From order takers to deal makers: How LegalShield's inside sales team went from drowning in leads to closing record-breaking deals in just 90 minutes. Discover the 3-step formula that slashed call times, boosted close rates, and turned a 16-person team into a lean, mean, legal-protection-selling machine.

About Legal Shield

For over half a century, LegalShield has been a trailblazer in democratizing access to legal services. With nearly 5 million members across North America, the company leverages innovation to connect individuals, families, and businesses with affordable legal protection.

Traditionally, LegalShield's growth was fueled by its network of independent associates. But as the company looked to diversify its channels and accelerate growth, it made significant investments in digital marketing and advertising.

While these initiatives succeeded in driving a high volume of inbound calls from interested prospects, LegalShield's 16-person inside sales team struggled to efficiently convert those leads into paying customers.

The Challenge: Reactive Reps and Misaligned Expectations Hinder Sales Success

On the surface, LegalShield's sales team had a good problem: hundreds of inbound leads to work with each week. But below the surface, the team was found guilty of leaving money on the table. Here are a few key issues that were hampering their ability to close deals:

Lack of sales experience: Many reps functioned more as reactive order takers than proactive, consultative salespeople. They needed to sharpen their skills in areas like uncovering needs, conveying value, and asking for the sale.

Mismatched expectations: Inbound callers often believed upon calling they would immediately speak with a lawyer and get their pressing legal questions answered. When reps instead tried to sell them a monthly membership, prospects felt misled and frustrated.

Inefficient call flow: Without a clear structure, reps let prospects with legal issues narrate their entire backstory in exhaustive detail. Aside from frustrating callers, this ballooned average call times and damaged overall efficiency.

To help LegalShield's sales team level up their skills and effectiveness, the company brought in Pitch Lab to redesign their approach to inbound sales.

The Solution: Empowering Reps with a Value-Based, Consultative Approach

Pitch Lab worked closely with LegalShield's sales team to craft a new sales methodology that would empower reps to quickly build trust, set proper expectations, and emphasize the company's unique value proposition.

The new approach centered on three key themes:

1. Set expectations early

Instead of letting callers dive straight into their legal quandaries, reps were trained to set the agenda with closed-ended questions. This allowed them to quickly understand the caller's core need, set expectations on next steps, and clarify their role in gathering information before connecting the prospect with an attorney for advice.

2. Quantify the prospect's challenge

Reps learned to ask value-based questions that translated the prospect's legal concerns into clear dollar terms, such as a $200 monthly rent hike or the cost of hiring a lawyer directly at $300+ per hour. This helped reframe LegalShield's $24.95 monthly fee as a no-brainer investment.

3. Highlight LegalShield's unique value

Rather than label LegalShield a "monthly membership," reps were coached to position it as "a better way to hire an attorney." They consistently reinforced 3-5 key benefits (like getting an entire law firm's expertise vs. a single lawyer and receiving unlimited consultations across virtually any legal area). Leveraging LegalShield’s competitive advantage in a more effective way during sales calls was key to the success of this engagement.

These winning techniques were rolled out through a series of hands-on Zoom trainings, complete with call scripts and checklists for easy reference and adoption.

Managers also received dedicated training on how to reinforce the new methodology and hold reps accountable.

Case Closed: Evidence of Dramatic Efficiency Gains and Record-Breaking Sales

By implementing a consultative approach that bolstered rep confidence and credibility, LegalShield was able to dramatically reduce average call times while empowering the sales team to convey value more persuasively. The result: a win-win of improved efficiency and heightened close rates.

The impact of Pitch Lab's training was both immediate and sustained. Just 90 minutes after the initial session, LegalShield's sales reps were raving about the results:

The 40-second video below features LegalShield’s sales managers talking about their sales team's historic sales numbers due to Forrest & Jay’s training efforts. (NOTE: This video is unscripted. It was captured during a breakout session during our second training.)

Exhibit A: Key Takeaways for CEOs and Sales Leaders

For companies looking to drive behavior change in their sales organization through external training, the LegalShield case study offers a few crucial lessons: 

1. Don't underestimate the importance of your frontline sales managers

Even the best sales training won't stick without the ongoing reinforcement and coaching of sales managers. Involve them from the beginning, secure their buy-in, and equip them to model and uphold any new techniques.

2. Break training into bite-sized, actionable chunks

Asking reps to overhaul their entire approach overnight is a recipe for failure. Instead, introduce new concepts incrementally, allowing ample time for reps to practice and internalize before moving on. Prioritize application over information.

3. Arm sales reps with simple job aids for real-time reinforcement

Centralized sales playbooks are a cornerstone of any high-performing sales organization. But reps preparing for a high-stakes call also need quick, scannable job aids to help them execute in the moment. From talk tracks to discovery question banks to objection handling scripts, these tools act as guardrails and confidence boosters. Don't rely on memory and willpower alone to cement new skills.

Is Your Team Ready to Deliver a Winning Argument in the Court of Sales?

Don't let your sales team be found guilty of underperformance. When it comes to sales training, concepts are only as powerful as their real-world adoption.

By following these principles and working closely with Pitch Lab, LegalShield was able to drive organization-wide behavior change, empowering reps to boost their performance and efficiency. The result: a sales engine that's fully equipped to drive the company's next phase of growth.

Want to learn more about how Pitch Lab can help your team make a motion to improve? Click here for more info on our sales training services.