The evidence behind these problems

The figures on our About you page come from the sources below. For each, we set out what it shows and what it does not, so you can judge its weight for yourself. Little of this evidence is specific to UK professional services, so for each source we note its scope; where a source has a commercial interest, we say so.

Too much of your revenue rests on too few clients

Figure: A buyer can expect to apply a 10 to 20% discount to a UK agency’s value when one client accounts for more than 20% of its revenue; above 30%, sales often fall through.

Source: Alto Accounting, UK Agency Valuation Guide, 11 January 2026.

What it does not show: A research finding. It is one adviser’s guidance, and it concerns the sale of a business rather than investment generally.

Long-standing clients are drifting away

Figure: 60% of B2B customers are indifferent, 11% are actively disengaged and 29% are fully engaged.

Source: Gallup, For B2B companies, customer surveys aren’t enough, 26 April 2016.

What it does not show: UK or professional services data. It is cross-sector.

Figure: The decision to leave a supplier builds through a series of events over time, some of them outside the core service.

Source: Hollmann, Jarvis and Bitner, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 2015.

What it does not show: A lead time. This is qualitative research, so “months” on our page reflects our experience, not the study’s finding.

Your key client relationships sit with one or two of your people

Figure: Once one person had served a client for three and a half years, the chance of the client following them when they left had doubled. Each additional colleague working with the client made it about 2.5% less likely.

Source: Raffiee, Strategic Management Journal, 2017 (peer-reviewed), with figures taken from the author’s summary in Harvard Business Review, January 2017.

What it does not show: Rates for UK organisations. The study covers US federal lobbying clients from 1998 to 2014.

New decision-makers at your clients judge you differently

Figure: 90% of business buyers born after 1980 cited dissatisfaction with a supplier in at least one area, against 71% of older buyers.

Source: Forrester, Younger Business Buyers Are Having Their Say, 15 February 2023.

What it does not show: That younger buyers are less loyal or more likely to leave. The data is global.

Leaders cannot see the client portfolio clearly

Figure: 45% of sales leaders and sellers have high confidence in their organisation’s forecasting accuracy.

Source: Gartner press release, 12 February 2020.

What it does not show: Visibility of client relationships directly. It measures confidence in sales forecasts across industries, and the sample is not published.

Your CRM holds data, not client insight

Figure: 76% of CRM users and stakeholders say less than half of their organisation’s CRM data is accurate and complete.

Source: Validity, The State of CRM Data Management in 2025 (602 respondents in the US, UK and Australia).

What it does not show: A B2B services finding. Validity sells CRM data quality software.

You measure satisfaction and fees, not the strength of the relationship

Figure: Advisory and accounting practices score 57.9 out of 100 for the strength of their client experience management, against 62.5 across all industries.

Source: HLB and McorpCX, Stopping Revenue Leakage, June 2026.

What it does not show: A representative benchmark. The sample size is not disclosed.

Growth inside your clients is left to chance

Figure: 11% of professional services organisations with a relationship management platform almost always use it to identify new contacts and growth opportunities.

Source: BoardEx, via Consultancy.eu, 19 October 2020.

What it does not show: A figure for all organisations. It is 11% of those with a platform; this is vendor research and the sample size is not published.

What these problems cost

Figure: 3 new customers can be needed to replace the value of one that is lost.

Source: McKinsey, Experience-led growth: a new way to create value, 23 March 2023.

What it does not show: A measured finding. It is a consultancy estimate drawn from client work, and it is not UK data.

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The evidence behind what works

Eight research findings on how the strongest organisations work with their clients, and the results linked to each.

Leading organisations grow mainly through existing clients

Their main source of new revenue is further work from the clients they already serve.

80%

of the value created by the world’s most successful growth organisations comes from their core business, mainly through new revenue from existing clients.

Source: McKinsey & Company, Experience-led growth: a new way to create value, 23 March 2023.

What it does not show: A measured finding. It is McKinsey’s estimate from client work, with no sample, country or sector stated.

When the whole organisation puts clients first, more of them stay

Decisions across the organisation start from what clients need, so they have fewer reasons to drift away.

51%

better client retention reported by organisations that are customer-obsessed by Forrester’s definition, compared with those that are not.

Source: Forrester, Forrester Opens Nominations For Its 2025 Customer Obsession Awards, press release, 2025.

What it does not show: That putting clients first causes better retention. Organisations rated themselves, the sample is not published and Forrester sells advice on this model.

A structured approach can save at-risk client relationships

Important clients are managed through a structured programme, so a relationship under strain can be repaired before the client is lost.

95%

of organisations say they have repaired or saved a major client relationship through strategic account management.

Source: Strategic Account Management Association (SAMA), claims published on its website, undated (checked September 2026).

What it does not show: An independent finding. It is the association’s own claim, with no sample, method or country published, and SAMA sells training in this field.

Buyers still want a person to check AI findings

Buyers do much of their research alone and with AI tools, but at critical moments they still want someone at the supplier to confirm what they have found. That is the opening to earn the trust of a new decision-maker.

69%

of B2B buyers prefer to check AI-generated insights with a salesperson. In the same survey, 67% said they would rather buy without one, so at least a third of buyers hold both views.

Source: Gartner press release, Gartner Survey Finds 69% of B2B Buyers Turn to Sales Reps to Validate AI-Generated Insights, 20 May 2026 (645 B2B buyers).

What it does not show: UK findings. The country mix is not disclosed, and Gartner’s buyer research leans towards technology purchases.

The fastest growers are clear about who they serve

Leaders know which markets the organisation is best placed to serve, so time and investment go to the clients and opportunities that fit.

83.1%

of high-growth professional services organisations report a clear understanding of their target markets, against 61% of low-growth organisations.

Source: Hinge Research Institute, 2025 High Growth Study, January 2025 (770 professional services organisations); figure taken from a published summary of the study.

What it does not show: That clarity about target markets causes growth. Organisations rated themselves on both, there is no UK sub-sample and Hinge sells marketing services in this sector.

Client insight, used well, goes with stronger sales

What people learn about each client is captured, shared across the team and used to decide where to focus, rather than sitting in individual inboxes.

50%

of the organisations making most use of client data analysis report sales well above their competitors’, against 22% of those making least use of it.

Source: McKinsey & Company, Five facts: How customer analytics boosts corporate performance, 2014 (interviews with 400 top managers of large international companies).

What it does not show: Recent or UK evidence. The interviews took place in 2013, the results are self-reported and McKinsey sells analytics advice.

Organisations that measure the value their clients receive grow faster

Alongside fees and satisfaction scores, leaders track what clients actually gain from the relationship.

22%

more measures of client value are used by fast-growing B2B organisations than by slow-growing ones. Fast growth here means more than 10% a year.

Source: Forrester, Investigating the Upside Down: Balancing Organizational and Customer Value in B2B Measurement, 6 May 2020.

What it does not show: That measuring client value causes faster growth. The sample, countries and sectors are not published, and Forrester sells measurement frameworks.

Top performers plan for growth from their clients

Opportunities with each important client are identified, agreed and written into a plan, rather than left to chance or individual effort.

2.5 times more likely

top performers, compared with everyone else, to have an effective process for building client plans.

Source: RAIN Group Center for Sales Research, Top Performance in Strategic Account Management Benchmark Report, first published 4 December 2024 (397 participants; the report itself is undated).

What it does not show: UK evidence. Top performers are the 13% with the strongest growth across their key clients; the data is self-reported, the country and sector mix is not disclosed and RAIN sells training in this area.