Reflecting on my first time attending Passle's flagship CMO Series Live conference last week, I found the panel moderated by Charles Cousins, The Hidden Revenue Stream: Driving Firm Growth Through Cross-Selling, offered particularly insightful lessons from three of the best-in-class marketing and BD leaders:

• David Kaufman, Director of Global Strategies, Nixon Peabody
• Mariana Loose, Chief Marketing Officer, Alston & Bird
• David McClune, Chief Marketing & Business Development Officer, Davis Polk & Wardwell

Together, they offered sharp, experience-driven insights into how cross-selling, when embedded strategically into client engagement, can become a true driver of firm-wide growth.

Fostering Trust, Awareness, and Stronger Client Teams

Building coherent client teams that can fluidly collaborate across industries and practice areas is the key to successful cross-selling. David Kaufman emphasized that at the heart of this lies trust. Curating a trusting environment which makes lawyers aware of their colleagues' capabilities will encourage multiple lawyers to proactively collaborate. Kaufman shared he has seen client revenue increase 3–5 times when this initiative is super-charged, yet seems organic. 

“You always have to work on ways to develop trust.” - David Kaufman

Shifting Lawyer Mindsets for Lasting Impact

Reshaping the ‘lawyer mindset’ is essential. Mariana Loose brought up the statistics that while lawyers score higher than other professionals on autonomy, urgency, and abstract reasoning, they often score lower on sociability, resilience, and empathy. Whether lawyers are trained like this or it's a self-selecting enterprise, she left that up for debate. Nevertheless, understanding these trends can inform how Marketing and BD teams can best engage lawyers in such a collaborative practice as cross-selling. Instead of owning individual client relationships, lawyers should tailor their approach to suit each client’s evolving needs, operating under the notion that a firm-wide responsibility enhances client value. David McClune suggested this environment will also mitigate risks if any one individual leaves the firm. 

“Individuals hold the relationships, but these are the firm's clients, not an individual attorney's clients” - David McClune

Strategies for Driving a Cultural Shift

Cross-selling is more than a sales tactic; it’s a strategic culture shift that firms must nurture. When asked about internal activities, David Kaufman recommended “speed dating” exercises to foster quick, focused interactions across teams. Mariana suggested using questions designed to get clients talking, revealing opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed. Another practical option referenced by all three speakers could be to evolve incentive and compensation structures, rewarding collaborative efforts and encouraging lawyers to step outside their silos.

Key Takeaways to Activate Your Cross-Selling Strategy

• Cross-selling starts with trust: How easily can lawyers within your firm find and understand each other's strengths? Fostering a culture where attorneys are aware of each other’s strengths builds the foundation for collaborative, client-centered growth.
• Re-frame what success looks like: Encourage lawyers to see collaboration not as a threat to autonomy, but as a smarter, more strategic way to deliver value. Start by identifying metrics that reflect cross-selling behavior (not just outcomes), celebrating shared wins, and reinforcing that firm growth is personal growth.
• Make collaboration easy and rewarding: Whether it's "speed dating" exercises, cross-practice showcases, or incentive adjustments, lower the barrier to cross-practice engagement to make cross-selling part of the everyday rhythm of the firm.