Unlocking Deal Velocity: The Essential Sales and Legal Alliance

Sales and Legal often exist at opposite sides of an organization, but contracts are where they intersect. Each arrives at this shared touchpoint with different techniques, but the same goal: to win. Yet, the passion and heated deadlines of sales don’t always mix well with the reverence and attention-to-detail of Legal. The resulting roadblocks increase the tension between these winning teams while weakening negotiations and losing deals. But it doesn’t have to be this way. When properly aligned, these departments are the ultimate power couple.

The New Stakes

Sales ain’t what it used to be. The "easy SaaS" era of 2021 is over, and deal cycles are longer and more complex. On top of budget slashing and mass software reduction, economic uncertainty and fluctuating regulation has created more risk aversion and abundant redlining – especially with a boost in AI assistance. Except AI isn’t just powering redlining, increasing complexity in AI has created new privacy concerns, adding fresh layers to negotiations. Sales and Legal are now required to have a much deeper, more nuanced understanding of the product, their customers, and the landscape than ever before.

The High Cost of a Disconnected Partnership

When sales and legal teams aren't aligned, consequences steepen. The misalignment has tangible, negative impacts on the business.

The death of a deal

Time kills all deals. When deals dawdle, their likelihood to close drastically decreases. A fundamental disconnect between sales and legal can cause deals to fizzle out – and prospects and customers take notice. Internal friction damages trust and diminishes your positioning in negotiation. When an offering cannot meet demand, especially within a friendly time frame, it can serve as an unjust indicator on the quality of your product and the strength of your internal practices. Buyers and customers begin to question their value as a customer, assuming that this forgotten treatment could be an omen for the rest of your relationship. And as you scramble to assuage these concerns, you lose the upperhand in negotiating. As one panelist noted in a recent webinar, "The other side can easily smell if your own house is not in order, and it hurts the negotiation position." When time trudges on, deals can and do fall through. 

But external relationships aren’t the only casualty. When Sales feels like they’re twiddling their thumbs and Legal feels each tick of the clock while they diffuse the liability bomb, cross departmental relationships take a nosedive. 

Bridging the Gap: How to Build a Stronger Alliance

Turning a strained relationship into a powerful partnership requires intentional effort, and a dedicated adjustment to your workflows and processes. 

Ditch the Silos

A silent delay is a trust killer. Transparency and thorough communication are the foundation and  catalyst for deal momentum. When Sales and Legal can both outline their priorities and timelines, understanding is created – between teams and with customers and prospects. 
Align early on nonnegotiables and why customers and prospects are advocating for them. Sales should champion their prospects and their internal allies. Legal should protect the organization and outline exactly where and why the organization cannot accommodate. As the central point for the deal, Sales can meter prospect and Legal expectations and proactively prevent delays. 
When delays do occur, communicate stoppages and their causes: Is another department hindering the process? Is there a particularly contentious clause that requires deeper negotiation? With more information, Sales can keep customers and prospects informed, and sales cycles strong. When Legal can provide context behind the redlines, Sales becomes empowered. No one benefits from confusion. And when questions and context arise, so do solutions.

Leverage Technology

Slack notifications and OneDrive alerts haunt our shared nightmares. Manually tracking contacts, modifications, and progress leaves too much room for error. An appropriate CLM is the right solution to connect Sales and Legal teams. CLM software provides a single source of truth, giving both teams visibility into a contract’s evolution. This data-driven approach removes the guesswork and the blame game.

A centralized CLM platform, like LinkSquares, can show that a contract isn't "stuck in legal" but is actually waiting on another team's approval or is with the counterparty. It also eliminates embarrassing and deal-derailing mistakes, like sending the wrong version of a redlined document. With the right tools, everyone is collaborating within the most current version, keeping deals on track and negotiations smooth. 

What a High-Functioning Partnership Looks Like

In a truly collaborative environment, Sales and Legal can fuel each team’s momentum. 

• Be Present: Legal, join Sales’ weekly huddles and forecast calls. Listen to call recordings. Understand the go-to-market strategy. Sales, build your understanding of the current legal landscape, and ask lots of questions. A dedication to understanding can go far.  Together, you can proactively arm both teams with the resources they need, like clear, consistent talk tracks and collateral to preemptively answer common questions. 
• Be Human: Show up as your authentic self. The best partnerships are built when people see each other as individuals, not just job titles. Share your personality, join company committees, and make the law and selling approachable. One panelist in the recent webinar even gave talks on Taylor Swift's IP strategy and the legal lessons from the movie My Cousin Vinny.
• Celebrate Wins Together: When a deal closes, it's a win for everyone. Create a shared sense of accomplishment. One panelist shared that they have a "30-second dance button" they hit in a Slack channel every time a deal closes. Acknowledging and celebrating these shared successes reinforces the idea that you're one team working toward the same goal.

The journey from rivals to revenue drivers for sales and legal teams is paved with intentional effort, open communication, and a shared commitment to success. By fostering trust, leveraging technology for transparency, and aligning on key deal points early, both teams can move in lockstep, transforming potential roadblocks into accelerators. When sales and legal truly collaborate, they build a more resilient, efficient, and profitable organization, proving that when these two powerful forces unite, they are unstoppable.

Schedule a demo today and discover how our AI-powered platform can streamline your workflows, reduce risk, and give your legal team the control and visibility it needs.