INTRODUCING NEW RESEARCH

Professional Services Firms Are Leaving Growth on the Table

A new global study of 2,000+ partners reveals a significant gap between willingness to collaborate and action, identifying execution friction as a critical barrier to turning collaboration into client growth.

DOWNLOAD THE RESEARCH
CONTACT US

THE STUDY

Activating Client Relationships

Professional services firms have invested heavily in collaboration, from key client programs and CRM systems to AI, compensation redesign, and dedicated business development resources. Yet many continue to struggle to translate collaboration into meaningful cross-practice growth.

New research from DCM Insights (DCMi) suggests one reason: partners may be far more willing to collaborate than their behavior suggests. Activating Client Relationships is a large-scale global study examining the mindsets and habits that enable high-performing client leaders to drive collaboration-based expansion in strategic accounts, and the organizational conditions firms can create to make those behaviors easier to replicate.

Partners want to collaborate more than they actually do.

While 91% report being very or extremely willing to collaborate, more than one-third make introductions to colleagues only occasionally or less frequently.

The Collaboration Paradox

One of the study's early findings highlights a significant disconnect between partners' stated willingness to collaborate and what they actually do. The challenge facing firms may not simply be convincing partners that collaboration is valuable; it's understanding and addressing the factors that prevent willingness from translating into consistent action.

Making collaboration easier may matter more than increasing financial rewards.

Inefficiencies in identifying and coordinating colleagues across practices are approximately four times more influential than the financial upside associated with larger engagements.

Relationship risk and execution friction influence collaboration decisions.

Partners' perceptions of relationship risk and the difficulty of executing collaboration account for half or more of their willingness to collaborate.

Partners value relationship and reputational benefits over additional compensation.

85% cite strengthening client relationships and 82% cite enhancing their firm's reputation as important reasons to collaborate, compared with 47% who cite additional compensation from larger projects.