Pipeline to Success – Part 7: The People

Are your people onboard with business development pipeline success? To ensure a successful outcome. the business development pipeline technology must first be supported at the highest leadership levels in the law firm. Next, there must be knowledgeable, well-trained people dedicated to inputting the data. Information has to be entered correctly, consistently and completely because bad data will undermine attorney trust. Additionally, resources have to be dedicated to ongoing data quality to ensure the data remains current over time, since up to 30% of a firm’s contact data can become outdated each year. Finally, there has to be a focus on system adoption. Lawyers not only have to understand the value of the software for the firm, but they must also believe that there is something in it for them. Only then will firms be able to get the wide-spread utilization and value that will allow them to realize return on their business development pipeline investment.

Lawyers Need to Know What’s In the Business Development Pipeline for Them

One final note: While there is little doubt that pipeline software can be beneficial, it is also important to remember that if the lawyers don’t continuously work on “filling up” the pipeline by regularly getting out of the office to go see clients and prospects, the software isn’t going to generate new business. But that’s an article for another day.