Posted In: Business Development
Cross-Selling? How About Cross-Collaboration?
Last week I had a conversation with a group of C-level individuals who are on a committee with me. The discussion turned to lawyers not collaborating as much as they should and as a result, the lack of success with “cross-selling.” I asked, “How about all of you?” “Are you collaborating across the firm and with your C-level and Director-level peers?” After a moment of silence and a few groans, the lively conversation that ensued was remarkable. The committee included Marketing/BD professionals, Professional Development, IT, Information Resources/Knowledge Management, and Finance professionals.
It turns out that many business professionals are good at suggesting to others what to do to achieve results, but, often not so great at taking their own advice. Collaborating with one’s peers in other departments is critical to achieving success in one’s own department. Everyone knows that; but, it seems that not everyone identifies the necessary people resources to help with specific projects. Take the emotion out of it and focus on the end goals you are trying to achieve and what resources you will need. That will make it easier to build relationships and to work as a team toward common goals. Although our committee has nothing to do with this particular topic, we left the call with people saying they were indeed going to make more of an effort to collaborate with those individuals who could be good resources to their teams’ projects. Is everyone a team player? Heck no, but try collaborating before providing this advice to others. Focus on the project goals and keep emotions out of it. Results will follow!
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