Most professional advisers spend enormous sums on marketing, branding and coaching but still struggle with four persistent challenges:

Most professionals have not stopped to think whether their superior knowledge is making their client feel stupid. This is not a nice feeling and can make a stressful situation even worse.

In the professional world of advising clients winning business by attending events collecting business and meeting for coffee seems ineffective, a shot gun in a blizzard.

Client-focus is to walk in the shoes of your clients. They do not need to know what you know - that is why they come to you. They want to feel they can trust you, which usually means you get the job done without drama.

Exceptional professionals do not wear their expertise as a badge of honour they are attentive to their clients, anticipate their needs and get repeat business from clients who share their hobbies and interests.

Caroline Garnham has been nominated by Woman Story as the Founder to watch in 2026. This is what it had to say in making the nomination

Clients do not choose advisers like they do consumer goods. They do not buy on brand and familiarity, they buy on trust.

Most professional organisations invest heavily in marketing, identifying a brand personality, colours, fonts and logos but professional services are not consumer products. Confidence created by the brand rarely converts directly into profits - find out the missing link.

Professional advisers who focus on their skill set rather on the network of professionals who their ideal clients may already be engaged with, are losing out not only on fee income but also on client loyalty, improved morale in the office, time and money.

Why do large professional organisations not cross-refer business more frequently? It is because the focus of the organisation is on the skill set of the professionals which creates an unhealthy ‘silo mentality’ which is exacerbated by pressure for each department to be profitable. It need not be like this.

Why Professionals can’t afford to ignore a human digital profile and content. In today’s world where everyone researches who they engage with before reaching out, you cannot ignore creating content which is digital and human. Facts are forgotten, human stories stick in the mind.

Our survey about personal professional business development reveals that 43% of professionals believe that strategy is the most impactful in their business development whereas 28% believe it is visibility. The reality is that for success every professional needs to do both