This document summarizes key points from a seminar on making profitable top line growth a priority in 2016. It discusses delivering more value to clients without discounting, the importance of industry specialization, winning new clients without being the lowest bidder, retaining best clients, and attracting competitors' clients. Charts show rising client expectations around value and cost, and how industry specialists command premium prices. The document emphasizes that expertise, understanding clients' businesses, and responsive service are most important in driving client consideration and purchase decisions. It promotes Beatons' consulting services to help firms grow profitably.

1. Presented by
George 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

2. Thank you for participating in Making
Profitable Top Line Growth Your Priority!
We addressed five themes…
1. Delivering more value to your clients – without
discounting
2. Why the smart money is on firms with recognised client
industry specialisations
3. Winning new clients without being the bidder with the
lowest price
4. Ways to brickwall your best clients
5. 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

3. 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.
6.3
6.2
6.3
6.2
6.2
6.1
6.5
6.5
6.8
6.1
6.0
6.1
6.2
6.5
6.8
5.8
6.3
6.8
2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016
Meanscore
Engineering Australia 2011-2016
Perception of fee levels Perceived value Cost consciousness
• 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.
©BeatonResearch+Consulting
3

4. 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 USE
EVALUATEAWARE CONSIDER USE EVALUATE
BUS DEV
REPUTATION
SWITCH
©BeatonResearch+Consulting
4

5. Perceivedvalue
Perceived fee level
When cost consciousness is high
and performance is high
and price is higher, then
perceived value is higher
Under these conditions
price is a signal for quality
When cost consciousness is high
and performance is high
and price is lower, then
perceived value is lower
Perceived value is higher
when cost consciousness is low
and performance is low
and price is lower
When cost consciousness is low +
And performance is low +
And price is higher, then
Perceived value is lower
Remember clients are willing to pay more…
…when your performance and
cost consciousness are highly rated
©BeatonResearch+Consulting
5

6. 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)
AAA
BBB
CCC
DDD
FFF
EEE
GGG
HHH
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
5% 15% 25% 35% 45% 55%
PerceivedasExpensive(%)
Consideration (% of market)
©BeatonResearch+Consulting
6

7. 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%
56
38
32
27
20
16
13
13
9
9
7
7
4
3
2
1
0 10 20 30 40 50 60
Expertise in your area of need
Understanding your business / industry
Leading expertise
Commerciality of advice
Responsiveness
Access to partners / principals
Reliability
Ease of doing business with
Friendly / strong rapport
Quality documentation
Strong brand
Excellent communication
Cost consciousness
Innovation
Caring about their clients
Price
% '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
©BeatonResearch+Consulting
7

8. 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
26
17
17
14
12
10
9
7
6
6
5
5
4
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
The nature of our requirements changed
Impressed by offering of the current firm
Due to the decisions of others
The current firm offered less expensive fees
Dissatisfied with the performance of the…
Impressed by efforts made by the current…
Received poor advice / outcome(s) from…
I moved organisations
Dissatisfied with the fees of the previous…
I changed jobs within my organisation
My key contact moved firms
Advised to by a third-party
Poor handling of complaints by the…
% 'yes'
©BeatonResearch+Consulting
8

9. 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 1
Understanding your business / industry 63 2 34 2
Commerciality of advice 62 3 33 3
Responsiveness 61 4 27 4
Reliability 53 5 15 8
Ease of doing business with 47 6 17 6
Excellent communication 44 7 8 12
Leading expertise 44 8 18 5
Cost consciousness 44 9 15 7
Access to partners / principals 42 10 14 9
Quality documentation 40 11 8 13
Price 36 12 13 10
Friendly / strong rapport 35 13 10 11
Caring about their clients 25 14 3 14
Innovation 14 15 2 16
Strong brand 9 16 2 15
Drivers of consideration
Drivers of purchase
decision
9
©BeatonResearch+Consulting
• Expertise in your area of need, based on understanding
your business and industry, leading to commercial
advice,
• Combined with responsive and reliable service

10. 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