Sales insight: how and why do lawyers buy legal tech?

What do lawyers actually want to know when they try our software? Juro's sales team help lawyers explore their requirements every day - here's what they found.

In this post we share our findings from taking legal users through their current pain points and reasons for upgrading their contract workflow. 👇

You spend all day talking to lawyers - what do they all have in common?

I find it interesting how, no matter which legal person you’re talking to, they all feel like they’re behind. All in-house counsel seem to be under pressure to do more with less. With the recent prominence of legal tech, they all feel like they’re behind the curve, not up-to-date with the latest innovations. But the truth is, there are very few legal teams that ARE up-to-date. No-one’s “behind”, they’re all on the same level.

They’re also concerned about being seen as blockers, particularly by the sales department. 

Elaborate more on legal and sales. Why do legal worry about being blockers? 

Sales and legal have very different ways of operating, and very different end goals - which can cause friction. Some legal teams have a good relationship with sales, and understand that sales need to close deals quickly, as is the nature of their job. Others have a less trustworthy relationship, worrying that sales might deliberately bypass legal process in order to close deals faster.

Legal professionals, on the other hand, want a no-risk situation. They implement more processes to reduce this risk, but that in turn creates friction, and creates more blockers. Salespeople hate that. At the same time, legal are facing their own struggle, from a commercial perspective - of course, they don’t WANT to hold the company back … but they want to do things the right way. The right way isn’t necessarily the quick way, so how do you do things correctly without slowing people down? 

What's the solution for the successful collaborations you see?

The worst-case scenario is when legal teams feel as if sales are closing deals without legal consultation and approval. The best situation is when legal and sales work to understand each other - and it’s vital to reach that end goal. The solution is simple; it’s a change of culture. Helping people understand how each department works and understanding their goals, structure and motivation is key. Sales and legal need to collaborate in order for a company to thrive. 

What’s the biggest concern you hear from potential customers, and how do you respond?

Most customers are worried about other legal parties interacting on Juro. Obviously, having requested the demo, the potential customers are keen for change - but sometimes there is a reluctance to adopt to new technology, and I always hear this concern. Everyone’s managing without this technology, so why would they suddenly disrupt their routine to use it? 

There’s always going to be reluctance towards adoption of new tech, regardless of the group, the company, or even how open to innovation they claim to be. I always remind potential customers that we have tools in place that allow people to do things the old-fashioned way.

How do salespeople and lawyers differ as buyers? 

As an industry, lawyers can be quite conservative. They realise there are benefits to innovation, but they don't have much experience buying software. Selling to salespeople is a lot easier in that sense. They know the ins and outs of buying new software and are more comfortable moving quicker.

What’s the most common pain point you hear from potential customers? 

Not being a blocker is a big reason for lots of customers buying Juro, interestingly! Another pain point is the fact that the contract process is not automated. It’s very repetitive, so legal teams feel like they’re doing more work with less resource. Juro frees up more time for high-value work, which ultimately impacts the bottom line as it affects all scopes of the business. 

Thanks 🙌

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