Client experience (CX) is not only the hottest acronym in professional services right now. It could also be the single most powerful and sustainable market differentiator for your firm.
This relatively new concept is quickly becoming a crucial factor for firms competing for new and returning clients. So, what is CX and why should you care? Here’s what you need to know.
What is client experience (CX)?
Client experience can be defined as the net value of clients’ perceptions and feelings resulting from all interactions with a firm’s brand, people, products, and services.
Unlike customer experience (CX) in B2C environments, which is often framed as a linear journey from discovery to purchase, CX in professional services is cyclical and relational. It’s built over time through trust, consistency, and communication.
A recent landmark study by Beaton, “The State of Client Experience in Professional Services”, surveyed 1,305 clients and found that clients perceive their experience in distinct phases. Each phase having different expectations, needs and satisfaction drivers. We call these phases the ‘Five Os of the CX Cycle’
- Opportunity
- Onboarding
- Operational
- Outcome and deliverable
- Ongoing relationship
The professional services sector is built on relationships that are nurtured and grown over time and is more like a cycle with two components. This applies both to the relationship between the firm and client organisation and to the relationships between the individuals within them.
B2B client experience vs. B2C customer experience
Client experience in B2B professional services differs significantly from B2C customer experience.
B2C customer journeys are typically transactional, with a clear beginning (e.g., browsing a website) and end (e.g., purchase).
B2B client experiences are ongoing relationships built over multiple engagements, often involving many stakeholders.
The customer experience has long been a focus in business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors. Until recently, however, the experiences of clients in professional services (such as consulting, accounting, legal, and architecture) have received far less attention and research. Yet understanding customer experience is highly relevant, as it shares many parallels with client experience.
Clients are, after all, customers of a service-based product. Like consumer goods, these services can be marketed strategically to encourage loyalty and repeat business. Business-to-business (B2B) firms recognise that satisfied, returning clients are vital to cashflow and long-term growth, just as returning customers are for B2C businesses.
That said, client experience in professional services differs from the typical “customer journey” often described in B2C contexts. The concept of a journey suggests a clear beginning and end. For a B2C buyer journey, it might consist of browsing a website and completing a purchase at checkout.
In contrast, client experience in B2B services is rooted in ongoing relationships that deepen over time. Rather than a linear path, it resembles a continuous cycle of trust, value delivery, and mutual growth.
How CX differs from UX (user experience)
The other term many people know is user experience (UX). This most often applies to technology and web-based products that hinge on a user directing their own experience (clicking through a browser, operating a smart phone). The UX is how a person feels when interfacing with the system.
UX is often one-directional: the user is in control.
CX is relational: it requires two-way communication, collaboration, and trust between practitioner and client.
Like CX, UX is a never-ending cycle with many factors impacting it. However, unlike CX, the relationship between seller and purchaser in the UX context is more one-sided. The client or user in UX is mostly in the driver’s seat; whereas CX requires a two-way flow of communication between a client and practitioner.
The customer experience journey has long been studied and mapped in business-to-consumer (B2C) sectors. Until recently, the experience of clients in the professions has been less widely acknowledged and researched.
Client experience vs. client service
Client service is one piece of the puzzle, often a single touchpoint. Whereas, client experience is the sum of all interactions.
As Garth Brown, Principal of Brown & Brown Conveyancers explains:
“Client service is one touch point, whereas client experience is the whole sum of a clients’ interaction with your office during a matter.”
One marketing manager from an accounting firm who wished to remain anonymous in a Beaton survey put it this way:
“CX encompasses … every interaction with the brand – from top of the funnel acquisition channels, through to conversion channels … or processes that a client is exposed to across finance, marketing, IT. Each and every division is an important piece of the CX puzzle.”
Gaurav Rajadhyax, Architect and Director of architecture firm R Architecture, gave us this fully rounded summary:
“Client experience is a complete package. In the design and construction industry, it includes the full journey – from initiating a project all the way through to seeing it built and realised. It’s a process which brings together various levels of experience from a range of professionals and stakeholders. CX is about how the clients perceive this journey and how confident they feel throughout that process. Customer service is a component of this package, it is not the entire package.”
Why client experience matters in professional services firms?
Data from our research shows CX is an essential ingredient for firms to thrive in the hyper-competitive space of professional services consulting. We see it more each year: clients are becoming more selective and informed, continually demanding more value, and becoming more willing to “shop around” for the best service from external service providers.
Firms focused on investing in and improving their CX enjoy crucial advantages over other firms in this environment. They tend to have:
- Happier clients
- More engaged employees
- Faster growth
- Average higher fees per job
- More repeat business
The economic benefits of good CX
Below is a ‘Growth in key firm business outcomes’ graph form the Beaton CX study. It clearly illustrates that firms that are succeeding in CX experience the following economic benefits
- Happier clients: Firms that were succeeding at CX had 7 per cent more-satisfied clients than the industry average.
- Higher repeat business: Firms participating in this study told us that they achieved higher volumes of repeat business (net 59 per cent of succeeding firms compared to 51 per cent of developing firms).
- Charge higher fees: Firms participating in this study told us that they achieved a higher level of average fees charged (net 59 per cent compared to net 44 per cent).
Above infographics are based on Beaton Benchmarks surveys as well as the State of Client Experience in Professional Services 2022 report. They showcase just how important CX is for professional services firms.
The bottom line is CX will have a huge impact determining your firm’s bottom line in years to come.
Professional services practitioners need to do more than simply understand the acronym. Equip your firm with pioneering insights into the state of client experience by downloading our landmark report.
Want to improve your firm’s CX and stay ahead of the competition?
Get a copy of our State of Client Experience in Professional Services report, or contact us to discover how Beaton can help.
Download The State of CX Report
Download a first-of-its-kind study by Beaton. In our state of CX Report we look into the client experience (CX) strategies of professional services firms across Asia Pacific.
