Business development for professional services and B2B firms in the UK, Europe and US.
Most partners didn’t join a law firm because they wanted to sell. Most accountants didn’t qualify so they could go networking on a Tuesday evening. And yet business development is part of the job now, sitting somewhere near the bottom of a list that’s already too long.
That’s usually why it isn’t working. Not because your people can’t do it, but because nobody has ever shown them how it fits around everything else they’re being asked to deliver. That’s the bit I help with.
What is business development in a professional services and B2B firm?
Business development is the work of winning and growing client relationships. It covers networking, referrals, pitching, proposals, and cross-selling to the clients you already have. Marketing builds awareness across a market. Business development happens one relationship at a time, and in most firms it’s led by partners and fee earners rather than the marketing team.
Signs you need help with your business development
You’ll recognise at least a couple of these:
- Your BD activity is happening, but nobody could tell you what it’s supposed to be adding up to.
- Your partners agree BD matters, then quietly deprioritise it every time a matter lands.
- Your people go to events, come back with cards, and nothing happens next.
- You’ve got clients buying one service from you who have no idea you offer the other five.
- Your referral relationships are personal to individuals, so when someone leaves, the work leaves too.
- Your proposals take days to write and you’re not sure why you win the ones you win.
- You’ve got a marketing plan, but nothing that tells a partner what to actually do on Monday morning.
If your BD feels busy but not productive, that’s usually a structure problem rather than an effort problem.
How my business development services can help
I work on the parts of business development that firms and B2B firms find hardest to do from the inside.
Sector and service BD plans. Clear, practical plans for each of your key sectors and services, tied to your firm’s wider goals, so everyone knows which markets you’re going after and why.
Partner BD plans. Individual plans built with each fee-earner around their network, their strengths and their realistic capacity. This is the piece that turns “we should all be doing BD” into something a partner can actually follow.
Upselling and cross-selling. Your existing clients are almost always your biggest untapped source of revenue. I help you find the opportunities sitting in your client base and give your team a way to act on them without it feeling like a sales pitch.
Referral and partnership programmes. Turning ad-hoc, personal referral relationships into something structured that belongs to the firm rather than to one individual.
Networking support. Which events are worth your time, what to do when you’re there, and the follow-up process that makes the difference between a nice chat and a new client.
Proposal and pitch development. Sharpening your proposals so they’re about the client’s problem rather than your firm’s credentials, and so they’re quicker to produce next time.
How I work with you
1. Discovery. I start by understanding what you’re already doing, what’s working, and where things stall. That means talking to partners and fee earners as well as your Marketing and BD team, because the gap between what a firm says it does and what actually happens is usually where the answer is.
2. Strategy. I build BD plans that fit your goals and your people. Not a generic framework, and not something so ambitious that it gets abandoned by week three.
3. Implementation. I stay involved while the plans go live. That might mean coaching partners, running sessions with fee earners, or working alongside your marketing team to keep things moving.
4. Review and refine. Business development shifts as your firm and your markets shift. We look at what’s landing, drop what isn’t, and adjust.
Why work with me
I’ve been running Helen Cox Marketing since 2016 and have worked with clients across professional services and B2B, from magic circle and silver circle law firms to top ten accountancy practices and large consultancies. Before that I was in-house, which means I’ve sat on your side of the table and I know what actually gets done when the diary fills up.
I’m a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (FCIM) with Chartered Marketer status, so you’re working with someone who’s fully qualified and still doing this work every week.
Who this is for
This works best for professional services firms and B2B businesses where fee earners or senior people are expected to bring in work: law firms, accountancy practices, consultancies, and B2B organisations with a relationship-led sale.
It’s less useful if you’re looking for a transactional sales team, outsourced lead generation, or someone to make calls on your behalf. I don’t do your business development for you. I build the structure and give your people the confidence to do it themselves, which is what makes it stick after I’ve gone.
Get in touch
Business development doesn’t have to mean turning your partners into salespeople. It means giving them a plan they can actually follow, and a reason to believe it’s worth the hour it takes.
If your BD feels busy but not productive, let’s have a conversation about why. Book a discovery call and we’ll work out where to start.
I work with professional services firms and B2B businesses across Kent, London and the UK, and remotely worldwide.
FAQs
Marketing builds awareness across a market and business development converts individual relationships into work. Marketing is usually run by your marketing team. Business development is usually done by partners and fee earners. They work best when they’re planned together, which is how I approach them.
That’s the most common thing I hear, and it’s fair. The answer isn’t asking them to do more, it’s asking them to do less but deliberately. A partner BD plan is built around what that individual can realistically sustain alongside a full caseload, focusing on the handful of relationships most likely to turn into work.
I build the plans and the structure, then I support your people to deliver them. That includes coaching partners, running sessions with fee earners, and working with your marketing team on the activity that feeds it. I don’t approach your prospects on your behalf.
It’s an individual plan for one partner, covering their existing network, the relationships worth developing, the events and referral sources that suit them, and the specific actions they’ve committed to. It’s usually one page. The value is in the conversation that produces it as much as the document itself.
We agree the measures at the start, and they’re usually a mix of activity and outcome: meetings held, proposals submitted, conversion rate, referrals received, revenue from cross-selling, and pipeline from target sectors. Activity measures matter early on, because outcomes take time to show up.
Some things move quickly. Cross-selling into your existing client base and tightening up your proposals can show a return within a quarter. Building new referral relationships and breaking into a new sector takes longer, usually six to twelve months. I’ll be straight with you about which is which.
Yes. Plenty of my clients have one marketing executive, or nobody at all. If that’s you, the plans are built to be delivered by the people you’ve actually got, and I can look at what resource you might need as you grow.
It’s a free 30 minutes for me to understand what you’re dealing with and work out whether I’m the right person to help. If I’m not, I’ll tell you and point you somewhere better.
Happy clients
Quickly adapted to our people and priorities
Helen stepped confidently into a gap we needed to fill in our Corporate BD manager role and quickly adapted to our people, priorities and ways of working. Her can-do attitude, calm presence, practical approach and ability to build trust across the team made a real difference.
Natalia Slattery, Head of Business Development
Cripps
Helped our marketing team craft a well thought out marketing plan
We initially used Helen as we were looking for an expert to help provide advice and guidance to our marketing team.
One of the standout aspects of Helen’s work was her ability to help our marketing team create a well-thought-out marketing and BD plan. She delved into the breadth of marketing and business development channels, offering valuable insights on how we could enhance our approach.
Gavin Richardson, Managing Director
Mortgages For Business
Case study highlight
Crossing the Atlantic: designing and delivering a three-part BD programme for a US investment bank
A US investment bank wanted to make business development more consistent across the firm. I designed and delivered a tailored three-part BD programme in Washington DC, helping everyone from first-year analysts to managing directors build stronger relationships, develop their networks and take a more intentional approach to growth.
Let’s talk…
For more information on any of my services, get in touch and let’s talk.