Insights
The team at This Friday has lived and breathed professional services for many years.
Our insights are snapshots of what we’ve learned from the challenges and opportunities we’ve faced and how our experience can help build your business.
Leadership. Who wants it anyway?
Professional services firms have a leadership problem: fewer people want the job. Not because they can't do it. Because leadership used to be about output - now it's about people, and that's a much harder, more human role to sign up for.
Your brand is already being built.
Senior professionals who are very good at their work, trusted by their clients and respected by their firms, sat with the seemingly simple question: what are you known for, and is that by accident or by choice?
The title changed.
Performance review season is here. And somewhere in that conversation comes the BD question. How visible are you? What's in the pipeline? How are you tracking?
Hope isn't a goal
If your development conversations keep covering the same ground year after year, the problem isn't commitment. It's that the goal conversation never really happened. Julie Scardamaglia explains what it takes to set goals that stick.
When online just isn't on
While online learning works well for short technical updates, programs focused on leadership, behavior change, or peer learning are fundamentally undermined by a virtual format. The real value lies in side conversations, shared experiences, and a facilitator's ability to read and respond to the room.
You don't need more BD meetings, you need better ones
The problem often with business development isn't effort - it's what we're measuring. When firms count meetings, professionals perform for the metric. Activity gets mistaken for achievement, and genuine client insight never happens. Read why quality beats quantity every time in business development, and what firms and professionals can do to make the shift.
Are your best clients your right clients for 2026?
Most professionals can name their 'best' clients in seconds. But ask them if those are the right clients for next year and most realise they've never actually decided. As the year winds down and the professional services world shifts into holiday mode, there's finally time to take a break. But this downtime is also one of the most valuable business development opportunities of the year.
Dragging your arse to the end of the year?
Can’t bear to think of 2026 until 2025 is over? If the team strategy session is just one of many things clogging your December To Do list, Renee Taylor and Julie Scardamaglia can explain why January is the time to do it. And how to do it, too.
Networking...not working?
As the festive drinks season approaches, some face it with dread. At the busiest time of the year, it’s just another thing on the list with little reward. Renee Taylor explains why your networking may not be working and what you can do about it.