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Decision-grade B2B research for professional services. Consulting, advisory, audit, law, engineering, marcomms and the firms that serve them.

What's different about research for professional services

  • Senior buyer. Most material decisions are board-level or partner-level. Research has to be designed to reach that altitude.
  • Relationship-driven. The "real" reason a relationship was won or lost is rarely the formal reason. Third-party honesty is unusually valuable.
  • Brand component. Buying advisory services is heavily brand-driven. Research has to read the brand layer alongside the operational layer.

What we do in professional services

  • Client-experience research. What clients actually think, at the partner-relationship level, not the NPS survey level.
  • Win–loss research. Why was the firm chosen, or not, for that proposal, that mandate, that pitch?
  • Brand positioning research. Where does the firm land in clients' minds, and where does it need to land?
  • Competitive intelligence. What is the comp set actually doing on pricing, service mix and senior hires?
  • GTM research for new service lines. Will buyers come, and at what price?
  • M&A and partnership research. Acquiring practices, lateral hires, or merging firms.
Clients will tell external researchers things they will never tell their advisor.
The structural case for outside research in professional services.
Frequently asked

B2B professional services research, questions.

What professional-services categories do you cover?

Management consulting, accounting and advisory, law, audit, engineering consultancy, marketing and communications services, technology consulting, and recruitment / executive search. We research both for these firms and on their behalf for their clients.

How is research for professional services different?

Three things: the buyer is usually senior (often a board or partner-level decision), the sales cycle is heavily relationship-driven, and the brand-and-credibility component of the buying decision is unusually large. Research design has to reflect all three.

Why would a consulting firm hire a research firm?

When the question requires the third-party honesty premium, buyers and clients will tell external researchers things they will not tell their advisors. Also for go-to-market research for the firm's own offers, competitive intelligence on rival firms, and client-experience research at scale.

Do you do brand-positioning research for advisory firms?

Yes, particularly when the firm is repositioning into a new sector, geography or service line, or when leadership change creates space for re-positioning.

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