Cross Selling in Multi-Disciplinary Firms

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Spotting Opportunities Naturally

Cross selling works best when it arises from genuine client needs, not forced sales pitches. By listening for gaps or related challenges, you can introduce colleagues’ expertise at the right moment and demonstrate that your firm is thinking holistically about the client’s success.

Collaborating Across Disciplines

Internal silos often prevent teams from leveraging each other’s strengths. Building relationships across service lines and sharing knowledge internally makes it easier to bring forward additional services confidently and seamlessly when clients could benefit from them.

Strengthening Client Loyalty

When clients see that your firm can address multiple dimensions of their challenges, they are less likely to seek help elsewhere. Cross selling builds stickiness, positioning your firm as an integrated partner rather than just a vendor for isolated needs.

suggested KPIs for this topic

These KPIs help your team build habits that uncover cross-selling opportunities consistently, not accidentally. They measure collaboration, awareness of other disciplines, proactive inquiry, and how effectively your firm presents integrated solutions instead of siloed services.

pathway building: routine cross-discipline contact

  • Complete at least one cross-discipline activity (knowledge swap, coffee talk, prompt, etc.) per month.
  • Keep a roster of “active pathways” — departments you connected with in the last 90 days.
  • Ensure each business unit meets at least once per quarter with another unit.
  • Document insights from each activity to track recurring opportunities.
  • Reduce the number of departments that go more than 6 months without meaningful cross-contact.

proactive inquiry (not waiting for the opportunity)

  • Ask at least three cross-selling questions in every major client or project review meeting.
  • Log potential cross-service fits even when no immediate opportunity exists.
  • Identify at least two clients per month who could benefit from another service line.
  • Proactively share early client intel with relevant business units.
  • Reduce passive “wait and see” behaviour by using structured inquiry at every checkpoint.

internal awareness of other disciplines

  • Attend at least one session per year where another unit explains its services and BD approach.
  • Update cross-service cheat sheets annually (what each team sells, to whom, common triggers).
  • Ensure every team member can name at least three services outside their discipline relevant to their clients.
  • Maintain a directory of discipline-specific “cross-selling cues” (signs a client may need that service).
  • Improve the percentage of staff who feel confident explaining at least one other discipline’s value.

opportunity flow & sharing behaviour

  • Track how many opportunities are shared across business units each quarter.
  • Reduce the number of opportunities discovered “too late” to influence.
  • Ensure each significant client account has a cross-discipline growth plan.
  • Monitor how many opportunities lead to follow-up meetings or intel exchanges.
  • Identify bottlenecks (where information tends to stop moving) and address them.

client experience & integrated solutions

  • Present integrated solutions (not siloed services) in at least 60–80% of major proposals.
  • Review key clients annually to identify missing services they may value.
  • Increase the number of multi-discipline projects with this client year over year.
  • Document how cross-discipline collaboration improved outcomes on completed work.
  • Use stories of successful cross-discipline wins in BD and proposal messaging.

cultural shifts & overcoming barriers

  • Reduce reported discomfort about “bothering other departments” over time.
  • Track how many staff voluntarily initiate cross-discipline contact (not just respond).
  • Celebrate cross-selling wins internally to reinforce healthy behaviour.
  • Use the Twennie prompt set monthly until the pathways become habit.
  • Decrease reliance on monthly BD meetings as the only source of cross-discipline discussion.

Choose a KPI from each category to build a culture where cross-selling is natural, frequent, and built into normal operations — not a once-a-month topic that fades away until next time.

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