Legal.io Webinar Series: Sales and Commercial Counsel Partnership
In our latest webinar, Jacob True (Senior Managing Corporate Counsel at ServiceNow), Amanda Gray Williams (Commercial Counsel at Datadog), and Robert Graham (Director, Commercial Counsel at Fivetran) engaged in an insightful conversation exploring the intricacies of the sales and commercial counsel partnership. Gain valuable insights into optimizing the relationship between sales and legal, learning key strategies to enhance deal velocity, and discover the tools and processes that contribute to successful collaboration. Watch our on-demand webinar to unlock the benefits of fostering a strong sales and legal alliance, ultimately accelerating deal cycles and fostering business success.
For those who missed the live event or wish to revisit the insightful discussions, the on-demand version of the webinar is now available. Click here to watch our Sales and Commercial Counsel Partnership Webinar!
Sales and Commercial Counsel Partnership
Legal.io hosted an engaging discussion featuring distinguished speakers, Jacob True, Senior Managing Corporate Counsel at ServiceNow, Amanda Gray Williams, Commercial Counsel at Datadog, and Robert Graham, Director, Commercial Counsel at Fivetran. The esteemed panelists delved into topics such as fostering collaboration through transparent communication, enhancing deal efficiency with integrated legal and sales tools, and optimizing workload management using strategic ticketing systems and CLM solutions.
Speakers:
- Jacob True: Senior Managing Corporate Counsel @ ServiceNow
Jacob stressed the vital role of transparent communication and trust in fostering collaboration between legal and sales teams. He highlighted the creation of a streamlined red line threshold and effective communication frameworks to empower sales representatives in negotiations.
- Amanda Gray Williams: Commercial Counsel @ Datadog
Amanda shared insights into enhancing deal efficiency through integrated legal and sales tools, including a legal playbook within the agreement review system. She emphasized the importance of legal operations and contract lifecycle management solutions for a streamlined workflow and improved deal velocity.
- Robert Graham: Director, Commercial Counsel @ Fivetran
Robert discussed Fivetran's ticketing system for legal requests, emphasizing its role in organizing and managing workload. He touched on the strategic use of sales enablement tools, including predefined communication templates, and highlighted the balance between in-house and third-party CLM solutions for better organization and support in managing increasing deal volumes.
Key Takeaways:
Our panelists provided profound insights into the dynamics of the sales and commercial counsel partnership:
- Effective Collaboration: Fostering collaboration through transparent communication is crucial for building a successful relationship between legal and sales teams.
- Efficiency with Tools: Integrating legal and sales tools, such as CLM solutions, can significantly enhance deal efficiency and streamline the negotiation process.
- Optimizing Workload: Strategic ticketing systems and CLM solutions play a pivotal role in workload management, allowing legal teams to prioritize and address requests effectively.
- Empowering Sales: Empowering sales teams with clear communication frameworks and coms strategies helps them navigate negotiations, expand deal sizes, and maintain positive relationships with clients.
- Strategic Decision-Making: When facing challenges, such as dealing with customer paper requirements, strategic decision-making involves considering the broader impact on the business and making tough choices to prioritize high-value opportunities.
- Holistic Business Perspective: Legal teams should adopt a holistic perspective, considering the entire business impact, when deciding on exceptions, negotiating deals, and managing resources.
- Optimizing Deal Cycles: The partnership between sales and in-house/commercial counsel, when leveraged effectively, has the potential to optimize deal cycles by navigating exceptions and expanding deals.