Navigating Client Expectations Amidst Uncertainty

Source’s CEO, Fiona Czerniawska, and Director of Market Trends, Catherine Anderson, caught up with Emma Carroll, Head of Content, on the latest episode of The Future of the Firm to discuss trends and opportunities for consulting firms in 2025. 

Fiona and Catherine share their insights on the following matters and more: 

• They predict increased demand for technology, risk, and HR & change work—although this may come from different areas of the business to where you might expect. 

• Clients may initially be interested in AI for specific point solutions, but these will open their eyes to the wider possibilities of the technology. Firms should therefore be quick to jump on these early windows of opportunity. 

• The end of last year saw client sentiment shift towards growth after a long period of caution and cost cutting. We discuss why this is the case and how firms can best support clients with their ambitions. 

• Clients are looking for firms that understand them and their industry but can also bring consulting expertise that offers them a new perspective. They don’t want to be given teams they have to train themselves or firms that offer a cookie-cutter approach. 

• Fifty-eight percent of clients expect fee rates to decline, but this could be a case of wishful thinking. We also discuss how clients are responding to the idea of outcomes-based pricing. 

• Fiona and Catherine discuss their predictions for consulting in ten years’ time, including a shift from pure advisory to more delivery-focused work and an evolution of traditional consulting firms into technology firms. 

If you enjoyed this conversation, don’t miss our sister podcast, Business Leader’s Voice. In a recent episode, we talked to Benjamin Samuels, Former Chief Revenue Officer at WeWork, about navigating growth and change.