BD Top Trumps – Card #3: Knowledge
This week, we’re shining the spotlight on Knowledge—not in the dusty library sense, but in the BD and sales sense: what you know, how you use it, and how (or whether) you share it.
Because let’s be honest, professional services firms are full of people with brilliant knowledge… still locked inside their heads.
Here’s how the best in the business use what they know to create conversations, open doors, and drive growth.
#1. Know enough to be dangerous
You don’t need to be a tax expert to start a tax conversation. Or know the ins and outs of the Construction Act to introduce a construction partner.
But you do need to understand just enough about your colleagues’ work to recognise when it’s relevant.
Too often, BD professionals (and fee-earners, let’s be fair) are great at talking about their own team’s offering—and clueless about everyone else’s. That’s a cross-sell killer.
It’s worse in a post-Covid world, where water-cooler moments and corridor chats have vanished. The random chat that used to spark a cross-referral? Gone.
This is where “knowing enough to be dangerous” comes in. Not depth—just enough fluency to say:
- “You should speak to our employment team about that.”
- “We’ve helped others with that exact issue in your sector.”
- “There’s something new happening in real estate that could impact you too.”
BD wins come from joining dots—and that starts with understanding the dots that aren’t your own.
#2. Make it shareable, not secret
Knowledge stuck in someone’s head is just potential. It becomes powerful when shared.
That nugget of context you picked up during a client dinner—like “they’ve just hired a new COO and there’s a shift in decision-making”—could be gold for a colleague preparing a pitch or relationship review.
But how often do those insights actually get captured? Not often enough.
Here’s where things are shifting. Platforms like Legal Engine use voice-enabled agents to extract and activate what’s in people’s heads, turning human-held knowledge into firm-wide information.
Instead of sending around forms no one fills in or hoping someone updates the CRM, Legal Engine’s BD agents call you, prompt you, and capture the context while it’s still fresh.
Because knowledge isn’t about better storage—it’s about better recall. And now that doesn’t require structure. It just needs to be findable.
#3. Spot the pattern, lead the way
Here’s the bit most professionals forget: you are in a privileged position.
Lawyers, accountants, consultants—you see the same problems across dozens of customers. In different businesses. At different stages. With different responses.
That’s not a pattern most people get to see. And in sales & BD, recognising patterns is power.
Top professionals use knowledge to say:
- “We’ve seen this before in your sector.”
- “Here’s how others are handling it.”
- “Let me tell you what we’re noticing across the market.”
Customers don’t just want advice. They want foresight. Knowledge helps you connect the dots, anticipate issues, and lead with confidence.
Next week: Card #4 – Creativity
Yes, even lawyers can be creative (we’ll prove it). Get ready for ideas that cut through and make your BD efforts genuinely stand out.
P.S. Know someone who’s the unofficial oracle of your firm? Share this with them—they’re probably storing half the pitch database in their head anyway.
We’re building a team of voice enabled AI assistants to support you with BD activities and allow you to spend more time being human. Interested? We’d love to chat.
