Case Study
Salesforce Optimization:
Overview
A mid-sized U.S. law firm with seven regional offices had grown rapidly through lateral hires and acquisitions, but its business development and client relationship processes lagged behind. The firm had adopted Salesforce three years earlier to unify BD efforts across practice groups — but usage had collapsed.
Fewer than 20% of licensed users were logging in monthly, while most attorneys and BD staff had reverted to spreadsheets and email threads to track prospects and referrals. The firm was paying for 180 Salesforce Enterprise licenses (at ~$1,300 per user annually) and was approaching a three-year renewal.
Facing escalating costs, fragmented data, and frustrated partners, the firm engaged Sphere to right-size its Salesforce footprint, streamline BD workflows, and restore confidence in the platform.
Challenges
BD staff maintained shadow pipelines in Excel…
BD staff maintained shadow pipelines in Excel because the Salesforce UI was slow and confusing.
Attorneys resisted logging activities, fearing it “added…
Attorneys resisted logging activities, fearing it “added no value” to their billable time.
No automated reminders for follow
ups or renewals existed.
180 Salesforce Enterprise licenses were active, but…
180 Salesforce Enterprise licenses were active, but only 32 had logged in in the past month.
Many seats were still assigned to former…
Many seats were still assigned to former attorneys, paralegals, and contractors.
Renewal would lock the firm into a…
Renewal would lock the firm into a $230K+ annual spend.
Our Solution
Sphere led a 12-week engagement, focusing first on cost savings before tackling adoption and reporting.
Impact: $250K+ in savings over the next 3 years, achieved before contract renewal.
Impact: Active weekly users tripled within 6 weeks; attorneys began logging client touches directly.
1. Analyzed Salesforce and SSO login data to…
Analyzed Salesforce and SSO login data to identify inactive accounts.
2. Cross
checked license assignments with HR rosters to remove departed users.
3. Reduced active licenses from 180 to 78, reassigning 20 light
use roles (finance, marketing) to lower-cost Salesforce Platform licenses.
4. Interviewed 15 BD coordinators, attorneys, and practice…
Interviewed 15 BD coordinators, attorneys, and practice group leaders to map friction points.
5. Implemented
Automated creation of follow-up tasks for new prospects
6. Email-to
Salesforce logging for Outlook users
Why We Chose This Approach
Savings before change
Immediate cost reduction built partner trust before asking for workflow changes.
Incremental adoption
Focused on BD staff and coordinators first, then brought attorneys onboard once workflows were simplified.
No rip-and-replace
Preserved Salesforce investment and focused on practical UX fixes, not major system change.
Governance from the start
Introduced rules and training to stop data decay and prevent a return to spreadsheets.
Key Achievements
in saved license costs over 3 years
increase in weekly active users
improved forecast accuracy.
cut quarterly reporting time.
Result
Within three months, the firm turned Salesforce from a costly underused tool into a core part of its business development process. BD teams abandoned spreadsheets, attorneys began logging client interactions, and practice leaders could finally see a unified pipeline.
By recovering wasted licenses and rebuilding adoption from the ground up, Sphere helped the firm save hundreds of thousands of dollars while unlocking the visibility it needed to grow.
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Luke Suneja
Client Partner
