Do You Know Who Your Customer Is?

One of the most common mistakes we see legaltech startups make, especially those led by product or technical founders, is not understanding who their customer really is.

They’ll tell us they’re customer-centric, that they talk to users, that they’ve shadowed associates, mapped workflows, and redesigned their UI based on attorney feedback. That’s great, but it misses the point.

Because your user is not always your customer.

And that distinction can kill a deal.

The Illusion of the Lawyer-Customer

Legaltech companies naturally gravitate toward lawyers. It makes sense. They’re often the ones who will actually use the product. They’re the ones with the pain.

So when you finally get a partner on a Zoom call and they say they love your demo, it feels like you’ve made it.

That may not be the case.

Because even if that partner wants to use your product, they may not be able to buy it directly. In many firms, especially mid to large ones, there are layers of approval between enthusiasm and signature. Many of those layers have nothing to do with practicing law.

So who is your customer?

Your Real Customer Might Be Ops

In enterprise sales, there’s a concept called the “economic buyer.” This is the person who actually controls the budget. The one who gets fired if things go wrong.

In legaltech, that person might be:

• The COO, who owns operational efficiency and budget oversight

• The CIO, who oversees system integrations, architecture, and InfoSec

• The IT director, who gets called when something breaks or when lawyers complain

• The Head of Innovation or Knowledge Management, who is judged on usage and outcomes

You might also have procurement, compliance, and infosec teams involved. Any one of them can kill the deal.

We’ve seen founders get to the finish line with a practice group, only to be blocked by a 150-question security review. Or lose momentum because their platform didn’t support SSO, couldn’t integrate into the firm’s DMS, or didn’t meet data residency requirements.

Lawyers might love your product. But if the operational cost is high and the value isn’t clear to the people who own the risk, the deal won’t close.

The Difference Between Buyer and User

This is where founders stumble. They fall in love with user feedback and forget about the buyer’s incentives. You need both.

Users want simplicity. Something easy, intuitive, modern.

Buyers want predictability and safety. They need to know this won’t create more work or introduce risk.

Selling into law firms isn’t just about building something that lawyers like. It’s about creating a motion that does three things:

• Solves for the user experience

• De-risks the buyer decision

• Supports your champion, usually a lawyer, in making the internal case

When those three are aligned, good things happen. The partner convinces IT it’s safe. The CIO makes the case to the board. The COO signs off. Implementation goes smoothly.

Lawyers adopt it.

When they’re not aligned? The deal dies in committee. Or it gets approved but is never used.

Being Truly Customer-Centric

Everyone says they’re customer-centric. But most really mean user-focused.

Being truly customer-centric means doing the hard, sometimes boring work:

• Mapping the firm's approval process

• Understanding their budget cycle and governance structure

• Learning who needs to sign off for different types of spend

• Creating materials that speak to legal, technical, and operational concerns

Above all, it reduces the friction of buying while increasing the confidence of using.

Do You Know Who Your Customer Is?

If you’re building legaltech, this is one of the most important questions you can ask.

Your customer is not just the person who smiles during the demo. It’s the person who says

yes to the risk, the cost, and rolling it out across the firm.

Sometimes that’s a partner. More often, it’s someone you haven’t even spoken to yet.

Know who that is. That’s how you win the deal.