Thought leader

In the annual Acritas ‘Legal and Accountancy Benchmarks’ study, we collate the perspectives of over 200 senior buyers of legal and accounting services across the UK. To find out what really makes clients happy, the 2004 results were split into two groups: those respondents most satisfied with their advisers – group A (scoring nine or ten out of ten) – and those less satisfied – group B (scoring eight or less). The two groups were then compared to determine what it was that group A’s advisers were doing better than group B’s.

Most significantly, group-A advisers were far ahead of group-B advisers in providing a service that was more commercial, positioning themselves to add value by better understanding their clients’ businesses and having real experience in particular sectors. The following five factors appeared in the top eight drivers of satisfaction in both the legal and accounting studies:

Strong sector track record;
Commercially driven advice;
Good understanding of client’s business;
Strong experience in client’s key areas;
Good understanding of client’s needs.

Clients often talk about value for money as a key selection criterion. While many firms interpret this to be competitive fee levels, this is rarely mentioned as a reason for instructing a particular provider. When research probes into why a particular adviser is regularly instructed, relationships are the most common justifications.

Taking the time to build up knowledge of a client’s business and industry can only help to build a stronger relationship. A far more positive interpretation of value for money would be to look at how to build up business and industry knowledge among fee earners and how this knowledge can then be translated into a far more commercial and added-value service.

When seeking to differentiate on the basis of commerciality, a firm must initially understand what exactly the term means to its client base and target market. Understandably, differing interpretations will be applied by SMEs than FTSE 250 companies. However, some common themes have been identified. Some SMEs see commerciality as only providing advice when the risks are above a certain level or about understanding the way they would like to run their business. A FTSE 250 company may refer more to understanding the culture and politics in the organisation or about keeping on top of cutting-edge strategies in their industry.

Many firms talk about added value but can’t really put their finger on any concrete examples that they deliver. Added value refers to the generation or provision of value over and above what the client is directly paying for and can enable a firm to adopt a premium pricing policy if properly leveraged. Again, what is perceived as added value varies greatly by individual. It is not uncommon for clients with particularly poor service experiences to state that simply delivering what is promised, on time and in budget would be perceived as added value. More sophisticated interpretations are wide ranging and emphasise the need to adopt a highly bespoke approach to delivering added value. What works for one client may not work for the next, so it is critical to build a close relationship and in-depth understanding of the needs of the business, as well as the issues faced by the buyer personally. This could be as simple as passing on general pieces of relevant information on an ad-hoc basis or acting as a valuable referrer of new business. At a more complex level, consider the possibility of using corporate facilities such as news-tracking services to track competitor activity on your client’s behalf or providing a number of added-value ‘free hours’ to be used at your client’s discretion.

Getting commerciality and added value right with clients can offer big dividends in terms of long-term loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals. It really is worth thinking about how your firm currently addresses these issues and whether your clients currently think you deliver what they want.

Lisa Hart is managing director at Acritas. For further information, contact Jo Summers at jsummers@acritas.com.