How To Win More Work from Your Existing Clients
By Sue-Ella Prodonovich | March 2026
This article covers 13 practical ways lawyers and accountants can deepen existing client relationships and earn more work without starting from scratch with new business development.
It's usually easier and more cost-effective to earn new work from an existing client than to acquire a new one altogether. But that doesn't mean it's altogether straightforward.
Regular readers will know my contempt for cross-selling - or 'Crass-Selling', as one firm memorably put it. What I'm all for is Cross-Serving: collaborating with colleagues across your firm to genuinely serve a client better, rather than simply spruiking services with little shared context or purpose. The best client relationships aren't sold. They're earned.
For more on that distinction, see Why Collaboration Eats Cross-Selling for Breakfast.
If you're unsure how and when to earn more work from your existing client base, here are 13 ideas drawn from what actually works in professional services practice.
13 Ways to Win More Work from Your Clients
1. Find out what services your client uses. See if there are any gaps and introduce someone from your network or firm who can fill them. Your client will appreciate the help - and will be more likely to see you as the ‘go-to’ adviser.
2. Help identify your own blind spots. Bring in a colleague to look at an area where you haven't yet gained traction and to analyse why. A fresh set of eyes can make all the difference.
3. Find out the timing of panel reviews. This gives you the opportunity to introduce a new part of your firm, and a head start in preparing a tender worth earning.
4. Introduce yourself to procurement. Make sure procurement professionals who work with you clients, or in your industry, are aware of your firm's full offering and you are aware of theirs. Go to a Procurement association networking event - you’ll be surprised at how much you have in common!
Here’s a group for readers in Australia & New Zealand: Procurement And Supply Australasia (PASA)
5. Conduct client feedback. This helps you spot what a client really appreciates and values, it might uncover an unmet need or an opportunity for new thinking. Client listening can be done formally, in a structured review, or informally in a post matter or milestone reflection.
6. Convene a strategy session. Temporal landmarks like New Year, the start of a new financial year, or the lead-up to a board planning cycle all lend themselves to a strategy session. Your goal is to understand the client's objectives for the next 24 months. Bring along a trusted specialist who can genuinely add value.
7. Run a review. Rather than strategy, look back over the past 12 months together. Find out what worked, what didn't and about what they are most proud. Talk through want went well, surprises and challenges, and explore how your services and contacts could help going forward.
8. Introduce them to someone new. Sometimes the best way to build goodwill with a client is to introduce someone from an unrelated field. Make sure the introduction is relevant, the person you introduce has earned credibility, and you can state a clear rationale for making it.
9. Organise a discovery session. Invite your client to present to your firm on their business and challenges. Assemble a diverse team to listen, then brainstorm solutions and consider who in your network could help.
10. Look at changes in your client's business. Think about who in your network could help them navigate the change. Good moments to get involved include: scaling up or down; changes to senior leadership; responding to regulatory shifts; adopting new technology or AI; or dealing with broader sector or supply chain disruption.
11. Look at changes in their other advisers. When an incumbent provider retires, merges with another or morphs into a new practice shape; or if they lose key partners or service capability - then it can be a good time to make yourself known.
12. Analyse your client's competitors. Clients often appreciate insight into how others are handling the same challenges they face.
13. Let technology do the remembering. Even the most client-focused lawyer or accountant can miss a signal. A client goes quiet. Engagement drops off. A key contact moves on. By the time you notice, the relationship has already cooled.
Two types of tools can help.
Relationship intelligence platforms like Introhive, InterAction+ and ClientSense work inside your firm automatically capturing relationship data to give you a real-time picture of client engagement, flag at-risk accounts, and surface who in your firm already has a warm connection to a contact.
LinkedIn Sales Navigator complements these by tracking what's happening externally - job changes, company developments, and signals that tell you when to reach out before someone else does.
Used together, they give you a fuller picture. Who you know, how the relationship is tracking, and when the moment to act has arrived.
The technology doesn't replace the relationship. It just makes sure you don't miss it.
Want More?
There you have it: 13 different ideas for earning more work from your existing clients. Not every approach will suit every situation, but there's enough here to get you started.
Get in touch if you'd like to develop a blueprint for earning more work and building a stronger client base or book a BD45™ a private 45-minute business development brainstorm with Sue-Ella.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does cross-serving mean in professional services?
Cross-serving means collaborating with colleagues across your firm to genuinely serve a client better. It is distinct from cross-selling, which involves promoting a colleague's services with little shared client knowledge or purpose. Cross-serving is client-centred.
How do firms win more work from existing clients?
The most effective approaches combine relationship depth with strategic awareness: conducting regular client feedback, running strategy sessions, staying alert to changes in the client's business or leadership, and making well-timed introductions. The goal is to become the go-to adviser, not just another name on the roster of service providers.
What is a discovery session in client development?
A discovery session is where you invite a client to present to your firm on their business, challenges and objectives. A cross-disciplinary team listens, then brainstorms solutions. It is low-pressure, high-value and consistently uncovers opportunities for both parties.
How do professionals use panel reviews to grow client relationships?
Knowing when a client's panel review is scheduled gives you time to prepare a compelling case for inclusion or expansion. It is also an opportunity to introduce a new part of your firm. Timing matters enormously as late preparation rarely persuades.
Is it easier to win work from existing clients or find new ones?
In professional services, it is almost always more cost-effective to grow existing client relationships than to acquire new clients from scratch. Existing clients already know your quality of work, trust your judgement, and require less business development effort to engage.
References and Further Reading
By Sue-Ella Prodonovich
Why Collaboration Eats Cross-Selling for Breakfast
5 Reasons to Stop Cross-Selling to Clients
How to Get Someone to Introduce Their Clients to You
Client Experience in Professional Services Firms: A Framework that Works
Academic and Industry References
Mascarenhas O, Kesavan R & Bernacchi M (2004). Customer Value Chain Involvement for Co-Creating Customer Delight. Journal of Consumer Marketing, Vol 21, Iss 7, 486–496.
Sue-Ella Prodonovich is the Principal of Prodonovich Advisory, a consultancy dedicated to helping lawyers and accountants build better business development practices. With nearly two decades of experience in professional services BD, she works with law and accounting firms across Australia and internationally.
She works with law and accounting firms on Business Development strategy and support structures, leadership and professional-development programs, and designing client-listening initiatives.
She co-facilitates firm planning retreats and delivers public workshops such as Business Skills for Lawyers.
And through her BD45™ service, she assists individuals with their personal business-development plans.
Connect on LinkedIn or visit prodonovich.com.au
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