Winning business today hinges not on who you know, but on your firm’s ability to clearly articulate its relevant experience. That means quickly surfacing past matters, industry-specific work, and attorney expertise tailored to the opportunity. Law firms don’t win work on the basis of contacts—they need a strategic way to showcase “what they know”, not “who.”

CRM ≠ Pitch Enablement

CRM systems were built for salespeople, not for attorneys. They track outreach, contacts, and activities, but don’t reflect how legal work is actually won. Most lawyers avoid using them—because they don’t help with preparing proposals or showcasing experience.

Worse, firms often try to force cross-selling through CRM, but this can alienate attorneys who don’t want to jeopardize trusted client relationships by promoting unfamiliar colleagues or services.

Heidi Gardner’s Smart Collaboration outlines the dangers of pushing the wrong kind of collaboration. When firms try to upsell services via CRM rather than lead with value, the result can be distrust—internally and with clients. Collaboration must be rooted in credibility, not contact lists.

The Role of Experience Management

According to ikaun’s 2024 RFP Impact Survey, the top factors influencing win rates are understanding client needs and showcasing relevant experience.  Experience management solves these problems by helping firms surface and apply their most relevant work.

Experience management platforms are purpose-built to support the pitch process. Today, generative AI gives firms the ability to instantly surface the right bios, matters, and industry examples. It can auto-generate first drafts, apply formatting, and route tasks across marketing, BD, and legal.

When integrated into an experience management platform, AI eliminates bottlenecks and enables faster, more strategic proposal generation—at scale. In short, experience management connects what your firm has done to what your prospects need, enabling:

• Automatic surfacing of relevant matters and bios
• Faster, more accurate proposal generation
• Tailored content that reflects client priorities
• Seamless collaboration between BD, legal, and marketing

With foregrounding experience--even when a firm loses a pitch—it is the right experience that leaves a lasting impression, earns respect and a future invitation to win business.