The Future of the Firm

Episódios Disponíveis

5 de 105

The Top Challenge for Legal CMOs: Building a Next Generation Growth Engine
In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, speaks to Karen Morton, the Chief Marketing Officer of Cleary Gottlieb and President of LMA Europe. They discuss the newly launched report, produced in a collaboration between Source and the Legal Marketing Association Europe, that examines The Top Challenge for Legal CMOs: Building a Next Generation Growth Engine. Karen and Emma shared their insights on these matters and more: Revenue generation is a core part of the CMO’s role, and 67% of those surveyed say it is set to become even more important. With growth a big goal for firms today, their marketing leaders need to free up time and resource to support them with this. 96% of marketing leaders say they’ll be investing more in technology within their function over the next 18 months. Challenges they face include knowing the optimal timing for tech investment, guaranteeing seamless integration across disparate systems, and transforming raw data into meaningful insights. Over 50% of respondents from the survey say that using technology and analytics to better understand client behaviour and deliver an exceptional experience is crucial. This shift further towards data-driven insights is now central to the role of CMOs. Law firm marketing and business development leaders should prioritise using technology to increase efficiency and output by automating mundane tasks and reducing human error, thus creating a high-performing and sustainable team. Law firms need to move away from mass content distribution and instead focus on delivering personalised, targeted insights that really resonate with clients. If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Aurelija Pletiene, Director of Product Management at Vinted, about how you can cut through the noise to align, focus, and deliver innovation around trust and safety.
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How to talk to your clients about value
In this episode of the Future of the Firm podcast, Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, interviews experts from across Source to unpack what “value” really means in consulting today. Drawing on our Emerging Trends Report and our latest research, we explore the persistent gap between quality and value—and what firms can do to close it. We discussed the following matters and more:   According to our research, 79% of clients rate consulting quality highly, but only 49% believe they get enough value over and above what they pay in fees. Our experts offer some advice on how firms can close this gap, including by communicating the value they create. In today's climate of economic uncertainty and tighter budgets, clients are demanding a clear, measurable return on investment (ROI) from every engagement. Before they pursue any new initiative, they need to be certain they will get a tangible return. Clients see “better” value as being created in many ways, including: more innovation stronger stakeholder influence lasting education for their teams While over 80% of firms discuss value with clients during a project, only 17% continue that conversation once the work is done. This means the vast majority are leaving future opportunities—and important insights—on the table. High-quality thought leadership creates lasting value when it's differentiated, engaging, credible, and actionable. For example, executives are constantly horizon scanning for market signals and trying to anticipate change. In an unreliable business landscape, thought leadership provides them with data-backed research, expert analysis, and fresh perspectives that help them make smarter decisions and challenge their assumptions.
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What do firms need to know about how clients perceive them in 2025?
On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Sophie Gunn, Senior Consultant at Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, to debate some of the most important findings from our Client Perceptions programme so far in 2025. They then discuss how firms can use this information to gain competitive advantage. Sophie shared her insights on the following matters and more:   Based on surveys of nearly 4,000 senior buyers, sector expertise and subject matter experts have been the top differentiators for consulting services in recent years. Sophie also reveals other crucial attributes. Client perceptions show notable regional differences. Some examples include: In the US, there's a rising emphasis on a firm's global reach; a trend likely driven by recent shifts in supply chains and tariffs. In countries like China and Japan, clients are primarily focused on a firm's implementation ability. In the UK, GCC, and Australia, thought leadership is comparatively a more highly valued attribute. According to the survey, there is a gap between the perceptions of firms by existing clients and prospects, with current clients rating firms’ quality of work higher than their prospects. Sophie shares what this means for marketing teams. There's a notable shift in how senior managers perceive consulting firms: those below the C-suite are becoming less positive. Sophie sets out how firms can respond. If you enjoyed this conversation, then head over to our Client Perceptions reports page, where you’ll discover much more about how senior decision makers perceive leading firms. We share our independent analysis by geography, sector, and service lines, with recent reports including those on financial services, energy & resources, and the US market. Use these reports to gain insight into client priorities, competitor strengths, and market gaps to better position your brand. You can access the reports directly or contact us for more information.
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How volatility is shaping client futures, and what that means for firms
On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Fiona Czerniawska, CEO of Source, caught up with Emma Carroll, our Head of Content, to discuss how the volatile environment is shaping client futures, and what that means for firms’ scenario planning. Fiona shared her insights on the following matters and more:   Using Source’s proprietary data, clients (and by extension firms) have been categorised into three groups: undecided, frightened, and determined. These are defined by their approach to strategy and investment in an unpredictable market. While many firms engage in scenario planning, its value diminishes after a certain point. To keep the scenarios relevant, they must be converted into credible strategies that empower people to take confident steps in an uncertain world. This episode discusses two major challenges for professional services firms in their own scenario planning: Leading with a narrative: It's difficult for firms to convince their teams and clients to believe in a strategic direction when there's no visible, concrete path forward. Business leaders must build "an invisible staircase" to help their people move forward with confidence. The rise of AI: AI introduces uncertainty about how to price services and deliver value. Given the unreliable global environment, it is crucial for firms to prepare for worst-case scenarios. Having a clear plan can help them navigate uncertainty and respond effectively. Value creation is seen as a crucial concept that underpins all the scenarios. Firms need to shift their focus from pricing based on inputs to pricing based on outputs, or the value delivered to the client. If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Husayn Kassai, CEO and Founder of Quench.ai, about AI adoption and how you can move beyond the hype to achieve success.
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What do clients want from growth and CX work in a volatile market?
On our latest episode of The Future of the Firm podcast, Ben Tye, CEO of Gate One Consulting, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content at Source, to discuss what clients want from growth and CX work today. Ben shared his insights on the following matters and more:   While clients rarely begin by stating "we need to grow our business", this desire for growth is behind many of the challenges they raise, such as CRM system issues or new product launch hurdles. It is therefore crucial for consultants to link these discrete problems back to the ultimate business outcome of driving growth in order to tailor the services firms offer. While traditional buyers like COOs, CTOs, CPOs, CFOs, chief digital & information officers, and chief transformation officers still buy services, consultants need to be careful not to assume these roles are buying the same services as they were historically. For instance, a chief people officer might now be more interested in technology and data insights. This leads to more cross-functional buying, plus two or three buyers may be involved, rather than a single sponsor, making the sales process more complex. Clients want support around the technological, operational, and data aspects of AI. The need for ethical and responsible AI use is increasingly important to clients and is also driving consulting demand. Where AI-driven decisions influence customer experience or service delivery getting those right is particularly critical. Clients are actively identifying and developing a backlog of AI use cases. Firms can help them manage these as a portfolio, using clear decision criteria to quickly determine if a proof of concept is viable. Interestingly, "edge cases" from this portfolio, rather than the immediately obvious ones, often prove to be the most impactful. If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Andrew Brothers, former Chief Information Officer at Primark, about targeting tech investment as a CIO.
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