‘The future is already here – it’s just not very evenly distributed’.
William Gibson
Understanding the foundations of client experience (CX) success is more important to professional services firms’ growth and profitability than ever before. Yet despite many claiming that they are already offering excellent CX, the unfortunate reality is that this is only true for some.
Today, firms face growing competition, evolving client expectations, and the demand to do more for less. In a market where services are increasingly commoditised, delivering a superior client experience has become a vital differentiator. Clients no longer choose based solely on expertise. Instead, they now expect a seamless, high-quality experience throughout their entire engagement with a firm.
Sadly, many firms are falling short of meeting these expectations. According to Beaton’s landmark study “The state of CX in professional services”, only 10 per cent of firms had achieved CX maturity where they are optimising for and capitalising on CX success. The study surveyed CX decision makers across hundreds of professional services firms in Australia and New Zealand.
To paraphrase William Gibson, clients’ expectations of excellent CX are here but only some firms are meeting them and reaping all the benefits.
The case for prioritising CX initiatives
Clients choose practitioners and firms based on the sum of their experiences with a firm and its competitors. This can be either directly or by reputation. Strong CX drives higher client satisfaction and loyalty by distinguishing a firm in a market where exceptional experiences are the key differentiator.
Findings from Beaton’s study were that firms succeeding at CX report 7 per cent higher client satisfaction than the industry average. This is because fully embedded and optimised CX practices drive meaningful client outcomes. Notably, succeeding firms are more likely to achieve year-on-year improvements in satisfaction levels, with a net 38 per cent seeing growth compared to just net 21 per cent of firms that are still developing their CX success.
The business outcomes of strong CX are compelling, offering firms a substantial competitive advantage:
- Faster growth: Succeeding firms see client satisfaction scores grow 34 per cent faster than developing firms.
- Higher repeat business: Net 59 per cent of succeeding firms report increases in repeat business versus 51 per cent of developing firms.
- Greater fee growth: Firms with mature CX report a net 59 per cent growth in average fees compared to 44 per cent in developing firms.
- Willingness to pay more: Among clients, 40 per cent of those working with succeeding firms would pay higher fees versus 34 per cent in developing firms.
These results highlight that CX excellence goes beyond client satisfaction and drive client retention, revenue, and loyalty. Fully embedding CX into firm strategy and operations creates measurable, long-term growth and positions firms to outperform their competitors.
So, how are successful firms achieving their CX success?
The fundamentals of a successful firm of highly satisfied clients plus an engaged workforce have never been more important than they are today.
The foundations of client experience success
Achieving excellence in client experience requires a clear framework rooted in effective leadership and strategic action. These are the foundations of client experience success.
Firms that deliver superior CX do so by maintaining a strategic focus and aligning their entire organisation around client needs.
The following cornerstones form the foundation for any firm committed to delivering a consistently superior client experience. They are must dos and must haves for leadership in firms that want to succeed at CX.
1. Clear strategic imperatives, informed by data
Among firms excelling in CX, 84 per cent of respondents from Beaton’s study agreed that client feedback directly informs strategic decisions. This compares to only 71 per cent of respondents from other firms that agreed this was the case.
Successful CX initiatives begin with clear goals backed by actionable data. Performance should be measured against key performance indicators (KPIs) to track progress and uncover opportunities.
The core components of an effective CX strategy include:
- Data-driven priorities: Strategic objectives based on market and client insights.
- Relevant metrics: KPIs aligned with firm-wide goals to measure progress.
- Objective performance tracking: Consistent, data-driven performance assessment.
- Evidence-based decision-making: Leadership decisions informed by factual insights, not anecdotal opinions.
2. Executive commitment to client feedback
Leadership plays a critical role in embedding client feedback into a firm’s culture and decision-making. Firms that succeed in CX treat feedback as a vital business asset that drives strategy and performance improvements.
Beaton’s study found that making client feedback a firm-wide priority is a key success factor. For instance, 24 per cent of CX-leading firms share client feedback with all staff, compared to just 13 per cent of developing firms.
Key elements of leadership commitment include:
- Leadership engagement: Regular review and prioritisation of client feedback.
- Actionable insights: Using feedback to drive strategic decisions and improvements.
- ROI recognition: Treating client satisfaction as a core measure of business success.
- Integration in decision-making: Ensuring client insights shape firm-wide actions.
3. A shared understanding of CX across the firm
Client decision-making and firms’ ability to influence clients extend beyond traditional business development and marketing. CX leadership requires a firm-wide understanding of how clients perceive value and make choices.
Clients choose firms based on their total experience including interactions with individual practitioners, the firm, and even its competitors. To deliver strong CX, firms must establish:
- Firm-wide awareness: Every employee, from partners to support staff, understands their role in shaping CX.
- Unified CX vision: A shared definition of what a positive client experience is.
- Culture of excellence: A work environment that fosters CX-focused behaviours and skills.
- Collective responsibility: Recognition that CX is everyone’s responsibility, supported by leadership-driven frameworks and resources.
By embedding these foundations of client experience success, firms can create an organisational culture that enables and sustains excellent client experience.
The results speak for themselves: higher client satisfaction, stronger loyalty, and long-term business growth.
To achieve excellent client experience, firms need to look beyond leadership and strategy.
Additional elements that drive consistent client experience excellence
To consistently achieve excellence, firms need to go beyond just the right leadership or strategy. They must implement systematic initiatives that address several key areas:
1. Building the right skills, behaviours, and processes
Successful firms invest in a combination of skills, behaviours, processes, and technologies necessary to achieve their strategic goals. These initiatives focus on:
- Improving firm performance across areas such as contribution to margins, bid-to-win ratios, and overall client experience.
- Ensuring that everyone in the firm has clear accountabilities and responsibilities that align with these objectives.
2. Strong change management and communication processes
Implementing change across the firm is essential to ensuring focus on the right priorities. Leading firms use robust change management frameworks to keep their teams aligned and engaged, fostering firm-wide commitment to new initiatives. This includes good internal communications which play a critical role in maintaining clarity, direction, and enthusiasm across the entire organisation.
3. Access to consistent and transparent client feedback
Data-driven decisions are key. High-performing firms ensure that client feedback is not only collected consistently and frequently, but is also transparent and accessible across the organisation. This enables the entire firm to be aligned in its approach to customer experience.
The benefits include:
- Staff are motivated by recognition and the continuous opportunity to improve based on Issues are resolved quickly by those best placed to address them, preventing client dissatisfaction from escalating.
- Successes are celebrated and used as case studies for best practices.
- Accountability for CX is embedded across all levels of the firm, creating a culture of responsibility and high performance.
- Firms with strong client service reputations attract top talent, benefiting from a cycle of growth fuelled by superior client satisfaction.
In a world, where customer expectations are driven by the “experience economy,” firms must recognise the growing importance of providing not just a good service, but an excellent experience throughout the entire process. This is especially true in the professional services sector, where the quality of interactions, from the first contact to the outcome, differentiates firms from competitors.
The effects of the experience economy on the B2C market are an indication of the disruption coming for the B2B professional services markets.
How the experience economy drives the importance of excellent CX
In the “experience economy,” the focus has shifted beyond just the product or service itself to the complete experience a customer receives. Firms should learn from examples like Domino’s Pizza, which distinguishes itself not just by the product (pizza) but by the entire experience, from seamless ordering to delivery right to your door. This holistic experience, built on convenience and attention to client needs, has set a new bar for expectations across industries, even in professional services.
While comparing pizza delivery to a professional service may seem far-fetched, it’s a reflection of a broader reality: today’s consumers, whether B2C or B2B, demand more. Clients expect seamless, high-quality experiences that reflect their evolving needs, and firms that can provide this are more likely to thrive.
Our observations of firms that outperform their competitors in today’s challenging market reveal a common thread: they understand the importance of excellent client experience and proactively practice the fundamentals. If a firm puts these cornerstones in place, it not only prepares itself for the current environment but also positions itself well for future challenges.
If your firm hasn’t yet embraced these fundamentals, now is the time to connect the dots and establish the cornerstones needed to stand out in the evolving market. The future of client experience is here and it’s up to you to ensure your firm delivers.
Download 'The state of CX in professional services' report
Take a look into the client experience (CX) strategies of professional services firms across Asia Pacific.
