Inside Info: Seth Ludman of ALM Research

Seth Ludman has been an account executive with ALM Research for two years now, specializing in selling subscription accounts. One of the things he loves about his job, he says, is the product and service is so clear-cut that, once he shows it to the “right person,” they can see the value of it easily. In addition, he says, “It’s priced reasonably, and there’s really no comparable product because the data and information is proprietary.” In other words, it practically sells itself.

The “right person,” as Seth describes it, is the one who is doing the strategy research, or the firm marketing. ALM Research Online—is a tool for strategic planning, he explains. “Do they want to merge? Open an office? Expand a practice area? The information in the database can help them make decisions about how to go about it.” Although the majority of his clients are situated in law firms, Ludman says he has also sold subscriptions to banks and other financial institutions, vendors servicing the legal industry, and management consultants.

Law firms often want to size up the competition. “I like to show them the flexibility of doing research using the database,” Seth says. “How to drill down, slice and dice the information, to get to the right data.” As an example, he says, “Let’s assume you want to review firms in the Atlanta area. You can quickly pull all firms headquartered in Georgia within 20 Am Law ranks of where your firm is. You run the financials, and can then create graphs comparing gross revenue, profits per partner, and so on.

Though he now sounds like a pro, a veteran user of ALM Research Online, Seth says that when he first started, he managed to get an appointment with a marketing director of a firm before he even understood the tool or the needs of the firm he was calling on. Now, he says, he always does research before calling on a potential law firm client so that he can show them the types of information that will be interesting to them—for instance, data on their peer firms, and what the trends are.

When he’s not drilling and demonstrating data for ALM Research, Seth says he likes to swim and ride his bicycle. He mentions a “great pool” in Red Hook and Rockaway Beach as his favorite swimming holes. And he prefers bicycling to work, rather than taking the train. “The subway too loud” he says. And, while he acknowledges that the 25-minute bicycle ride from his home can be “a little dangerous sometimes,” it’s actually faster than the train. And of course, he wears a helmet.

Seth attends the New York-based conferences and trade shows, such as Legal Tech, and the Management Series conferences. If you happen to attend one of those, look for him at the ALM Research booth and don’t hesitate to say hello.