Modern Law Magazine Issue 65

FEATURE
FEATURE
Leveraging Technology
to Drive Sales for
Law Firms
The legal industry is experiencing a surge
in technological advancements, with the
global legal tech market projected to
reach a value of US$69.7 billion, growing
at a CAGR of 8.9% according to Future
Market Insights. Despite its reputation for
lagging in technology adoption, the legal
sector has recognized the importance of
digital transformation, accelerated by
the COVID-19 pandemic. This article aims
to explore how lawyers working in law
firms can harness technology to discover
new business opportunities, proactively
reach out to target audiences, and
enhance deal values.
When we think of legal tech, we often envision e-discovery
tools, case management systems, document storage, and other
tools that streamline legal processes. However, the focus has
predominantly been on operational efficiency and compliance
rather than tools that aid in identifying new revenue. If we think
about it, legal technology has primarily served as a means to
improve existing workflows.
You don’t have to watch Suits to know that historically, and
even until today, the majority of the revenue that comes into
law firms happens through leveraging existing relationships.
Existing clients remain a source of repeat business, and the
best lawyers seek out upselling opportunities to continue to
grow their book of business. However, law firms are increasingly
creating strategic partnerships, driving thought leadership, and
focusing on their digital presence to showcase expertise. Highprofile
cases create intrigue, which firms get the opportunity
to monopolise on - if they’re on the right side of the win - and
then it’s business as usual.
While client trust and competence remain critical, buyers,
especially sophisticated buyers in procurement departments, have
become more discerning. They’re bored. This is where technology
can play a role in the early stages of the buyer journey, helping
law firms distinguish themselves as the most credible and
experienced partner in the eyes of the organisations they are
uniquely positioned to support. The technology landscape is vast,
and it’s time for law firms to jump on board.
To effectively leverage technology for sales, law firms need to
broaden their perspective and consider tools that go beyond
process optimization. This includes embracing SaaS tools that
enable proactive research of target audiences, facilitate outreach
to ideal customer profiles, and utilise automation and AI to
improve deal values. Before any of this can happen, we have
to consider the typical buyer journey. There are tools available
for all areas of this journey, and for context, think about the
journey a company will go through to build or refine their panel
or selection of firms to work with.
The Buyer Journey
Prospective buyers typically become aware of an issue, challenge,
or opportunity and then assess different ways to address it.
From here they make a decision on which direction to take, and
then make the necessary investment. Lawyers can influence this
decision-making process at each stage by providing valuable
insights and guidance through personalised content, thought
leadership, and targeted marketing campaigns. The key here is to
ensure that the tools and processes are in place to identify where
a Prospective Buyer may be in their journey. Coupling intent data
with human interpretation can make this an easy process.
Tools that can help: Demandbase
Proactive Research of Target Audiences
Oftentimes Law Firms become known for their expertise in a
particular area of law. Switching gears to be more data-driven,
put’s lawyers in the driving seat. Instead of waiting to be
considered on a panel, firms can drive change based on data,
insights and trends. Data-driven research tools provide lawyers
with the ability to identify potential clients who may require
legal services in specific areas. A great customer engagement
process will allow lawyers to gain valuable insights into potential
clients’ financial makeup, industries, trends, challenges, and
opportunities. This proactive approach enhances the likelihood
of converting leads into clients and fosters a reputation for being
proactive and client-centred. Firms can niche down on targeting
organisations who have a higher propensity for their expertise.
This helps optimise business development resources by focusing
on areas that Firms are uniquely positioned to solve for. This
knowledge allows them to demonstrate a deep domain expertise
and help surface latent issues, challenges and opportunities.
Tools that can help: Orbis, by Bureau van Dijk - Moody’s
Analytics Company
‘‘To effectively leverage technology
for sales, law firms need tobroaden
their perspective and consider tools
that go beyond process optimization.’’
Proactive Outreach to Corporate Companies:
Most firms will have a CRM in place. While this provides a central
source of truth, it can also act as the hub for interconnected
applications that allow firms to take known data, add 3rd party data
sources, and then use this for outbound communications. Technology
can empower lawyers to reach out to corporate companies and
engage with potential clients early in their journey. Sales engagement
tools that allow for automated sequential and customised messaging
and touchpoints, can help firms to stay top of mind. It is a way to help
translate marketing messages into 1:1 messaging between a Lawyer
and an internal legal department at a Corporate entity.
By leveraging these systems, lawyers can engage in personalised
and timely follow-ups, which are critical in building and maintaining
strong relationships with corporate clients. The proactive nature of
this outreach helps to position the law firm as a trusted advisor and
increases the likelihood of winning new business.
Tools that can help:
Salesloft - revenue team automation tool
Apollo.io - reach every buyer on earth
Hubspot - sales and marketing tool
Hannah Ajikawo is a Mum, Go-To-Market Strategy
Consultant and experienced sales leader. She recently
led the EMEA business at Skaled, building out global
onboarding, training and enablement programs for high
growth organisations. She advocates for diversity in sales
through her role at Sistas in Sales, and has developed a
habit of airing her views and perspectives on B2B sales
today. This has led her to be voted a Linkedin Top Voice,
a Sales Influencer to watch as recommended by Builtin,
and 1 of 100 Most Powerful Women in Sales, as voted by
Demandbase. She says, “I am obsessed with rethinking
ways we can continuously deliver value to our customers.”
Automation and AI
Large language models (LLMs) and the advent of Open AI’s
ChatGPT has shown how human-driven innovation can be
supercharged by artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Today, we are already seeing how this technology is positively
impacting legal activities around research, advancing arguments
and drafting - with some questionable accuracy at times!
For sales, lawyers now have the opportunity to leverage AI to
interpret verbal client interactions, load these interpretations directly
into CRMs, provide summary notes and create the following. Further
programming can even help anticipate what the next best action
would look like. Done correctly, this opens the doors to the same
type of operational efficiencies that legal tech has evolved to create
over the last decade plus. It also gives lawyers a larger data pool of
real customer insights that can be used for predictive analytics.
The closer lawyers get to understanding the buying journey of the
companies that they are best positioned to bring value to, the more
likely they are to request premiums. Buyers pay for certainty.
Tools that can help: Winn.ai
Ambitious, tech-first Law firms have a unique opportunity to
leverage technology to drive more sales and higher average
contract values. By embracing the vast amount of available SaaS
tools, lawyers can recognise where a Prospective Buyer may be in
their buying journey, work to support and serve them what they
need at that stage, and drive inherent value through relationship
execution. Remember customer value is about worth, and worth
is subjective. Lawyers can gain more authority, trust and attention
when they are seen to truly understand their Prospective Buyer’s
and what is important to them.
While technology can really be a game changer for new revenue,
it is crucial to remember that technology should complement, not
replace, the human expertise and personal touch that clients expect
from legal professionals. By harnessing the power of technology
effectively, law firms can enhance their sales efforts, expand their
client base, and remain competitive in the ever-evolving legal
landscape. With the right technological tools and strategies, lawyers
can position themselves as trusted advisors, deliver exceptional
client experiences, and drive revenue growth for their law firms.
Need help?
At Revenue Funnel, we work with technology and
service-based organisation to increase average
contract values and win rates, by improving their
ability to align with their Prospective Buyers journey.
Hannah Ajikawo
CEO & Founder,
Revenue Funnel
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