Run a cross-sell review of your law firm's existing clients
Find the contacts at your best clients who have never given you a matter, turn each into a deal, and review the list with a partner once a month.
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A cross-sell review in LeadLex means listing the people at companies that already pay you who have never instructed you themselves, then giving each one an owner and a next step. Lexi can build the first list from your won deals, and the dashboard flags one company at a time.
The list matters most for clients with several departments or offices, where one team uses you and the others have never been asked.
Steps
1. Mark who is a client and record the wins
The list only works if won matters are in the system. Check that your closed matters exist as deals in a won stage, and that each won deal has a primary contact who is linked to the right company. Set the Company on each won deal too, because the Client Retention card finds client companies from the deal. Import missing deals from a spreadsheet with Import on the pipeline. Steps are in Deals and pipelines for matters and Import contacts and companies.
2. Build the cross-sell list
Open the dashboard and switch it from Mine to Team. The Client Retention card shows a Cross-sell at item for a company with a won deal where some contacts are on no deal. For the full list, use the first Lexi prompt below and check each name against the company record.
3. Add the context a partner needs
Open each company. The IP Portfolio tab shows its public IP records, and the contact page shows your Last interaction and Open pipeline. Add a note on the angle, for example "renewal wave on the 2021 trade marks". See Contacts, companies and how they link.
4. Create a deal for each worthwhile contact
Create one from the company with Add deal. Put it in the retention pipeline if you run one. Its default stages include Cross-sell Identified, Offer Sent and Accepted. Pipeline stage names are editable, so use your own.
5. Give every deal an owner and a next step
A deal without a next step goes quiet. Create a task for the introduction, set the Follow-up date on the contact and assign it. See Tasks, notes and follow-ups.
6. Let Lexi draft the approach
Ask Lexi for a short introduction email for each contact, using the history it can see. Read and edit every draft before it is sent. Details on what Lexi can do are in Meet Lexi.
Lexi prompts
Paste these into Lexi, from the full-page chat or the panel on a company.
Which contacts at companies where we won a matter in the last 24 months have never been on a deal themselves? Group them by company and show who owns the relationship.
For Tessmar Medical, summarise what we have done for them, who we know there, and which practice areas we have never worked in with them.
Draft a short, personal email from me to the head of litigation at Tessmar Medical, referring to our recent trade mark work with their regulatory team. Offer a 20 minute call. Do not mention fees.
Create one follow-up task per contact on the cross-sell list, due in 10 days, assigned to the relationship partner.
Template to set up
Do this once.
| Setting | Value |
|---|---|
| Pipeline | A retention pipeline. The default stages are Active Client, Check-in Scheduled, Cross-sell Identified, Offer Sent, Accepted and Declined |
| Deal naming | "Client name, practice area, cross-sell" |
| Contact field | Follow-up date set on every contact you decide to approach |
| Task rule | Admins can enable Won: onboarding check-in, then annual review under Settings → Task rules. It fires on stages named "won" or "closed won", so rename your won stage if needed |
| Review slot | A 20 minute recurring calendar event on the first Monday of the month |
How to measure it
- Contacts approached. How many people on the list got a first message this month.
- Deals created from the list. Count deals created with "cross-sell" in the name, or in the cross-sell stages of the pipeline.
- Value in play. The Pipeline total and Weighted figures at the top of the Pipeline page, filtered to the retention pipeline.
- Conversions. Deals that reached Accepted or a won stage, against deals created.
Write the four numbers in the review meeting notes each month. After three months you can see whether the list produces work.
FAQ
What is a cross-sell review for a law firm?
It is a regular check of the contacts at your existing clients who have not instructed you themselves. The aim is to find people in other departments or group companies who could use a service you already provide to their colleagues.
Where does LeadLex get the cross-sell list from?
From your own records. Lexi can list contacts at companies where you have a won deal who have never been on a deal themselves, and the Client Retention card flags one such company at a time. Neither works until your closed matters are in LeadLex as won deals.
Can Lexi send the introduction emails for me?
Lexi drafts them from the history it can see. You review and send them yourself. Nothing goes to a client until a person approves it.
Does it matter if a client has several group companies?
Yes. The card works from the company a contact is linked to, so a subsidiary that is a separate company record is counted on its own. To link them, open the subsidiary's Ecosystem tab, choose Edit relationships, set Relationship type to Group entity and pick the Parent Company.
Something here does not match what you see in LeadLex? Write to lexi@leadlex.com and we will correct it.
