initiative.
4) Is the receiving partner or lawyer keen on working with you on cross selling?
Is the partner whom you have identified for an introduction as keen on this cross selling as you are?
Will that partner contribute the necessary information or even promotional materials/pitch like documents? And will he do it timely?
And will that partner happily go through the motions of finding a date with the client for an introductory meeting?
In particular this point has caused me the greatest difficulties in my attempts to cross sell partners or teams.
PERSONAL CONCLUSION
After all (and if you have not gathered that already) here is how I dealt with cross selling and became a rainmaker:
I have had so many bad experiences with my attempts to get new work from clients of the firm through my partners cross selling me that I quickly determined to rather go it alone and develop business in the market as I would not need to rely on anyone else in the firm except myself and my team.
But I have also seen many wonderful examples, where lawyers and partners built a huge business case by constantly liaising with friends, colleagues and fellow partners within the firm and seeking opportunities for their expertise to be cross-sold to the clients of those friends and colleagues in the firm.
One distinguishing features between them and me was that they spent far more time socialising, chatting and liaising than I did.They therefore also spent much more time in the firm and for work than I did. And they never gained a reputation of being as efficient as I was perceived to be.
The perfect Successful Business Development in my personal experience is a fair balance of both cross selling and client targeting and acquisition in the market.
