Beaton's Five Cities Seminars March 2016

Presented byGeorge Beaton | David Goener | Paul Hugh-Jones Adelaide | Brisbane | Melbourne | Perth | Sydney March 2016

Notes from beaton’s seminars on

Making Profitable Top Line Growth Your Priority in 2016

Hosted by

Thank you for participating in Making Profitable Top Line Growth Your Priority!We addressed five themes…1. Delivering more value to your clients – without

discounting2. Why the smart money is on firms with recognised client

industry specialisations3. Winning new clients without being the bidder with the

lowest price4. Ways to brickwall your best clients5. How to entice your competitors’ clients to trial your

services…and leave you with one chart from each to help you remember and act on the key messages

2

Setting the scene, 1: An industry trends lens

• In contrast with fee levels which are flat, the trend lines for perceived value and cost consciousness are steadily rising.

• This combination has profound implications for how all professional services firms manage their overall client service, pricing and communication of value.

2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 20165.8

6.3

6.8

6.36.2

6.3

6.26.2

6.1

6.5

6.5

6.8

6.16.0

6.1

6.2

6.5

6.8

Engineering Australia 2011-2016

Perception of fee levels Perceived value Cost consciousness

Mea

n sc

ore

• Using consulting engineering as an example (other professions are very similar) we show the six year trend in how clients perceive the value they are receiving, the level of fees they are paying, and the degree of cost consciousness of their provider.

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eaton Research + Consulting

3

beaton’s research, beatonbenchmarks reports and our seminars are grounded in the stage of the buyer cycle spanning awareness, consideration, use, evaluation, and outcome behaviours.

The Win More Work and Retain & Grow Your Clients components drill into these stages, as the schematic illustrates.

Setting the scene, 2: How clients buy and use professional services

Win more work Retain & grow your clients

RECOMMEND

REPEAT USEEVALUATEAWARE CONSIDER USE EVALUATE

BUS DEV

REPUTATION

SWITCH

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4

Perc

eive

d va

lue

Perceived fee level

When cost consciousness is high and performance is high and price is higher, then perceived value is higher

Under these conditionsprice is a signal for quality

When cost consciousness is high and performance is highand price is lower, then

perceived value is lower

Perceived value is higher

when cost consciousness is lowand performance is low

and price is lower

When cost consciousness is low + And performance is low +And price is higher, thenPerceived value is lower

Remember clients are willing to pay more…

…when your performance and cost consciousness are highly rated

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5

Question: (1) Which of the attributes listed, if any, do you associate with each of the firms presented: Expensive(2) Which of the following firms would you consider using for your organisation’s [Profession] work?

Firms perceived as client industry specialists are rewarded with higher consideration at a premium price

• In this example CE firms are being rated by clients in the property market• BBB and AAA both have

a large market share and are strongly considered (X axis)• BBB enjoys a price

premium (Y axis)• AAA has a lower

perceived price that can be used to grow its market share and/or exercise price-setting discretion (Y axis)

5% 15% 25% 35% 45% 55%0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

AAA

BBB

CCC

DDD

FFFEEE

GGG

HHH

Consideration (% of market)

Perc

eive

d as

Exp

ensi

ve (

%)

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6

There are two sets of reasons clients appoint a more expensive firm…

Questions: [1] When selecting a firm to provide Legal, have you ever engaged a firm that was more expensive than some of the other options you were considering? [2] Thinking about the last time you appointed a more expensive Legal firm to provide legal services, what did that firm demonstrate, that had the biggest impact on you choosing them?

82%Expertise in your area of need

Leading expertise

Responsiveness

Reliability

Friendly / strong rapport

Strong brand

Cost consciousness

Caring about their clients

0 10 20 30 40 50 60

56

38

32

27

20

16

13

13

9

9

7

7

4

3

2

1

% 'yes'

of law firm clients have selected a firm that was more expensive than the other options at the time – the % is similar in other professions

1. Relevant leading expertise, knowledge of client’s business/industry, commerciality 2. Client service and effort: Accessibility, responsiveness, reliability, ease of doing

business

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7

Clients switch firms for many reasons…

Question: For how long has [Firm] been the main firm that you use for <profession insert>?Which firm was the main firm you used, before [Firm]? And why did you change from using [old firm] to using [new firm] the most?

25%of engineering and environmental clients have changed their main firm over the last two years.

… many of which you can you control without discounting by:• Proactively demonstrating relevant expertise, knowledge of clients’

businesses and industries, commerciality, and by• Superior client service and effort

The nature of our requirements changed

Due to the decisions of others

Dissatisfied with the performance of the previous firm

Received poor advice / outcome(s) from the previous firm

Dissatisfied with the fees of the previous firm

My key contact moved firms

Poor handling of complaints by the previous firm0 5 10 15 20 25 30

26

17

17

14

12

10

9

7

6

6

5

5

4

% 'yes'

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8

What drives client’s consideration and final decisions…

Question: (1) Which of the following are most important to you when considering a firm to provide legal services?(2) And now thinking about the time when your organisation most recently selected a firm to provide legal services in Australia, what was the most significant reason for choosing the winning firm over the next best option

Attributes

% 'yes' rank % 'yes' rank

Expertise in your area of need 72 1 52 1Understanding your business / industry 63 2 34 2Commerciality of advice 62 3 33 3Responsiveness 61 4 27 4Reliability 53 5 15 8Ease of doing business with 47 6 17 6Excellent communication 44 7 8 12Leading expertise 44 8 18 5Cost consciousness 44 9 15 7Access to partners / principals 42 10 14 9Quality documentation 40 11 8 13Price 36 12 13 10Friendly / strong rapport 35 13 10 11Caring about their clients 25 14 3 14Innovation 14 15 2 16Strong brand 9 16 2 15

Drivers of considerationDrivers of purchase

decision

9

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•Expertise in your area of need, based on understanding your business and industry, leading to commercial advice,•Combined with responsive and reliable service

Whether your firm is already a subscriber to beatonbenchmarks in 2016, or is measured but hasn’t yet subscribed to beatonbenchmarks or is smaller and not measured, beaton has services to help you grow your firm’s top line profitably…

Please contact us to explore how we can help you: David Goener +61 421 056 409 Paul Hugh-Jones + 61 408 400 885 George Beaton +61 418 325 351

March 2016

Documents

Beaton's Five Cities Seminars March 2016