LSSO Library – Recent Articles Added - 4.23.09 from the Legal Sales and Service Organization

LSSO Members, the following articles have been added to the library on www.legalsales.org/membersonly.

Chaos to Cadence: Transforming Sales Organizations to Win in the Global Economy
IBM

There is no other single business function as important to a company’s performance and yet so uncontrolled as Sales.

Complex sales organizations often thrive in Chaos, relying on the energy and savvy of independent-minded sales professionals to achieve success.

To be successful, the sales processes needed to be refocused, sales intelligence leveraged, and teams orchestrated across clients, product lines, roles, geos and function. Sales needed to be a leader of integration, alignment of people and technology, forging partnerships with other functions like Finance.

How can you achieve such standards? By managing chaos with cadence.

Driving Operational Innovation Using Lean Six Sigma by George Byrne, David Lubowe, Amy Blitz

Simply put, this sort of strategy is not about doing things better; it is about doing better things.As part of our analysis, we examined several leading companies that have implemented operations strategies using Lean Six Sigma. They have established disciplined working environments with a clear focus on customer needs, detailed data collection and analysis and facts, not theories. They share the following characteristics, which set them apart from those with a traditional operational improvement mindset…

Knocking on the Right Doors: Lawyer Networking to Find Work in a Tough Economy
Christy Burke

Opportunity knocks when you least expect it — but will it knock when the economy is in freefall and the legal

profession is seeing some of its worst layoffs ever? The answer is … maybe — if you network! Great career opportunities do exist for attorneys, even in today’s bleak economic atmosphere, and you can uncover them through creative networking strategies.

The Philosophy and Approach of Alternative Pricing: A Guide for Law Firms
Terri Pepper Gavulic

Discussions about alternative pricing for legal services have become heightened recently in response to the difficult economic times and the need for companies to reduce costs wherever possible. This article examines important considerations in determining a pricing structure that benefits a law firm and its clients.

The Emergence of the Midsized Firm
Steve Nelson

As the reports filter in on law firm financial performance last year, one theme seems to be gaining traction in the legal press----that midsize firms are poised to stage a comeback, and that the trend towards dominance by a relatively few large multicity law firm may be reversed---ostensibly forever. In addition to the somewhat sketchy financial results supporting this trend, there is some evidence that financially-strapped companies are now seeking lower-cost providers for mainstream, non-bet-the-company work.

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