With the recent acquisition of Enable by Pinnacle we are expanding rapidly; with this we are eager to grasp new challenges and opportunities. We have a lot of exciting upcoming projects, one being our Pitch Management Report which gauges the views of Marketing and Business Development professionals on how the law firm pitching process has evolved and will continue to evolve. As part of our continual growth, we recently appointed Alex Higgins to manage our sales in the UK and be a trusted go-to contact for our clients. We spoke with Alex to find out more about his relationship to the legal tech sector and what led him to join the industry.
2. What inspired you to specialise within the legal tech sector? Legal tech isn’t a sector I’ve worked in before, but I have several friends from university who studied law and have told me that they really appreciating some of these software in their day to day work. To that end, I decided to go for a legal tech position!
Software to me has always been of interest, from my days at university working on analysing NMR or GC-MS plots, to working with data and AI companies at EM360 previously.
3. What led you to working with the Enable product suite? After 3 years of exposure to the software and digital transformation world, I decided that I wanted to make a change and be a part of that journey. A few great conversations later I got the bug – so to speak – and jumped at the chance when I was offered a position!
4. Having only recently joined the team, what was your deciding factor on the job and company as a whole? I would have to say it was David, our CEO. On our call, he was so passionate and shared some of the plans for future products with me that I left the interview feeling very inspired. From that moment I knew I wanted to join!
5. From your perspective what direction do you see the legal tech market going, in the next 5 years? Getting bigger! As I’ve worked with a lot of software companies previously, including a few legal tech companies, I would say that we will start seeing more advanced data management tools and automation being used to help firms tackle more complex challenges, and their sheer volume of data – alongside law-firm specific cybersecurity tech.
6. What advice do you have to any aspiring “legal software salesperson” looking to enter the sector? As with any kind of sales, come in prepared to learn and adapt – you may have great experience from elsewhere but listen, learn and then start helping making plans. Another piece of advice would be to get hands-on with the software you are selling and become a product expert – if you don’t fully understand your product, how are you going to explain it to someone else?
7. In your opinion, what is the most unique aspect of the PitchPerfect and Time Policy Manager software? The most unique aspect is our implementation team. Those guys are literal IT wizards who have the experience and knowledge to tailor both PitchPerfect and Time Policy Manager to our client’s exact needs, no matter how complex.
8. What positive impact has technology had on the legal industry during the Covid-19 Pandemic? I would say that it’s enabled firms to look more closely at where they spend their time, where and how they win new business and use that data to formulate plans on building efficiency and greater revenue.
9. Many law firms will continue with some form of remote working, how do you think the Enable product suite can help? Well, as all of our solutions can be provisioned in the cloud and, since we build our own connectors, link to any DMS or CMS and CRM system that firms have , we can help BD and Finance teams, as well as Partners to have access to key data wherever they may be.
10. What are some of the typical challenges law firms face when adopting new technology, and how can the PitchPerfect and Time Policy Manager software provide a solution to this? I’d say, from my experience in software, that two of the biggest challenges would be ensuring security and implementation followed by training. As our products are based completely in the Microsoft ecosystem, we comply with all security requirements and work flawlessly with your existing security software. Regarding implementation and training, our internal team will connect PitchPerfect and Time Policy Manager to all of the key systems and build a power user program to help clients understand how they can get the most out of both.
Fun Questions
1. What was your dream job when you were younger? A train driver! My grandfather was on the last steam trains in the 60s-70s in North East England and I think he passed some of his enthusiasm onto me!
2. Where will your next holiday be? Tough question, but I think it’ll be somewhere like Germany. I visited Berlin in November 2012 and could see the Christmas markets being set up, but left just before they opened, so I think I must go back for them!
3. What’s your favourite restaurant? Now this is an easy question, it’s got to be Bokan 37 in Canary Wharf. 1 floor of restaurant, 1 floor of bar and a stunning rooftop with views across London. I’d recommend visiting on any night when there are fireworks as you’ll be above them which makes for an even more amazing experience.
