It can often seem like a company’s in-house counsel acts as a counterbalance to the sales and marketing team. While the sales director is trying to win business by promoting new products and services, the GC is constantly assessing any potential risks - and this can sometimes be perceived as slowing down innovation and the sales process. But rather than presenting a source of internal conflict, the legal and sales functions within a company can actually provide an effective combined force which helps to win new business.
In this blog we will consider how in-house lawyers can work with their colleagues in the sales and marketing team to drive forward deals and improve revenue.
Many in-house lawyers historically thought of themselves more as legal advisers who are quite separate from the sales team - especially if they previously worked in private practice. But, as research shows, the role of the in-house lawyer has evolved over recent years. In-house counsel are crucial to successful business development and ultimately they share the same goals as their sales counterparts; generating profits for the company.
Although in-house counsel might be brought into the sales process initially to discuss deals from a legal contract point of view, they play a huge role in making sure a deal goes smoothly. Therefore, they need to be good at pushing the deal forward and deploying some degree of salesmanship.
New GCs should introduce themselves as soon as possible to the sales and marketing director and hold regular meetings to build up a good rapport. Ensuring that they can work well together, have regular communication and shared goals is crucial to the future success of both parties, as well as the company as a whole.
Since they are one cog in a larger organisational wheel, legal counsel should ensure they are aware of the bigger picture in terms of business planning and development. Timelines are crucial and missing targets can often have direct and personal financial impact on members of the sales team. Showing empathy towards these types of challenges faced by their colleagues, and finding ways of tackling them together, can help build a better relationship between the sales and legal teams.
In-house lawyers who take an active role in project management can minimise any disappointments in the wider workplace. For example, making realistic estimates of how long it will take to formalise complex contractual negotiations, and building in some leeway to account for any delays, will help to manage expectations.
It may sometimes be possible for the legal and sales teams to work together more directly, particularly in the case of larger deals with multiple stages. Rather than having the sales department simply wait for the legal team to complete an administration-heavy due diligence procedure, members of the sales team may be able to help with non-legal admin to speed things along. Sharing resources in this way may seem unorthodox at first, but the extra agility can significantly improve overall efficiency.
Getting the balance right between speed and compliance is one of the biggest challenges facing in-house counsel. On the one hand, they need to be aware of the time constraints facing the sales and marketing team when negotiating a contract or launching a new product or service, whilst at the same time ensuring that there won’t be any negative legal ramifications in the future as a result of not being meticulous enough.
Having a harmonious working relationship with the sales team minimises any pushback against lengthy due diligence procedures, and both parties can work towards the same goal of maximising profits whilst at the same time minimising risk.
Being clear and transparent about goals and risks can help sales to understand in-house (and vice-versa). So, for example, rather than just saying that a project needs to be delayed for legal procedures, counsel could warn that failure to rigorously check that a new product meets data protection legislation might lead to a fine which would wipe out profits for the last year. Going into detail and explaining the reasons for lengthy compliance exercises will often improve the relationship between teams.
Prioritising work in conjunction with the needs of the sales team can help avoid the perception that in-house legal is creating any unnecessary bottlenecks. Although there may be large overarching projects which the legal team would ideally like to complete before tackling seemingly small-scale contractual agreements, being flexible and meeting occasional sporadic requests from sales managers can engender a more harmonious sense of collaboration between the teams.
At the same time, it’s important that in-house lawyers are not constantly distracted by demands from their sales and marketing colleagues. It’s vital that all tasks and projects are assessed and prioritised accordingly, including ad-hoc requests. Keeping an eye on the bigger picture enables the right balance to be drawn between flexibility and a more methodical approach.
Efficient workflow management is key to the success of the legal team in terms of its perception by sales and marketing. This is distinct from project management and prioritisation, as the workflow refers more to the specific legal procedures and the process of handling routine tasks.
It’s a good idea to periodically assess standard workplace procedures, gauge their efficiency and find out if any improvements can be made. In-house counsel will sometimes handle a specific element of a process which requires input from multiple teams, so it’s vital that they are not seen as a weak link in the chain. Implementing technology can sometimes help to optimise workflows and improve turnaround times.
There are a wide range of software tools designed to help in-house lawyers work more efficiently. Online research tools such as Lexis+ can significantly improve response times to requests from the sales team, especially where there is a new legal angle which needs to be explored. Meanwhile, Lexis Create can speed up routine legal work, integrating the power of ³ÉÈËÓ°Òô within the Microsoft Office environment.
Other technology products can create a workflow link between the legal and sales teams, allowing in-house counsel and sales managers to monitor the progress of various tasks. Even something as simple as a can allow teams to literally work from the same page.
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