Client Listening and professional services: listen to learn or sell?

In this episode, we’ll be discussing the nerve racking, unpredictable and exciting world of event management.Since lockdown, most people’s views of being at in-person events, meeting other people and gaining knowledge has changed to some degree.Therefore, we consider questions including:What event strategies are proving successful in the post-COVID world? Which events are most impactful – ‘own brand’ or sponsorship?How is ESG influencing event management and how should we be responding?How can we best capture the RoI on events?; andWhat’s the future for events?To help me discuss these topics, I am joined by Karen Sumner and Alice Detre who share their personal perspectives.Karen has over 23 years’ experience of managing global events and events teams across a variety of different industries. She started her events career with an agency and then moved to in house roles in finance, law, hedge funds, private equity, crypto and is currently an Associate Director in the Global Strategic Events and Experiences team at EY. Alice has worked in events in professional services since 2003. Previous firms include law firms Taylor Wessing, Simmons & Simmons and RPC and is currently Head of Events and Sponsorship at EY. James Stringer is a former BD Director and now trainer, consultant and coach on business development and bids.

In this episode, we discuss alumni programmes.Are these just feel good and self-serving exercises to make professional services management teams feel that they are staying in touch with people who they no longer employ, or are they actually a two-way street where those who take part get benefits as well?We consider questions including: What is the purpose of an alumni programme?  Is there any evidence that they have created a return on investment for the firm? Can any firm start an alumni programme or are there factors that make them more successful for some firms than others? If you want to start a programme, where should you start; and What is the future of alumni programmes?  I am joined by Wendy Goodridge and Richard Morrogh.Wendy has 16 years of experience building alumni communities.  She has established and led successful alumni programmes at several prestigious institutions including at Grant Thornton and is now the Global Head of Alumni Relations at international law firm Mayer Brown.  Richard was a former Managing Director in Citibank’s Corporate and Investment Bank and Alumni Director responsible for successfully building its EMEA alumni program, at the personal request of CEO post-2012. He is also a graduate of Cambridge University onto whose Alumni Advisory Board he was also appointed in October 2023.James Stringer is a former BD Director and now trainer, consultant and coach on business development and bids.

While all professional service firms are seeking growth, having worked in big law and the Big Four, I recognise that different firm’s attitudes to sales vary from enthusiasm to seeing it as a dirty word. Therefore, we will be considering questions including:Why does the idea of selling provoke such mixed reactions still?Can firms use sales professionals successfully either to augment or instead of the traditional partner model of revenue generation?If a firm wants to increase its sales effectiveness, where should it start?What will the role of BD be in relation to sales in the future?How successful have firms been in productising their services?To help me discuss these topics, I am joined by John Timperley and Lee Curtis.John Timperley is Managing Director of The Results Consultancy, based in London, which helps partners and senior professionals to win high value work through hands on coaching on live opportunities, as well as running sales training programmes internationally.  John is author of three books on business development in the professions.Lee Curtis is Managing Director of LINAR Consulting. Having worked in business development and sales roles across three continents within law firms for over 20 years, Lee feels confident he can unlock the hidden sales talents that lie within.James Stringer is a former BD Director and now trainer, consultant and coach on business development and bids.

In this episode, we consider how we can make our thought leadership efforts even more effective. We consider questions including:What are the most important ingredients to get right if you are considering a thought leadership campaign?How can we make ours stand out? What are the best sources of this insight and what tips do my guests have on how to gain that insight in a cost-effective way?Are there any industries (either within or outside of professional services) where we should look for inspiration?To help me discuss these topics, I am joined by Ben Kent and Suzanne Snowden.Ben is the founder of research consultancy, Meridian West. Ben specialises in working with professional firms to develop thought leadership campaigns. He has been involved in over 100 campaigns in the last 20 years. Clients included EY, A&O, Grant Thornton, BDO, JLL and Addleshaw Goddard.  Suzanne Snowden is a marketing and thought leadership consultant with experience in a variety of global client projects and leadership roles in professional services.  She is founder and director of Message Consulting and helps clients in professional services with their thought leadership strategies and execution.The host is James Stringer,  a former BD Director and now trainer, consultant and coach on business development, bids and offsites.

In this episode, we explore what makes for a great leadership team in a professional services firm. In our careers as BD, Marketing and Communications professionals, many of us have already or will be asked join leadership teams and this episode seeks to explore how as non-fee earners, we can best influence and contribute to these teams. We’ll be considering:- What factors contribute to great leadership.- How can a firm’s leadership best support and nurture individual practices which are often very diverse.- What creates a successful firm culture and how leadership champions that – especially when growth is essential for all firms.- How can leadership best support sales initiatives in environments as complex and diverse as a professional services firm.To help me discuss these topics, I am joined by Jason Haines and Eddie Bowman.Jason trained as a Chartered Accountant with Deloitte, later becoming a partner in Andersen and later joined PwC as Global CTO.  He was subsequently appointed as CIO of Allen & Overy and later became the Global CFO and Operations Director. Jason now works as a non-executive director and is a part-time Principal Consultant with PSFI.Eddie spent the early parts of his career in the oil and advertising industries. Following a stint at KPMG, he was hired by Arthur Andersen as its partner to run the Marketing and Business development function. He was subsequently Chief Marketing Officer at EY for 10 years followed by six years as the partner in charge of BD and Marketing at law firm Simmons & Simmons. Eddie now provides  consulting services. 

Most days, I read something about using data to create greater insight to help market firms more effectively. This comes from writers of opinion surveys, industry groups or vendors. My issue is that I’ve been hearing this for the past 15 years. Is data actually unlocking new revenue or is marketing professional services too complex to apply a data-led approach?In this episode, we consider:- Is data really providing insight that uncovers new revenue opportunities?- In what ways are firms using data to win more work?- How do you convince management to invest in data capabilities?- What are the typical challenges to becoming more data-centric?- What industries should we be looking at, if we want inspiration to make a step change in our approach?To help me discuss these topics, I am joined by Gemma Prescott who is Practice Group Leader with Intapp, a specialist provider of technology to professional and financial services firms and Philip Allen who is Global Business Development Director at offshore and international law firm, Ogier.James Stringer is a former BD Director and now trainer, consultant and coach on business development, bids and offsites.

This episode considers whether the legal directories - publications such as Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 - really do influence how clients choose their lawyers or are they becoming sidelined as firms influence clients directly, through social media and content creation. The costs involved in engaging with directories is high and so this seems like a good time to consider topics including:- Does a great ranking really matter to clients?- What factors do the directories use to decide which lawyer is the best?- Why do law firms continue to put so much time and effort into engaging with these publications?- What is the future for directories as the legal industry continues to be disrupted and changed?To help me discuss these topics, I am joined by legal directories consultant Lloyd Pearson and Head of Insights at Weightmans LLP Sarah Gerard.

This episode considers both how we can get hired for our next role but also find the best people when we are looking to recruit.We’ll consider topics including:The importance of creating a coherent story if you are looking to secure a new roleHow to differentiate yourself from other candidatesHow you can increase the chances of securing the role, even if you don’t have the direct experience soughtHow we should be altering our approach to hiring and being hired in the new hybrid world?To help me discuss these topics, I am joined by Lara Mitchard and Simon Moffat.Lara has 20 years of recruitment experience, with the last seven years specialising in the professional services sector. She currently works for Totum Partners.Simon has been active in the legal sector in senior roles for over 23 years and where he has spent a great deal of time building, developing, leading and managing large teams. James Stringer is a former BD Director and now trainer, consultant and coach on business development, bids and offsites.

This episode tackles how to work more effectively with challenging people.Personalities and politics can present tremendous obstacles to our ability to do the work for which we are hired. In this episode we consider:How can we navigate these obstacles as effectively as possible?Which personalities and behaviours are we talking about?Should we be seeking behaviour change from them or focus on modifying our own?If you are a team leader, what should be your priorities if you and your team have to work with challenging people?To help me answer these questions, I am joined by Ruth Berry and David Rosenbauer.Ruth is a Leadership Development teacher, facilitator and executive coach. She was at EY for 10 years before becoming Head of Executive Education at the Judge Business School in Cambridge. She set up her own consultancy in 2007 and has advised partners and staff at over 100 professional services firms across the world.David has spent the last 20 years as a coach and facilitator specialising in Leadership and Equity, Diversity & Inclusion. He helps professionals at all levels of seniority build stronger relationships internally and externally. His varied career includes having worked as lawyer in Germany, and as a theatre producer an actor in Europe, the US and Brazil.James Stringer is a former BD Director at Magic Circle and Big Four firms and is now a trainer, consultant and coach on business development, bids and offsites and he helps BD team members and teams be more effective.

This episode is about Client Listening and clients’ experience of service.Every firm wants to be client-centric: in other words to put clients at the heart of their business. But are they serious?One way to help achieve this is to implement a client listening (or client feedback) programme. In this episode we answer the following questions:How do you convince your firm that this is a good way to understand more about your clients? Is its role to listen and learn or listen and sell?  What methods of insight capture work best and who should gather it?How do you deliver good (and bad) feedback?To help me, I am joined by Tim Nightingale, Founding Director of Nisus Consulting and David Tomley, International Head of Client Development at law firm Osborne Clarke.James Stringer, a former BD Director and now trainer, consultant and coach on Business development, bids and offsites