Plan for different sales journeys and processes

November 17, 2025|Accountants, Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Management Skills, Relationship Management, Selling|

Legal and accountancy firm delegates joined me for a MBL workshop on “The art and Science of Selling Professional Services”. We spent a significant amount of time exploring the various sales cycles in delegate firms – and how best to support fee-earners through complex (multiple players and decision makers) consultative and insight selling sales journeys. Art and science of selling – Plan for different sales journeys

Adapt to different sales journeys

Professional selling focuses first on the client needs rather than what we might be trying to promote or sell. We also saw how the rapport and relationship development activities precede any exploration of client needs or potential opportunities.

We considered the potential buyer journeys for individual and corporate buyers. And how those journeys might also be different for various professional services (e.g. transactional, litigation, ongoing support, specific projects). Mapping the client journey in professional services – Kim Tasso

Lawyers, accountants and surveyors like to work with processes. And marketing and sales processes are no different. Clarity around likely sales journeys will give fee-earners confidence and maintain motivation and momentum.

In Complex sales processes made simple I focus on the 6Cs: co-ordinate, connect, conversations that add value, curiosity, consistent habits and conversion

By reflecting the different sales journeys, fee-earners will be able to manage their expectations about what can realistically be achieved in the short, medium and long term.

Build selling and sales cycles into the firm’s culture

Humans are rational beings. They will do what they are targeted and measured on doing. Some firms still have only billable hour targets. So there are no mechanisms to complete and record non-chargeable time in marketing, business development and selling.

The firm’s culture has to encourage a business development mindset. To help fee-earners transition from a technical expert role into a relationship manager and business developer role. The demands and skills of these roles are different.

The firm’s culture needs to recognise and reward good business development behaviours – in terms of performance reviews, financial recompense and career progression.

And there needs to be the necessary organisational mechanisms to support selling. For example:

Strategies and plans on goals and targets
Partners with responsibility for driving business development
Marketing activities to build reputation (brand), awareness, engagement and leads
Resources and time to support fee-earners throughout marketing and sales cycles
Training, toolkits and ongoing support
Regular time in meetings to discuss aims and progress
Plans to co-ordinate activities for major clients and referrers
Systems to monitor progress and results

Set clear aims and targets for sales journeys

The firm or team’s marketing and business development strategy should set out the aims – measurable goals with a timescale on what is to be achieved. This might be in terms of funnel activity (connections, leads, meetings, relationships, opportunities or referrals) and also in terms of results anticipated (volume or value).

The strategy and plan should also define the markets or segments of interest. And ideally list out the named target organisations or personas of the ideal clients. Fee-earners might need help from MBD professionals in translating team targets into personal targets.

And there needs to be a balance between:

Prospective and new clients
Existing clients (both account management and cross-selling initiatives may be relevant)
Third party referrers and intermediaries (especially important for those in many transactional and dispute areas)

Naturally, there needs to be systems in place to help fee-earners monitor and measure their progress and outcomes. And for management to consolidate the various funnels so that an overview of the firm’s pipeline can be monitored. To avoid gaps where people have insufficient work and to plan recruitment so that there is adequate capacity to complete work.,

Support fee-earners through the sales cycle

Once fee-earners have aims and targets in their personal plans, they are likely to need support from their team leaders, their colleagues and the MBD professionals throughout the sales cycle,

They are also likely to need help in:

Education and training in the relevant marketing, relationship management and sales skills and processes
Maintain systems where they can access information about the firm’s clients, projects, skills and materials to support effective marketing and selling activities
Research and intelligence support in identifying suitable target associations, communities, organisations and individuals
Appropriate awareness, personal brand and awareness raising activities to appeal to the target audience and position themselves effectively
Toolkits and templates to help them respond to enquiries, leads and other interactions to progress the relationship and potential sale
Support in preparing for client interactions and meetings – in nurturing relationships and in identifying opportunities and establishing the next steps
Coaching and support to assess, pursue and convert active opportunities
Help in shaping messages, value propositions and pitches and tenders

Each fee-earner should then be clear about what they are expected to do and achieve. They may then need to collaborate with their colleagues and be supported by MBD teams in constructing a practical plan for what they need to do and when.

Integrate marketing and sales journeys

In some firms there is a disconnect between marketing campaigns and subsequent sales activities.

Marketing campaigns must be designed and executed with the end in mind. They must look beyond creating engagement and leads. Marketing campaigns need to pre-plan the follow up sales activity that will be needed to develop relationships, identify opportunities and convert prospects into clients.

Marketers must consider how they equip fee-earners to pursue qualified leads effectively – harnessing and repurposing marketing content into insights that can be used to fuel subsequent sales conversations. It needs to be seamless.

(Please note this blog post by on the end of the sales funnel – supporting the view that marketing and sales journeys are varied and complex) The Marketing Funnel is Dead | Natterjack Marketing (Lindsay Gray, Founder and CEO Natterjack, 14th November 2025)

Reflect different fee-earner approaches in sales journeys

Fee-earners have different strengths and communication preferences. As do clients.

Some fee-earners will prefer to make contact directly through networking, telephone calls or emails. Others might prefer to raise awareness and make initial contact through digital and social channels.

Some fee-earners will leverage their existing network of referrers and clients. Other fee-earners may use conference talks and seminars to initiate conversations. Others may rely more on the firm’s thought leadership and the leads it generates.

There is no one-size-fits-all. Don’t shoe-horn fee-earners into a process and approach that doesn’t feel comfortable to them. Fee-earners should be encouraged to work together to deploy their particular skills and talents to support the sales efforts or the teams.

Collate best practice in optimising the sales cycle

Most firms will have fee-earners who are good at meeting prospective clients, forming strong relationships, exploring their needs, pitching solutions and converting opportunities. Whilst this journey can vary significantly, some fee-earners will be adept at moving clients through the sales cycle as professionally, efficiently and effectively as possible.

Interview these exemplars and capture their insights, expertise and best practice. It will be reassuring and motivating for those not currently active in selling to see what good looks like. And they will appreciate the opportunity to learn from the lived experience of their respected colleagues. Best practice case studies are a great source of learning and training materials.

Develop psychological and practical skills for the sales journey

There was a lot of debate about the essential skills for selling. I argued for high levels of emotional intelligence which support effective interpersonal communication which is a pre-requisite for building trust and relationships that facilitate sales conversations. An introduction to emotional intelligence (EQ) and empathy (Video)

We reviewed research on a variety of other skills which included:

Analysis
Collaboration
Commerciality
Communication and conversation
Confidence
Curiosity
Educating
Emotional Intelligence (and empathy)
Influence and persuasion
Listening
Negotiating
Networking
Non-Verbal Communication
Nurturing
Planning
Presenting
Problem-solving
Questioning
Relationship building
Research
Resilience
Storytelling

What are soft skills? And why are they so important? (Video)

Book launch: Essential soft skills for lawyers – some research findings

Better Business Relationships – The building blocks

Create a simple sales cycle planner

We saw how important it was to get into the habit of allocating a specific amount of time each week to marketing, business development and sales. (Rainmaking best practice in professional services firms (Selling).

A comprehensive CRM system allows accurate recording, tracking and sharing of prospect and client information. However, many firms do not have such a system. There might also be cultural issues that limit the likelihood of fee-earners using such systems and sharing their data.

So fee-earners need to develop a simple sales planner to remember which prospects and opportunities are being pursued – and their planned next steps.

There is value in creating a simple sales planner that shows the:

organisations
individuals in each organisation Selling Basics – Detectives and DMUs (Video)
stage in the sales process (e.g. connecting, developing, exploring, pitching, negotiating etc)
next planned action

Key delegate takeaways on art and science of selling professional services

Image

Categorisation of prospects
BD and sales planner
Content pillar planner
Group of people working together

Idea

Structure and discipline
Committing time and gathering ideas into a clear strategy
Consider indirect channels and strategy as well as more direct strategies
Culture of a firm can have a huge effect on the likelihood of fee-earners putting aside time for BD tasks

Action

Create an internal training plan to support junior fee-earners understand how they contribute to sales
Weekly repeat calendar invite for BD planning
Review materials on CRM CRM – Applications, systems and fee-earner engagement
Build a marketing and sales campaign plan 10 steps to create a business development campaign
Ensure fee-earners understand the importance of meeting face-to-face
Encourage staff to deliver corporate gifts in person

Selected delegate poll results

How do you feel about selling?

25% Unconfident

50% Neither confident nor unconfident

25% Confident

How would you rate your selling abilities?

100% Average

Is your role mostly:

25% Supporting those who sell

75% Client-facing selling

What is the main thing stopping you from selling?

50% Lack of time

25% Lack of targets

25% Lack of support

Are you mostly trying to sell to:

50% Small and medium sized businesses (SMB)

50% Combination of large organisations, SMB, NFP, public sector, individuals

Typically, how long does it take from first contact to receiving the instruction/contract?

100% It varies a lot

Which do you think is the highest priority for you?

25% Strategic marketing and planning

25% Tactical marketing/communications (lead generation)

50% Referrer management

What’s your current BD approach?

25% Contact book

25% Digital/social media

50% Collaborator

How do you generally reach out to your targets?

25% Direct (telephone or email)

75% Through a mutual connection

How helpful is your CRM/client and prospect database in shaping marketing and sales strategies?

25% Not at all helpful

25% OK

25% Essential – I rely on it

25% Something else

To what extent is your marketing and selling activity integrated?

50% In some areas – it could be better

50% OK

Is your approach to networking/selling/BD more:

50% Cast the net wide – reach out to lots of people

50% Targeted – aim at specific prospects/targets

Analysis – where do you think the majority of your clients/work comes from?

25% Digital (web, emails and social media)

75% External referrals/specific organisations

Do you have a list of targets, suspects, prospects, potential clients or potential opportunities?

75% Yes – informally in my head

25% It’s complicated

How well do you know the services provided by your firm (product knowledge)

50% I know some well

50% Really well – I’m a great ambassador

Where is your lowest score:

33% Implementation

67% Application (discipline and motivation)

Do you think your personality is mostly: dog, cat and bear personalities – Better business relationships

33% Dog

67% Cat

How would you rate your commercial thinking skills:

25% 6

50% 8

25% 9

How much time do you spend preparing for a prospect meeting?

75% 0 – 60 minutes

25% 60 – 120 minutes

How much of what we hear do we retain: Active Listening (Video)

33% 0 – 25%

67% 26% – 50%

Which aspect of client sales meetings do you most need to improve?

25% Build rapport and relationship

75% Identify how to add value

Which do you think is the most important selling skill now?

50% Targeting and planning

25% Listening and asking questions

25% Persuading and negotiating

How good do you think your firm is at measuring sales progress and success?

33% Poor

67% OK

Are your sales targets and measures linked to your reward systems?

50% Yes – in general terms of contribution for appraisals

50% Yes – there is a bonus system

Adapt to different sales journeys

Build selling and sales cycles into the firm’s culture

Set clear aims and targets for sales journeys

Support fee-earners through the sales cycle

Integrate marketing and sales journeys

Reflect different fee-earner approaches in sales journeys

Collate best practice in optimising the sales cycle

Develop psychological and practical skills for the sales journey

Create a simple sales cycle planner

Key delegate takeaways on art and science of selling professional services

Selected delegate poll results

Related links on sales and selling in professional services

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Art and science of selling – Plan for different sales journeys and processes

Adapt to different sales journeys

Build selling and sales cycles into the firm’s culture

Set clear aims and targets for sales journeys

Support fee-earners through the sales cycle

Integrate marketing and sales journeys

Reflect different fee-earner approaches in sales journeys

Collate best practice in optimising the sales cycle

Develop psychological and practical skills for the sales journey

Create a simple sales cycle planner

Key delegate takeaways on art and science of selling professional services

Selected delegate poll results

Related links on sales and selling in professional services

Tags

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