Issue 3, March 20, 2026
Clients take the time to provide feedback. They complete surveys, participate in interviews, and attend feedback sessions. Yet across thousands of client conversations, the same pattern emerges: what clients really want to tell you often goes unasked.
Research across professional services firms reveals that while 96% collect some form of client feedback, most focus on past performance (Source: Meridian West CLIMB Research). The questions center on what happened: “How did we do?” “What could we have done better?” These matter, but they represent only half the conversation.
Here are the four questions clients consistently wish their advisers would ask, drawn from extensive client listening programmes across the sector.
1. “What are your plans for the next 12 to 18 months?”
Clients want their advisers to understand their business trajectory, not just their immediate needs. When entrepreneur Edward Peck reflected on what frustrates him about professional advisers, he pinpointed this gap: “You want someone who understands your industry, who can speak your language, not someone learning on your time and your money” (Source: Meridian West Client First Research).
Yet around 80% of firms don’t use client listening as a source of insight for understanding future client needs, and two-thirds don’t draw on informal client conversations for forward-looking intelligence (Source: Meridian West ATLAS Research).
Asking about future plans unlocks two benefits. First, you spot commercial opportunities early, positioning yourself as a strategic partner rather than a reactive service provider. Second, you demonstrate genuine interest in the client’s success beyond the current engagement.
2. “What challenges are you facing that we might not know about?”
Clients often struggle with issues beyond the immediate scope of your engagement. They might be wrestling with budget pressures, organisational changes, or strategic uncertainties that shape how they buy professional services.
According to Thomson Reuters’ State of the UK Legal Market 2025 report, over half of general counsel plan to bring more work in-house over the next five years, driven by budget pressures and AI technologies (Source: Thomson Reuters, 2025). Clients facing these pressures need advisers who understand the constraints they’re operating under.
When you ask about broader challenges, you create space for honest conversations about commercial realities. This might reveal opportunities to structure fees differently, suggest phased approaches to projects, or identify ways to demonstrate value that resonate with their internal stakeholders.
3. “What are your competitors doing that interests you?”
Clients notice when a rival adopts a new approach, enters a new market, or restructures their operations. These observations shape their thinking about their own direction.
Asking about competitor activity serves two purposes. It helps you understand the competitive context your client operates in, making your advice more commercially grounded. It also positions you as someone interested in their market positioning, not just their immediate problems.
This question works particularly well in client listening programmes because it shifts the conversation from evaluative (how did we perform?) to strategic (what’s happening in your world?).
4. “How can we make you look good internally?”
Your client contact isn’t the only stakeholder. They need to justify decisions to colleagues, boards, or internal teams. They need to demonstrate value, manage expectations, and build credibility within their organisation.
One head of client insights at a Big 4 firm described how understanding this dynamic transformed their approach: “We get them to sit down with a mock client and have a conversation around feedback, looking for opportunities. People were at first hesitant to do it, but when they came out of it, they went, ‘Oh, that was great, now I’ve got some kind of quasi-script in my head of how I can have a conversation with a client'” (Source: Meridian West CLIMB Research).
This question opens conversations about reporting requirements, communication preferences, and how to frame your work in ways that help your client champion it internally.
What We’re Seeing
Two patterns stand out from recent client listening work. First, firms that focus exclusively on past performance in their feedback programmes report significantly lower success in identifying growth opportunities. The gap is substantial: 58% of firms that integrate client feedback with commercial data report being “very successful” at identifying revenue opportunities, compared to just 18% of those who don’t (Source: Meridian West CLIMB Research).
Second, the most advanced firms recognise that client listening works at multiple levels. They use structured feedback programmes for systematic relationship reviews while also equipping fee-earners to have commercial conversations naturally. As one business development director explained: “At the end of the day, it’s about making sure we’re listening to those insights and actioning them. If we’re taking up our client’s time to listen, we want to learn and to do better” (Source: Meridian West CLIMB Research).
Questions for Your Next Client Conversation
Before your next client meeting, consider: Which of these four questions would add most value to this specific client relationship? How might asking about their future plans reveal opportunities you’re currently missing? What would change in your approach if you understood their internal pressures better?
The clients who feel truly listened to are the ones who become genuine partners in your firm’s growth.
What’s Coming Up
Our April roundtable explores insights from Meridian West’s Client First research on why relationship breakdowns often stem from a limited understanding of who the client really is. We will examine stakeholder complexity, expectation management and the importance of tailoring communication to different audiences.
If you’d like to join the conversation, get in touch.The Meridian Perspective is published bi-weekly for marketing, business development, and senior leaders in professional services. Each issue shares practical insights from our client intelligence work, roundtable discussions, and research.