https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/ Thu, 02 April 2026 00:00:00 Thu, 02 April 2026 00:00:00 A well-designed client feedback program is no longer a “nice to have.” It’s one of the most effective business development, retention and pricing tools available to professional services firms. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/client-feedback-program-for-professional-services-firms-why-its-essential/ Thu, 02 April 2026 00:00:00 When you think about Star Wars, you think: George Lucas, Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, Darth Vader and maybe an Ewok or two. What you are unlikely to do is make a connection between Star Wars and Value Pricing. But, if you are a student of Value Pricing looking to understand the impact it can have on the bottom-line, then Star Wars is a good place to start. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/a-value-pricing-master-class-by-alec-guinness-star-wars/ Wed, 18 March 2026 00:00:00 Business development campaigns rarely fail because of bad intent or lazy execution. They fail because of predictable, fixable mistakes. We look at 10 common reasons we see business development campaigns failing, along with 3 practical fixes you can apply immediately to remedy this issue. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/why-bd-campaigns-fail/ Wed, 18 February 2026 00:00:00 For most professional services firms, post-matter reviews are a well-intentioned but often under-cooked process. Artificial Intelligence (AI) can fundamentally alter this dynamic. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/ai-and-post-matter-learnings/ Wed, 04 February 2026 00:00:00 While most BD plans are very impressive looking documents, the hard truth is that few work effectively and most never make it out of the top drawer of the partner’s desk. What fails isn’t in the idea of business development - it’s in the way the firm’s business development plan is designed, governed and lived. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/common-mistakes-in-bd-planning/ Wed, 21 January 2026 00:00:00 Sustainable growth doesn’t happen in sprints; it happens when you show up constantly. So here are some helpful hints on how to make business development a natural, automatic part of your work day. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/bd-daily-habits/ Wed, 07 January 2026 00:00:00 Most professionals fail miserably at cross-selling. Their firm’s cross-selling efforts feel ad hoc, dependent on individual rainmakers or are overly reliant on enthusiasm rather than strategy. So here are some identifiers of what might be holding back your firm’s cross-selling, as well as some steps you can take to fix it. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/cross-selling-tips/ Wed, 17 December 2025 00:00:00 If there’s one topic that makes many professionals squirm, it’s self-promotion. You know business development matters. You know visibility drives trust. But promoting yourself can feel… uncomfortable. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/fear-of-self-promotion/ Wed, 03 December 2025 00:00:00 At its core, business development in professional services is about people. Despite what people might be telling you about the wonders of artificial intelligence (AI); the art of building trust, listening to client needs, and staying front-of-mind will still require the human touch for years to come. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/role-of-ai-in-bd/ Wed, 19 November 2025 00:00:00 One of the most common questions we get asked is: “What’s the difference between marketing and business development? Aren’t they the same thing?”. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/marketing-vs-bd/ Wed, 05 November 2025 00:00:00 For some time now we have been told that the onset of artificial intelligence (AI) will doom the billable hour and that value-based pricing is the future. But, what if they are wrong? https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/trust-based-pricing/ Wed, 22 October 2025 00:00:00 Pricing work that lacks clear deliverables, predictable timelines, measurable outcomes or a defined scope of services is one of the biggest challenges professional services firms face today. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/pricing-the-uncertain/ Wed, 08 October 2025 00:00:00 As the age of artificial intelligence (AI) dawns, the traditional view of leverage is being reviewed and rewritten. Tomorrow, leverage is going to be less about headcount ratios and more about a new dynamic. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/leverage-in-the-age-of-ai/ Wed, 24 September 2025 00:00:00 We often hear feedback that clients wish they had the chance to meet all the professionals on the team. But, as anyone who has worked in professional services can tell you, client relationships are carefully cultivated and often closely guarded by senior partners and/or client relationship partners. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/early-junior-staff-involvement/ Mon, 08 September 2025 00:00:00 Delegating business development tasks strategically and effectively can dramatically improve your business development performance and results. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/bd-delegation/ Tue, 26 August 2025 00:00:00 High-value clients gravitate toward firms that are intentional about how they present themselves, what they do, who they serve and what value they are delivering to their clients. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/attract-high-value-clients/ Tue, 12 August 2025 00:00:00 Fundamentally, AI will bring discipline to pricing by offering firms real-time insights, automating routine processes, and revealing patterns that help partners and pricing teams make better decisions. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/10-ways-ai-will-change-your-firm-s-pricing/ Wed, 30 July 2025 00:00:00 Receiver pricing is a relatively new concept to professional service suppliers. In short, it is structured from the perspective of the purchaser/buyer of your service, not the more traditional model o https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/receiver-pricing/ Wed, 16 July 2025 00:00:00 Discounting is addictive and can easily become your default pricing strategy, rather than a strategic choice. Once discounting becomes your default pricing strategy, you’ll notice that they can quickly eat away at your profit margins, undermine your brand value and set damaging expectations with clients. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/discounting/ Wed, 02 July 2025 00:00:00 Hourly rates are meaningless: The market decides what you are worth! Finance can give you a compass, but it’s the client, the competition and your own positioning that ultimately sets the price you can charge. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/who-really-sets-hourly-rates/ Wed, 18 June 2025 00:00:00 If you’re offering strategic discounts to all your clients, then they are no longer strategic: you’re simply giving money away. Worse, you’re undermining your brand, both personal and firm. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/transition-to-fixed-fees/ Wed, 04 June 2025 00:00:00 An overview of the subscription-based model for the provision of legal services. While accepting that not every legal matter is suited to a subscription model, many essential services can be bundled into ongoing, value-driven subscription packages. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/subscription-based-legal-services/ Wed, 21 May 2025 00:00:00 As artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the way in which professional services are provided – from automating tasks to enhancing efficiencies - roles will undoubtably be redefined. Included in this will be a significant shift in the value professionals offer their clients. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/bd-skills-v-ai/ Wed, 07 May 2025 00:00:00 Knowing the 80/20 Rule applies to most professional services firms, why aren’t you doing more work for the 20% over the 80%? In this article, we look at five key strategies to do just that. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/acquire-more-profitable-clients/ Wed, 23 April 2025 00:00:00 While it is always nice to hang out with the high rolling “full service” firms; today, if you want a chance of maximizing your profit opportunities, it is a far better strategy to market yourself as a niche practice. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/power-of-specialising/ Wed, 09 April 2025 00:00:00 Adopting and implementing the right pricing strategy is critical for any business looking to balance profitability, competitiveness, and stay in business. A pricing approach that often gets overlooked in this discussion is blended rates. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/blended-rates/ Wed, 26 March 2025 00:00:00 Staying in your lane isn’t about stifling growth opportunities; it’s about understanding your strengths, focusing your efforts, and maximising your business development impact. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/stay-in-your-lane/ Wed, 12 March 2025 00:00:00 Every now and then, you are faced with the prospect of working with a client you don’t particularly like. But, at the end of the day, we are professionals and with the right mindset and strategies, we can navigate these challenges and even turn them into opportunities for growth. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/clients-you-do-not-like/ Wed, 26 February 2025 00:00:00 Horizon scanning is a critical strategic tool used to identify and analyse potential future trends, opportunities and threats. It is the process of systematically identifying and assessing potential future developments that are likely to impact your professional practice. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/horizon-scanning/ Tue, 11 February 2025 00:00:00 It’s a foundation principle of economics: Supply and demand determine price. Oversupply will reduce prices. Increased demand will increase prices. However, this fundamental principle – that drives most of the world’s economy – doesn’t apply to professional services! https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/supply-and-demand-application/ Wed, 29 January 2025 00:00:00 In a recent post, we discussed implementing a Key Client Program (KCP). In this post we want to expand upon that and discuss what the benefits are of having a KCP – and trust us, there are plenty more than the 10 listed in this article. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/benefits-of-a-kcp/ Wed, 18 December 2024 00:00:00 When I first started working with professional services firms over 25 years ago, a partner pulled me aside and told me that all of his clients were equal. It didn’t take me long to realise this was a very bad client strategy to have. Not only are clients not equal, but not all clients are good clients that you want to keep . https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/key-client-programs/ Wed, 04 December 2024 00:00:00 Heaven forbid it should actually happen to you, but do you know what you would or should do if a client makes a complaint about you or your firm? https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/client-complaints/ Wed, 20 November 2024 00:00:00 In this blog, we explore when it might be a good time to fire a client and talk through some proactive steps you can take to ensure the process is as smooth as possible. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/firing-clients/ Wed, 06 November 2024 00:00:00 Trust, and for that matter accountability, is the cornerstone of any professional relationship. Without their trust in your ability to deliver on what you say you can deliver, your clients will, eventually, walk away. One of the most effective tools you can use to establish and maintain a level of trust between you and your client is a client charter. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/client-charters/ Wed, 23 October 2024 00:00:00 Competition for work has never been greater. Every year I feel like the demand side shrinks, the supply side expands, and the cries of ‘more for less’ grow louder. One of the more innovative ways for professionals to create and cultivate client stickiness is to commit to a retainer fee arrangement. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/retainer-agreements/ Wed, 09 October 2024 00:00:00 In a highly competitive business environment, such as we often find with professional services, it is arguable that an aggressive pricing strategy helps win work and new clients. A ‘land and expand’ pricing strategy could be an option for you to consider to drive business growth and success. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/land-and-expand-pricing/ Wed, 25 September 2024 00:00:00 You’ve done an internal audit of your existing skill set and identified a deficiency. It might be that you never had that particular skill set in the first place. Or it could be you’ve recently lost the skill to a retirement or departure. Either way, you don’t have it, and you need it. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/lateral-hire-tips/ Wed, 11 September 2024 00:00:00 “Recurring revenue” = revenue that is expected to continue on a regular basis with a high-degree of predictability. “Reoccurring revenue” = revenue that is repeatable, but not necessarily on a regular or predictable basis. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/recurring-vs-reoccurring-revenue/ Wed, 28 August 2024 00:00:00 When a client first asks you for a capped fee, you’ll likely not think too much about it. After all what can go wrong? All you need to do is to scope the work, workout the leverage, think about how long it will take you to do the task and then add in a little buffer. But, is this the best way? https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/capped-fees/ Wed, 14 August 2024 00:00:00 For most professionals, the very thought of a meeting with a new prospect or an existing customer to talk through how you can help them with their problem(s) can be daunting. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/successful-bd-meetings/ Tue, 30 July 2024 00:00:00 Strong client relationships are critical to maintaining and growing business. With most service-based professional businesses – such as legal, accounting, and engineering – relationships with customers tend to be transactional. So, how do you balance a transactional practice with a need to foster long-term client relationships? https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/after-sales-service/ Wed, 17 July 2024 00:00:00 Every professional services firm collects huge amounts of data about their clients and the industry sectors they operate in each and every day. Few, however, take the time to apply the resources to interpret this raw data and apply the findings to its own business in order to improve the value of the service they’re providing. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/data-value/ Mon, 08 July 2024 00:00:00 At GSJ we believe that by not segmenting your client list to the relevant readership, you’re missing out on a ton of business development opportunities. If you want to rectify this error, you should start by classifying your current client and target client lists. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/client-segmentation/ Wed, 19 June 2024 00:00:00 According to the results of a survey undertaken by BTI Consulting Group, 72% of professional services firms’ clients indicated that they want to give feedback on their service provider’s performance. Yet only 30% of firms actually ask their clients for feedback in any meaningful way. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/client-feedback-programs/ Tue, 04 June 2024 00:00:00 A common question in business is whether it is better to be a generalist, full-service practitioner or a niche practitioner? As with so many things in professional services, our answer to that question is a cop-out: "it depends". https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/niche-or-generalist/ Wed, 22 May 2024 00:00:00 This post is inspired by Kurt Vonnegut’s ‘8 Rules of Writing’. If you’ve never heard of Vonnegut’s 8 Rules, Rule #1 is about as perfect an example of a rule that should apply to your business development activities. Read here for this #1 tip and 9 more! https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/10-bd-rules/ Tue, 07 May 2024 00:00:00 Partner retreat season generally happens a couple of months before the end of the financial year, and regardless of whether it’s your first partner retreat or your 20th, you need to make sure you follow a planned strategy to maximise your networking opportunities at the getaway. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/partner-retreat-networking/ Tue, 23 April 2024 00:00:00 The holy grail of professional services firms is ensuring we provide excellent client service. Provide excellent client service and, in all likelihood, our clients will keep coming back to us. Provide a rubbish client service, and there’s a very good chance you’ll never see that client again! https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/excellent-client-service/ Tue, 09 April 2024 00:00:00 Business development is not only critical to the growth of your practice, but also to its sustainability. Yet many small-to-medium-sized professional services firms see business development as an administrative burden, if not a headache. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/5-bd-tips-for-small-to-medium-firms/ Wed, 27 March 2024 00:00:00 Every professional services firm is fundamentally a person-to-person business. As a result, a large part of our ongoing book of business is reliant on the referrals we get from our trusted relationships. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/building-referral-network/ Wed, 13 March 2024 00:00:00 Without trust, you don’t have a long-lasting relationship with your customer(s). Without it, you are transactional, always looking for that next deal and customer. Implementing our 10 tips to build a trusting relationship with your customers will help deliver repeatable revenue opportunities. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/building-trust/ Wed, 28 February 2024 00:00:00 Dynamic pricing adjusts pricing to real-time circumstances around the demand for a service or product. Options include surge pricing and special occasion pricing. Understanding the how, when, what and who, where certain events will create demand, actually gives you a competitive advantage. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/dynamic-pricing/ Wed, 14 February 2024 00:00:00 These key questions provide a useful starting point for thinking about how you can engage at a deeper level with those clients you wish to be doing more work with. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/client-stickiness/ Tue, 30 January 2024 00:00:00 “Relationship Value” exists between you and your client if you provide your client with an economic benefit, a technical benefit, a service benefit and a social benefit. In this article, we look at these in more detail and provide our top tips on the ways professional services firms can create and enhance the Relationship Value they have with their clients. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/relationship-value/ Wed, 17 January 2024 00:00:00 As your outsourced business development provider, at GSJ we will tell you it’s no longer the right time to be chasing the last of the Christmas feast that was; you need to FOCUS your business development efforts for 2024. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/focus-for-2024/ Tue, 02 January 2024 00:00:00 As a professional, building a book of business in Asia isn’t easy! Fortunately for you, the team at GSJ have over 30 years of experience building books of business in Asia, so here are our ”5 tips on how to build a practice in Asia”. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/build-asia-clients/ Tue, 19 December 2023 00:00:00 We all get it: “Value” is created from your client’s experience interacting with you. QED, if you want to differentiate yourself from the crowd, then you need to be providing a better client experience (CX) than your competitors. But that’s easier said than done. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/add-value-to-clients/ Wed, 06 December 2023 00:00:00 Winning new business can be as simple as the process of “Meet”, “Talk” and “Act”. Provided you not only follow this simple 3-step plan, but also continually act on it, you should find yourself winning new business from your clients! https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/a-simple-3-step-guide-to-winning-new-business/ Wed, 01 November 2023 00:00:00 Adapting and applying a “zero sum days philosophy” to your business development projects is one sure-fire way to ensure you stay one step ahead of your competitors. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/grow-a-profitable-practice-with-zero-sum-business-development-days/ Wed, 18 October 2023 00:00:00 Given the intense nature of professional services firms, the concept of “the R.U.L.E.S” seems a fair and equitable profitability measure. But: Are the RULES the most appropriate measurement of a professional services firm’s profit or loss? https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/learning-the-rules/ Wed, 04 October 2023 00:00:00 When I first started working in private practice back in the mid-1990s, there were what was then commonly known as the Three Noble Horsemen of private practice: ‘The Finders, The Minders and The Grinders’. And then we introduced the ‘balance scorecard’. https://www.gsjconsulting.com.au/blog/the-three-noble-horsemen-of-private-practice-finders-minders-and-grinders/ Thu, 21 September 2023 00:00:00