lmatech2014 - sales management and motivating a sales team - rich rifkin
DESCRIPTION
The Chief Business Developer Officer’s role at a law firm is most akin to that of a Sales Manager – typically not on the sales call, it is their responsibility to manage a firm’s systematic approach to sales, develop a sales pipeline infrastructure and work with sales people (i.e., lawyers) individually and in groups to train, coach and develop approaches to winning business.TRANSCRIPT
Managing a Sales Organizationaka
“Nothing happens til somebody sells something”Rich Rifkin
SalesThomson Reuters
October 2014
BACKGROUND
• Twenty plus years in Technology Sales
• Mostly to law firms
• Fifteen years managing Sales team– Field Sales
– Inside Sales
– Sales Engineers
– Sales Support
– Marketing
FirmExperience
LeverageableRelationships
Client Need
LEVERAGING YOUR VALUABLE ASSETS – THE THREE LEGS OF THE BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT STOOL
Opportunity
AGENDA
• Selling
• Compensation
• Strategy & Tactics
• Presenting
• Culture
• Tools/Technology
SELLING
• Sales job – as good as three things– Product
– Territory
– Comp Plan
• Managing– Support your “A” players in every way you can
– Turn your “B’s” into “A’s”
– Weed out your “C’s” or find other roles
CORCORAN BUSINESS OF LAW BLOG
• Linking Business Development to Partner Compensation – Sept 15, 2014
• “It’s time to touch the third rail of law firm management: Partner Compensation”
• “Many compensation plans overemphasize origination and in so doing fail to recognize the critical contribution of many partners. Furthermore, the plans often fail spectacularly in addressing and rewarding origination”.
• Importance of a team to close and maintain clients
• Hunters vs. Farmers
• Retention as part of comp plan
CORCORAN BUSINESS OF LAW BLOG
• Successful comp plan - rarity– Furthers the firm’s strategic objectives
– Easy to understand and therefore “spit-ball”, i.e. how much will I make if we close this?
– Easy to administer
• “Grow the business” is not a strategy
• Challenges with Change Management– Make incremental, wise changes, which move the comp plan
in the right direction
STRATEGY – BE AN EXPERT
• Know your product
• Know your prospect
• Know their issues as a company
• Know their industry issues
• Leveraging resources
• Know your unique competitive advantages
• Know how your firm creatively “manages” legal projects
• Be cost competitive
PRESENTING - HOW DO YOU PREPARE?
• Role play
• Assess/Grade
• Improve
• Lather, rinse, repeat
• NEVER say words out loud in front of a client that you haven’t “practiced”
CULTURE
• Everyone is in “Sales”
• Nothing happens til somebody sells something
• Every client should be a reference, whether you’re there or not
CULTURE – HOW TO BE AN EXPERT
• Sales training
• Creating a Sales Culture
• Read Selling books– Ask questions, listen to the answers, take NOTES
• Confident, not cocky
• Stay up on industry publications
• Listen to industry/appropriate podcasts
• Recommend them to clients
• Reading industry pubs
EXTERNAL CONSULTANTS/PARTNERS
• Get to know the key influencers in their market
• Why would they recommend you?
• Networking
• Becoming “known” in the community
• Social Media
• Blogging
CONFERENCES/EVENTS
• Pass around attendee list and see who can help tee up meetings
• Mandatory 3 meetings per day tee’d up in order to attend conf
• Must send call notes about meetings
INCENTIVES
• Reward Sales Notes
• Acknowledge and broadcast success’s
• Contests
• Gamification
SALES IS TELLING A STORY
PRESENTATIONS
• Talking about capabilities vs telling a story
• Make the story YOURS
• Avoiding “the hammock”– Number play
– Big picture
– Props
DIRECT VALUE OF CONTACT NET
• Client C• Rumor’s of Heller Ehrman’s
demise were running rampant
• We were having lunch w/ CMO, Lilli Smith
• Recommended to Lilli that she should run a Monitor search showing who Heller’s biggest clients were
• Then run a search showing who at Client C knew those firms
• Result: Easy pickin’s for orphaned clients and potential lateral candidates
• Lilli sent MP an email from her Bberry telling her what she was going to do
• MP thinks she walks on water
• Client B• Municipal Practice Group – one
of largest in firm
• Has list of 3,000 contacts
• Take hours to update every year
• Were missing email address’s for 1,000 contacts
• Problem: Couldn’t send e-card holiday cards ($500 in postage + time) and those 1,000 people were not getting e-alerts
• Solution: Use CN to match contacts to email address without bothering the lawyers! “Can’t see living without it”
• Client A
• MP called CMO complaining that a recruiter was targetting firm partners
• CMO ran CN search to see who was had good relationships with that recruiter
• Nipped potential defections in the bud
MEETING NOTES
• A few quick comments after EVERY meaningful meeting– Date
– Attendees
– Main discussion topics
– Agreed upon next steps
– Attach them to CRM!
BULL SESSIONS/COMMISERATING
• How was your week?
• What worked great?
• What didn’t?
• How can we do better next time?
MANAGEMENT TOOLS
• CRM type Reports – Forecasts
– Activities
– Experience
– Accurate mailing lists
THE REAL SECRET TO SALES SUCCESS
• Do consistently great work so that your clients can talk to prospects without you even knowing about it.
• The golden rule
• Thank you!