Meridian West partners with Questback to launch Compass a next generation client feedback portal for professional services organisations

Easy to use visual tool revolutionises how firms’ action feedback data.

London, UK, 28 October 2015, Meridian West and Questback today launched Compass, a next generation client feedback platform designed specifically around the needs of professional services organisations. It meets the growing need for legal, accountancy and real estate firms, to listen to clients and link their responses to business objectives.
Compass collects feedback from clients and employees, and integrates the results with financial metrics. This enables real-time, data-driven, decision making by providing an up to date picture of satisfaction and performance, displayed through a simple to use, visual, and scalable portal that can be tailored to individual managers and their roles.
Compass makes it simple to drill down to more detailed information, by service, sector, region or profitability of individual clients; and alerts managers to potential problems early, enabling remedial action to be taken. By providing real-time insights from clients and staff, it enables organisations to identify the practical steps that will protect revenue at risk, reduce write-off, and identify cross-selling opportunities.
Previously collecting and collating different feedback and data sources has been a time-consuming, manual operation. Research carried out by Questback in 2014, found that over a third (36%) of companies not planning to integrate customer and employee data blamed technology, stating that it was too complex for their existing departmental systems to cope with. Compass changes this, automating the process and reducing the time, cost and complexity of taking data and making it usable.
One company seeing value from this approach is multinational professional services organisation TMF Group.
“This approach has delivered enormous benefits for TMF Group. Two years ago we didn’t have a customer feedback programme, today our programme covers 80 countries. The key to our programme is technology. Without a feedback portal I wouldn’t be able to run the feedback programme with a team of just two people,” said Ian Bennison, Marketing Operations Director, TMF Group. “Because we are a fast growing business, the portal has enabled us to better understand how we can improve our delivery across our offices. The
early warning system has allowed us to address client concerns very quickly and ensure we meet their expectations, this will safeguard our revenue and help us grow our bottom line.”
Compass is built on Questback and Meridian West’s complementary skills and long standing partnership. It incorporates Questback’s leading enterprise feedback management and reporting technology, combined with Meridian West’s unrivalled experience and understanding of client feedback programmes in the professional services sector.
“In increasingly competitive markets, professional services organisations understand that they need to be more strategic about how they gather and act upon client feedback,” said Ben Kent, Managing Director, Meridian West. “Compass provides the platform to achieve this, bringing together client, employee and financial data in a single, visual dashboard that allows them to make high level, data-driven decisions based on real-time information.”
As well as highlighting immediate areas of concern, Compass provides a wide range of further benefits. Through its analysis tools, managers can compare team performance to company averages, showing areas for improvement through training and adoption of best practice. Compass also makes the collection of client testimonials faster and easier as real-time satisfaction can be seen at a glance. By providing a cost-effective, closed loop method of collecting and acting on feedback, Compass supplements face to face client reviews, enabling these meetings to be used for more strategic, longer term discussions.
“Whatever industry you operate in, listening to clients and staff, and acting quickly on their feedback, is crucial to success,” said Paul Barnes, Managing Director of Questback UK. “Our partnership with Meridian West demonstrates how the combination of our technology and its market knowledge can help professional services companies to build a closer understanding of their clients and employees, and take action to ensure they retain talent and revenue.”

About Meridian West:
Meridian West is a leading research consultancy that helps professional firms and financial institutions to become more client-centric and drive lasting change in their business. We enable firms to better understand the needs of their clients, uncover growth opportunities, and create sustainable and profitable relationships with clients.
Meridian West designs and delivers world-leading client feedback programmes, thought leadership campaigns, and coaching and training initiatives that support firms to develop professionals fit-for-the-future.

About Questback:
Questback is Europe’s leading supplier of solutions for Enterprise Feedback, Social CRM and online surveys – web-based services for building relations through gathering, analysis and follow-up of business critical information. Questback’s customers improve financial results by increasing satisfaction and loyalty among customers and employees. Questback
was founded in 2000. The company is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. It has subsidiaries in six countries and a presence in a total of 19 countries.

For more information:

Meridian West
Georgina Platts
+44 (0)78 8756 1634
[email protected]
Measures Consulting (for Questback)
Chris Measures
+44 (0) 7976 535147
[email protected]

 

Good news and bad news: the many revolutions impacting law firms

Ben Kent and Alastair Beddow, following their successful PSMG National Conference workshop, explore how the world of the in-house legal team is changing, and the strategic decisions law firms need to take to remain on the front foot.

One of the highlights of PSMG’s conference was keynote speaker Gareth Tipton – Group Director of
Ethics and Compliance and COO at BT – who shared his experience of managing a rapidly changing in-house legal team. Within a short space of time the legal function at BT has radically altered how it spends its budgets, its process for choosing which legal services providers to work with and has trimmed its internal headcount significantly. Is BT’s experience typical, and what does this mean for law firms? We examine the evidence to assess the future for law firms.

In short, Gareth’s experience is far from unique. The significant change he described reflects how the vast majority of in-house legal teams at large corporates and banks across the global are revolutionising the way they do business. A significant proportion, including BT, now have their own ABS licence.

As the discussion at PSMG’s conference proved, law firms are under pressure from all sides to keep pace with the changing world of their clients. Many revolutions are simultaneously impacting law firms:
although there is a general uplift in demand for legal services, clients of law firms still want more for less from their legal advisers. At the same time the market has witnessed the rise of disruptive competitors thus offering greater choice to buyers of legal services. In response law firms need to make some tough strategic decisions.

The good news

Let’s examine the reasons to be cheerful. After a period of declining or flat-lining profitability since 2008, the last 12 months has seen a major year-on-year uplift in PEP (profit per equity partner). According to PwC’s latest Annual Law Firm Survey, average chargeable hours are up year-on-year between 7% and 9% for the top 25 law firms ranked by revenue.

This suggests that law firms are busy again, driven in part by the rise in deal activity during 2014. In line with this trend, law firm hiring is now at its highest rate for many years, especially among banking, real
estate and litigation practices.

Why should this be so? Despite budgetary pressures, the demand for legal advice continues to rise. Meridian West’s research suggests the worry-list for heads of in-house legal departments is a long one. Issues such as an increased regulatory burden, data security and reputational risk are all top of the agenda for general counsel. As businesses globalise and become more complex, the need for external expertise and support to make sense of the legal issues and their commercial implications can only
increase.

The bad news

Although headline law firm profitability is on the rise again, a closer look at the numbers suggests something different. Average fee income per chargeable hour has taken a sharp hit over the last year. Among law firms ranked 26 to 50 by revenue, the fall has been almost 10% year-on-year. Lawyers are earning less for every hour worked. This should serve as a stark warning to all law firms because it
suggests fundamental flaws in the way legal matters are scoped, priced and managed. Margin pressure is real: it appears clients who want more for less are getting precisely that from their external law firms.

Perhaps the biggest pressure facing law firms is the transformation of the in-house legal function and the impact this has on buying behaviour. In many instances in-house lawyers have adopted hybrid legal
and commercial roles with responsibility for broader risk management issues, not solely black letter law.

At the same time, in-house legal functions have become better managed, often with more sophisticated technology, knowledge management and procurement processes than their external legal advisers. The legal function in the largest corporates more often than not is now managed by a designated COO.

It is an exciting time to be an in-house counsel buying legal services. Disruptive competitors have shaken up the market, offering more choice and paving the way for multi-sourcing of legal services. Innovative
business models such as document review services, contract lawyers, legal technology and managed legal services are attractive to in-house lawyers.

Meridian West’s research suggests that usage of these services is set to increase. The threat to law firms is clear: as the legal market fragments, the traditional law firm is not always going to the most appropriate or cost-effective choice to undertake all types of legal work.

The law firm response

There is no magic strategy that law firms can adopt to succeed in this difficult and changing market. The approaches taken will vary by firm according to its priorities, culture, and, most importantly, its clients’
needs. An ambitious regional firm and a global powerhouse may face a lot of similar issues, but their strategic responses should be very different.

However, it is possible to categorise the strategies available to law firms on a spectrum ranging from revenue growth to margin management. Figure 1 shows six of the many options. At the one end firms seek growth through globalisation, looking at new geographic markets or launching new legal services offerings to expand and diversify, reaching out to more clients. At the other end firms focus on process mapping and matter management to enhancing profitability or choose to exit unprofitable work types.

6 strategies

Each strategy is valid if the circumstances are right. Each strategy raises questions: What steps are necessary to implement the strategy? What areas should be prioritised? How will a firm create the necessary cultural change? How will success be measured?

Where does marketing and business development fit in?

Marketing and business development professionals within law firms should play a central role in helping to define, communicate and implement the right strategies for their firm. This requires dialogue with both colleagues internally and clients externally. Who is better placed to help their firms understand clients’ changing needs and behaviours or build a differentiated client experience and superior account
management than marketing professionals?

In a world of many revolutions law firms cannot succeed by standing still. If they do they will be at the mercy of the market and the underlying trends of depressed profitability and more demanding clients. And while there are reasons to be optimistic about the future, it will be far from easy to meet the challenges on the horizon without a clear view of how your firm’s clients are innovating how they do business and what they require from legal advisers.

[This article originally appeared in PSMG magazine. PDF version]

2015: The year of the re-energised marketing function?

2015 is already well under way: pundits have made their predictions for the year ahead, marketing leaders have discussed their priorities for the next 12 months with colleagues, and by now everybody is
frantically back to the grind trying to turn these plans into a reality. But it is worth pausing for breath to consider whether your firm’s plans and priorities are sufficiently aligned with wider developments in professional services marketing. The 67 responses to this year’s annual PM Forum/MPF and Meridian West marketing benchmark suggest that the marketing community is turning its attention to improving the client experience with renewed vigour.

This time last year I suggested that innovation would be as equally important to marketers as efficiency for the 12 months ahead. 2014 was characterised by professional firms of all hues launching new service lines, experimenting with new business models and joined-up propositions. This trend is likely to continue into 2015, and as it does the importance of fostering greater collaboration with internal and external networks will dramatically come to the fore.

Respect where it’s due

More so than in any previous year, the marketing directors and managers who responded to this year’s benchmark paint a picture of marketing functions that are well-regarded by fee-earners and colleagues in other support functions. More than seven in ten (72%) say that the marketing team has sufficient authority to perform its role successfully. 60% say that the role of marketing is sufficiently understood by fee-earning staff.

However, there is still a significant minority who disagree with these statements, which suggests there is more work to be done to achieve complete buy-in to marketing initiatives within some firms.
Although 72% of senior markets say they are always involved in decisions about targeting new clients and sectors, just 55% are always involved in developing new products and service lines.

Reaping the fruits of growth

2014 saw the profitability of many professional firms exceed pre-2008 levels for the first time. As a result firms now have more income to invest in strategic initiatives. This is reflected in the anticipated
outlook for marketing budgets and headcount this year, at 2.7% and 2.9% respectively
on average. These levels are on par with 2014 and far exceed 2013.
Yet with increased budgets comes increased pressure to demonstrate value. Almost half (46%) of marketers believe it is difficult to demonstrate the ROI of the time and money spent on marketing. This
is troubling: an inability to showcase the value of its activity leaves the marketing function vulnerable to having budget increases frozen or slashed in future years. Colleagues will expect increased resources for marketing to translate into tangible, measurable outcomes.

Plans and priorities for 2015: the client experience

When asked about their specific plans for the coming year, marketers’ responses are multiple and various. Typical responses referenced the desire to become more strategic, to help deliver a differentiated brand and most frequently, to focus on improving the client experience.
Here is one example from the Head of Marketing at a law firm: “Our priority is kick-starting our five year strategy for 2020 by helping the firm to deliver exceptional client service standards and more targeted business development.”

More than four out of five marketers (82%) say they plan to obtain more feedback from clients in 2015 than they did in 2014, and more than three-quarters (76%) say they plan to make more improvements to client service. Indeed when asked about the activity highest up their agenda for 2015, 43% of respondents cite either improvements to client service or obtaining feedback from clients.
Why should the focus be so heavily weighted in favour of the client experience? Perhaps after several years spent competing on price, marketers have woken up to the possibilities of competing based on innovations in service delivery. But more so than this, it is impossible to take strategic decisions about the firm without sufficient data about what clients want and need, and even harder to make the case for internal change.

Putting the plans into action

Focusing on the client experience is one way to re energise the marketing function. It provides a clear goal to rally around, which can also be easily measured to track improvements in  performance. However, doing this successfully is not without its challenges. Marketers will need to concentrate on the following three areas to put their plans into action effectively:

  • Collaboration: The client service agenda can be led by marketing, but it needs to be owned by all
    areas with the firm. This means working together more efficiently to design and roll-out client-centric initiatives. 69% of marketers say that greater collaboration between marketing and other functional areas is required in their firm. On a positive note, two-thirds (68%) have a plan in
    place to collaborate with HR colleagues, and 57% have a plan in place to collaborate with strategy colleagues over the year ahead.
  • The right skills: Although marketers say lack of time is the greatest barrier to achieving their objectives, the need to enhance skills may be a more obvious barrier to innovating the client
    experience, and one that is potentially more easily overcome through coaching and training. 80% of senior marketers say they would like to improve their strategic planning skills, and 56%
    would like to improve their influencing skills. When asked about their team’s skills, 82% think more project management skills are required and 78% believe enhancing commerciality would
    be beneficial.
  • Proximity to clients: Surprisingly, a third (32%) of senior marketers say they do not have regular interaction with clients in carrying out their role. It is difficult to accurately take the pulse
    of client needs and expectations when client contact is kept to a minimum. To be instrumental in improving the client experience requires much greater freedom to capture direct feedback
    from clients. Without this, you risk basing your plans on speculation or unverified assertions from fee earners.
Planning for the long-term: 2020 and beyond

For the first time, our benchmarking survey asked marketers about their long-term plans as well
as their aspirations for the year ahead. The results make compelling reading: marketers have ambitious goals to make a greater impact on the overall strategic direction of their firm. 55% believe that the role of marketers within professional firms will be very different in 2020 than it is now, and two thirds (66%) think professional firms will invest more in marketing as a proportion of revenue than they currently do.

So what will change? It is a three phase journey. First, 41% say many of the tasks and processes carried out by marketers will be automated. This means much of the day-to-day admin and process can be eliminated or reduced which will free up more time to focus on aspects that really add value to the firm. Second, this change in focus will enhance the status of marketing professionals: 56% believe that marketers will be seen as suitable for CEO roles in professional firms. Third, and as a consequence, clients will reap the benefits of this shift: 84% think the voice of the client will have a stronger presence at the management top table, and so strategic decisions will be more client-focused.

Head in the clouds or finger on the pulse?

Is this portrait of professional services marketing in 2020 realistic? Only time will truly tell, but it appears the desire to move towards a better-integrated, more strategic role is present among a majority
of those currently occupying senior marketing positions. As one Head of Marketing rather bullishly puts it: “Marketers are often some of the most strategic-minded and skilled people within their organisation but rarely get the credit for being so, and rarely put themselves forward to give strategic input.” Assuming this to be true, it seems marketers still have a way to travel before they arrive where they want to be in five years.

What can be done to accelerate this shift? Marketers are clear that aside from new technology, the factors that will have the most fundamental impact on professional services marketing are changing
client demands and obtaining a stronger voice of the client within the firm. With this in mind, concentrating on the client experience during 2015 seems a sensible place to start.

By Alastair Beddow, Associate Director at Meridian West. This article originally appeared in professional marketing magazine. For further details go to www.pmforumglobal.com

Brave New World? The legal sector in 2025

Alastair Beddow, Associate Director at Meridian West, attended the  Law Firm Leadership Forum 2014, a conference for law firm leaders debating the future of the legal industry and the forces that are going to radically change the profession over the next ten years. Alastair writes his thoughts below:

Across a day of very wide-ranging debate, discussion and ideas-sharing three things stood out.

1. The days of the partnership model are numbered. A straw poll among attendees revealed that almost everybody predicted the demise of the partnership model by 2025. The rise of ABS, the need for more agile decision-making and sustainable governance in law firms, and the potential to raise capital for long-term investment were commonly cited as factors accelerating this trend. Even so, the strength of feeling and consensus on this point was surprising.

2. Technology is a fundamental disruptor to legal services. Keynote speaker Richard Susskind put forward technology as one of his three fundamental forces shaping the sector over the next decade. We have yet to really realise the potential of automation and innovation for the delivery of legal services he argued. Technologies such as IBM’s Watson will radically change the way we think about what a lawyer does and should do.

3. In-house legal teams are grappling with business risks, not just legal issues. For somebody who regularly interviews General Counsel at leading corporates and banks, this point isn’t new. However, a panel session with contributions from in-house counsel at Barclays, Unilever and thetrainline.com really brought the point home. They are looking at commercial problems through the widest possible lens – not just a legal one – and are reshaping their internal teams accordingly. They want external lawyers to innovate too, but to do so quickly.

Whatever your role it’s an exciting time to be in the legal sector. Do you agree with these three trends? How are they playing out in your firm? What other things should law firms watch out for over the next decade? Leave your thoughts below.

Alastair will be sharing more views and insights about the future of the legal sector and how firms can respond to these changes with Ben Kent during a breakout session at this year’s PSMG conference on 19th November 2014.

[This article originally appeared on LinkedIn.]

[Top tips] Understand the people

In part four of a series of PM Forum articles on ‘the seven habits of a commercial adviser’ Ben Kent and Adrian Furner discuss how relationships drive business success. [Habit 4]

What was the last big business decision you made? Even when we believe we are making logical decisions, the very point of choice is arguably always emotional. Understanding people in business is critical to success; business is a social activity and relationships are fundamental. Professional firms are knowledge based businesses providing advice, in this type of people-based industry the importance of relationships is enhanced. The impact of advice, and the value that it can create depends on how it is delivered, and crucially, how it is received.

Being able to understand the people, their styles and drivers is fundamental to being able to successfully navigate the complex world of business and deliver success in terms of the desired outcomes. Whether we like it or not business is mainly about managing people and politics.

So how can advisers do this? A traditional approach is to perform some form of stakeholder analysis mapping the client team that we interface with, and potentially their internal stakeholders. This is a good starting point, but client expectations have changed. Clients now expect advice built on a deeper understanding of the context in which they operate and of their desired outcomes.
Advice must often be dovetailed with that of other advisers and stakeholders, both internal and external to the client. Not only who they are and their personal objectives, but how they work: what their processes are; how they will be using the advice; and how they will interpret it.

Stakeholder mapping

Carry out your stakeholder analysis, mapping the client team that you interface with and their internal stakeholders as early as possible after the kick-off meeting. Keep this updated as a live document and most importantly share it with your team.

Dig deeper

Find out about all aspects of a business situation. It is easy to think of a particular client as a collective represented by your main point of contact, rather than individuals with different views, motivations and thought processes. What does it mean not just to your clients business, but to them personally – does their promotion depend on it?

Do your research

The ‘soft’ more personal aspects of a business situation can have a significant impact. Build up profiles of each team member.  There is so much information at our finger tips spending time googling individuals or using LinkedIn is time well-spent. It can be really useful to capture initial observations from meetings and keep track of any side conversations that have happened. Don’t forget to ask if anyone from your organisation has worked with members of the client team before.

Think ahead

If you have a good idea of the position other advisers will take in a negotiation, use this information to anticipate and resolve issues that may arise ahead of time. Be open and collaborate with the client exploring scenarios together that drive the negotiation towards the desired outcome more quickly.

Simple actions

Understanding people is an art not a science. Simple actions such as taking time to meet individuals off the project for coffee can often be the most effective way to find common ground and build trust. This will set you apart as a friend or partner to the client, rather than a stumbling block to the client’s desired outcomes. Take a moment to think about relationships with your own suppliers, who are you more likely to work with and why?

A ‘trusted adviser’ is not someone you meet once a quarter in a meeting room. By getting to know your clients, you are much more likely to deliver advice that meets their expectations and achieves their outcomes.

[This article originally appeared in professional marketing magazine. For further details go to www.pmforumglobal.com. In the next issue: Habit 5 – Agree the scope]

[Seminar] How to take account management to the next level

Account management is sometimes neither well understood nor systematically applied. When done well, it helps advisers better understand and service key clients, but it is also a lever for more stable and profitable client-adviser relationships.

David Maister, a professional services expert, writes: “The best news is that key account management is in everyone’s interests. Clients want it, and it benefits the firm by growing relationships and generating new fees. Done properly, it can provide career-enhancing opportunities for every professional involved. Studies in many industries have proven the economic benefit of creating customer loyalty, and my own work with professional firms over the last 15 years have convinced me that there is a clear link between profitability and success in nurturing key accounts. It’s hard work, but it’s a clear path to economic success.”

So, how about learning to take account management to the next level?

RBS, Meridian West and the Account Managers Network invite fee earners and marketing professionals to share a rarely seen perspective on how both industry experts and client side see account management evolving.

A unique guest panel will share their experiences and tell us how the next level for account management will unfold. Also Ben Kent (Managing Director at Meridian West & industry expert), and Alastair Beddow (Consultant at Meridian West), will discuss how leading firms are advancing to better meet their key client demands.

We will also hear from Neil Parker, RBS Market Strategist.

The panel:

• Bruce Macmillan – GC at Legal Practice Technologies and formerly Senior Commercial Legal Counsel at VISA – representing the client’s voice
• Eddie Bowman – formerly Global Marketing Director at EY – representing the accountancy sector
• Michael Michaelides – Associate Director of Marketing & Business Development at Allen & Overy – representing the legal sector
• Greg Bott – Head of the Client Development Centre at Addleshaw Goddard – Greg is currently writing a PhD thesis on account management in the legal sector
• Ian Bennison – Marketing Operations Director at TMF Group and formerly BT Global Services – representing professional services and the telco sector

For more information and to book your place, please see our Events page.

[Infographic] Top tips on how to be an active listener

Build a better understanding of your client’s needs through active listening. Check out our practical top tips on how to became an active listener.

Active listening

Active listening

What keeps your clients awake at night?

What keeps your clients awake at night?

If you had to write down the top 3 things that keep your client awake at night could you do it?  Before you read further write them down …

If you were able to do it, then question yourself whether you have tested your view, and if you couldn’t then you are not alone.

In a recent meeting with a FTSE CEO we asked what were the big decisions that he had to make this coming year.  In his mind, there were only two, and they could be articulated in an elevator pitch.  That’s not to say that these were the only vexing decisions that he and his board would make this year, but the two were the ones that were fundamental to the future success of the organisation.

Nothing we were told was confidential or secret, but by asking the question, we were able to get an insight that is immensely valuable. An insight that not many people, probably including most of the organisation’s employees, would have access to.

So why is this insight so valuable?  In short, as a professional services adviser, it gives us contextual insight which will, if we use it well, allow us to provide more ‘commercial’ advice.  For example, if we were advising on the structure of a new business venture for the client, then we may be able to use this insight in recommending which solutions would support and hinder the strategy.

The secondary value in the above example is that whilst you may have been able to identify the same issues from other publicly available material, having it from such a direct source adds credibility to the knowledge.

In addition to the direct benefit of allowing for more ‘commercial’ advice, there is also an indirect benefit. If we know the most important issues for our client and if we marry this with our ‘thirst for knowledge’ discussed in an earlier article [Do you have a thirst for knowledge?], then we can make connections between knowledge that we gain and our client’s needs, which may allow us to build the client relationship outside of specific engagements with relevant knowledge and discussions.

So when was the last time that you asked your client what keeps them up at night?

Do you have a thirst for knowledge?

There has been a fair bit of research done on the behavioural and intellectual traits of professionals and in particular lawyers.  One of the traits that often rises to the surface is that there is a high level of intellectual competitiveness.

Professional training both leading towards, and post, qualification leverages this to ensure that qualified individuals have a deep and robust technical understanding.

Increasingly, the progressive professional services firms, in particular legal firms, are marrying this up with investments in putting lawyers through ‘mini-MBA’ programmes to help provide a wider context to the business world.  Whilst this is a major help to increasing the commerciality of practitioners, it isn’t the whole solution.

In the world of L&D there’s a much used ratio of 70:20:10, in that raising competency comes from:

  • 10% – courses & reading (formal learning)
  • 20% – from people – mainly the boss (peer to peer learning)
  • 70% – from taking on tough tasks (experiential learning)

In successful people, one thing that runs through all three of these is an inquisitiveness, and a ‘thirst for knowledge.  It’s this that drives them to deliver success.

Having undergone a formal piece of training, they will look for people and opportunities that will allow them to apply and test their learning.  Or maybe if they get put on a new client account, they again look for people and knowledge that will build their understanding of the sector or the client.

For these people gaining knowledge is something that never stops, they are always looking for new insights and opinions, making connections, and questioning.

This ‘thirst for knowledge’ is a key attribute of commerciality, the world in which we live and work in is constantly evolving.  Irrespective of whether your clients are: individuals; corporates; or 3rd sector organisations, they all inhabit dynamic worlds and for you to be able to give advice in context, ‘commercial’ advice, you’ll need to understand their worlds as well as they do.

Arguably, you need an even greater ‘thirst for knowledge’ as you have to remain a technical expert as well as a client context expert.  It’s lucky therefore, that as a professional you’ll have a relatively high level of intellectual competitiveness.  If you can focus this and balance it between the professional/technical, and the business/client context areas, then you stand a good chance of success.

The challenge is can you unleash your inner thirst for knowledge?