Helen Cox Marketing Consultant Kent and London

Generic BD plans don’t work: why professional services firms need sector focus

Professional services firms are under more pressure than ever to generate meaningful results from business development. Yet many are approaching BD without a clear, strategic plan. Instead, they’re relying on generic strategies that spread resources too thin, fail to produce measurable outcomes, and leave partners uncertain about where to focus their efforts.

The issue isn’t a lack of BD activity. It’s that the activity isn’t strategic enough. This blog explores why sector-led business development is more effective than broad-brush approaches, and provides a practical framework for how firms can shift their strategy to improve focus, accountability and results.

The warning signs that your BD strategy lacks focus

There are several red flags that suggest your firm’s business development plan is too generic and needs refining:

You’re trying to target everyone but gaining little traction anywhere. When your messaging attempts to speak to all potential clients, it often ends up resonating with none. Broad targeting means you’re competing in every space without establishing real authority in any particular area.

BD responsibility is vague and inconsistent. Some partners are actively engaged in business development, whilst others remain disengaged. Without clear ownership and accountability, efforts become patchy and unreliable.

There’s no clear agreement on priorities. Your firm lacks consensus on which sectors or service lines should take precedence. This leads to conflicting priorities and mixed messages in the market.

Activity is tracked, but outcomes aren’t measured effectively. You’re monitoring events attended and emails sent, but failing to link these activities to meaningful outcomes like pipeline growth, conversion rates or successful cross-selling opportunities.

Resources are spread too thin. Marketing budgets, partner time and support resources are divided across too many areas, meaning nothing receives the focused attention needed to drive real impact.

Firms may appear busy with BD activity, but busy doesn’t equal effective. Without a focused plan, business development often becomes a disconnected list of actions rather than a strategic effort that drives sustainable growth.

Why sector-led BD strategies deliver better results

When you structure business development efforts around specific sectors or service lines, everything becomes clearer and more effective.

You gain laser focus on your targeting. Instead of casting a wide net, you can identify exactly who you’re trying to reach within specific industries or client types. This precision allows you to develop detailed buyer personas and understand the decision-making processes within those sectors.

Your messaging becomes more relevant and compelling. Sector-focused messaging addresses specific challenges, regulatory requirements and business pressures that your target clients face. This relevance makes your communications more engaging and positions your firm as an expert in their world.

You can make smarter investment decisions. With clear sector focus, you can determine which channels, events and tactics are worth investing in. Rather than spreading resources across numerous generic activities, you can concentrate efforts where they’ll have the greatest impact.

Marketing and BD work together more effectively. When business development has clear sector priorities, marketing can create relevant content, targeted campaigns and industry-specific events that directly support BD goals. This alignment eliminates the disconnect that often exists between marketing activity and business development objectives.

Partners feel more confident in client conversations. When partners have tailored sector insight and specific expertise to draw upon, they approach prospect conversations with greater confidence and credibility. They can speak knowledgeably about industry trends, challenges and opportunities.

This strategic alignment improves consistency, relevance and impact both internally within your firm and externally with your target market.

How sector focus unlocks revenue from existing clients

One often overlooked benefit of sector-focused planning is its power to unlock additional revenue from your existing client base through strategic cross-selling.

Identify service gaps more effectively. By organising BD efforts around client types or industries, you can systematically identify where clients might benefit from additional services. For example, a legal client using corporate services but not employment law, or an accountancy client who might benefit from business advisory services alongside compliance work.

Bring different teams together for client insight. Sector focus encourages collaboration between different service teams who work with similar client types. This knowledge sharing reveals opportunities that might otherwise be missed and ensures a more comprehensive understanding of client needs.

Position your firm as a trusted adviser. When cross-selling conversations are informed by deep sector insight and demonstrate genuine understanding of the client’s business environment, you move beyond being seen as a transactional service provider to becoming a trusted strategic partner.

Time conversations strategically. Understanding sector cycles, regulatory changes and industry pressures means you can time conversations about additional services when clients are most likely to need them.

Clients are significantly more receptive to hearing about additional services when those conversations demonstrate sector expertise and show genuine understanding of their business world.

A practical framework for building sector-led BD in your firm

Shifting to sector-led business development doesn’t require a complete organisational restructure, but it does need intentional planning and clear execution. Here’s a practical framework to help you get started:

1. Map sectors to services strategically

Begin by identifying your key client sectors and linking them clearly to the services you provide. This creates a comprehensive matrix for targeting and messaging that everyone in the firm can understand and use.

Conduct a client analysis. Review your existing client base to identify which sectors generate the most revenue, offer the greatest growth potential, or where you have particular expertise and credibility.

Assess your competitive position. Evaluate where your firm has genuine strengths and competitive advantages within specific sectors. Focus on areas where you can credibly claim expertise rather than trying to be everything to everyone.

Consider market opportunities. Research which sectors are growing, facing regulatory changes, or experiencing challenges that create demand for your services.

2. Assign clear ownership and accountability

Allocate sector or service line ownership to specific individuals or small teams. These sector leads become responsible for driving BD plans within their areas, supported by marketing teams and senior leadership.

Choose the right sector leads. Select partners or senior team members who have genuine interest in and knowledge of specific sectors. Their enthusiasm and expertise will be crucial for success.

Define roles and responsibilities clearly. Ensure sector leads understand exactly what’s expected of them, from relationship building and thought leadership to pipeline development and client retention.

Provide appropriate support. Sector leads need time, resources and backing from leadership to be effective. Consider whether their fee targets need adjusting to accommodate BD responsibilities.

3. Set meaningful goals and measurement criteria

Move away from activity-based targets that focus on quantity over quality. Instead, concentrate on results that directly impact business growth.

Focus on outcome-based metrics. Track new client meetings that lead to opportunities, conversion rates from prospect to client, revenue growth from existing clients, and successful cross-selling initiatives.

Set realistic but stretching targets. Goals should be achievable but challenging enough to drive real effort and focus. Consider the sales cycle length in your sector when setting timeframes.

Create sector-specific benchmarks. Different sectors may have different conversion rates, sales cycles and growth patterns. Tailor your measurement approach accordingly.

4. Establish a regular review rhythm

Schedule regular reviews where sector leads share updates, wins, challenges and lessons learned. This builds momentum, enables knowledge sharing and allows for faster course correction when strategies aren’t working.

Monthly sector lead meetings. Brief, focused sessions where each lead shares progress against targets, upcoming opportunities and any support needed.

Quarterly strategic reviews. Longer sessions that examine whether sector strategies are working, what adjustments might be needed, and how to share successful approaches across different sectors.

Annual sector planning sessions. Comprehensive reviews that assess sector performance, market changes and strategic priorities for the following year.

5. Align marketing support with BD priorities

Ensure your marketing team creates sector-specific content, insights and campaigns that directly support your BD plan. This alignment between business development and marketing is essential for success.

Develop sector-specific content calendars. Create thought leadership pieces, case studies and insights that address the specific challenges and opportunities within each target sector.

Design targeted campaigns. Develop marketing campaigns that speak directly to each sector’s needs, using appropriate channels and messaging for each audience.

Create sector-specific materials. Ensure your proposals, credentials and marketing materials can be easily tailored for different sectors whilst maintaining consistent firm branding.

Take action before Q3 begins

As firms look ahead to Q3 and beyond, now is the ideal time to reflect honestly on your current business development efforts. Ask yourself these critical questions:

Are your partners working towards clear, shared goals, or are they pursuing individual agendas without coordination? Are your BD activities genuinely aligned to the biggest growth opportunities in your market? Are you investing time and resources in activities that deliver measurable results, or are you simply staying busy without seeing meaningful returns?

Conduct a BD audit. Review your current activities, investments and results over the past 12 months. Identify what’s working well and what isn’t delivering the results you need.

Engage your team. Talk to partners and fee earners about their experiences with current BD approaches. Where do they feel confident, and where do they struggle? Their insights will be valuable for designing a more effective approach.

Start small but start now. You don’t need to transform everything overnight. Choose one or two sectors where you have clear strengths and begin implementing a more focused approach.

The truth is straightforward: generic BD plans keep you busy, but sector-led BD strategies help you grow. The question isn’t whether you can afford to make this change. It’s whether you can afford not to.

By adopting a sector-led approach to business development, your firm can achieve greater focus, improved results and stronger client relationships. The framework is clear, the benefits are proven, and the time to act is now.

Need help?
If you would like help with your marketing, bringing on a marketing consultant with a fresh pair of eyes can make all the difference. I work with B2B businesses and professional service firms in London, Kent, the UK, and Europe, specialising as a legal marketing consultant. Please get in touch or book a free 30-minute consultation.


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