Back to Basics: The Fundamentals of a Successful Client Listening Programme

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Written by our Director, Anna Lake, this monthly newsletter shares insights, ideas and inspiration to help you build stronger client relationships and create move value for your business. If you're not already subscribed, click here to never miss an issue!

As we head into 2026, there’s a noticeable shift in how firms are thinking about client listening. After years of adding tools, dashboards, and processes, many are now pausing to ask a more fundamental question: are we really learning from what our clients are sharing? That’s why this month ‘The Happy Client’ explores the core building blocks of a successful client listening programme - whether you’re refining an established approach, or setting one up for the first time. 

Start with intent, not activity

One of the most common pitfalls with client listening is mistaking volume for value. Conducting interviews, surveys, or collecting reviews is only useful if there is a shared understanding of why you’re doing so.

It’s important to be clear about what you are really trying to learn from clients, rather than defaulting to generic satisfaction questions. This intent should shape everything that follows: from which clients you approach; to how interviews are structured; and, to how insight is used internally. Without this clarity, even well-run interviews can result in interesting but ultimately unused feedback.

Senior sponsorship and commitment to action

A successful client listening programme needs visible senior sponsorship and, critically, a genuine commitment to act on what clients say. 

Clients are quick to spot when conversations don’t lead anywhere. If feedback is gathered but not acknowledged, acted on, or fed back into account discussions, trust erodes. Over time, clients may become more guarded or disengaged, undermining the very purpose of listening.

For more mature programmes, this is often the area that benefits most from a reset: asking whether insight is consistently influencing decisions, behaviours and priorities at partner and leadership level.

Speak to a range of clients – not just the happy ones

Another foundational principle is ensuring you hear from a range of clients, including those who are less satisfied. While partners may naturally prefer to put forward their strongest relationships, a listening programme that only captures positive feedback risks creating a false sense of security. By contrast, programmes that deliberately include a mix of experiences tend to uncover deeper insights about service delivery, communication, and expectations.

Importantly, listening to unhappy clients is not about fixing issues in the moment - it is about acknowledging concerns, understanding root causes and using that insight to drive improvement.

Interview quality matters more than interview volume

At the heart of any client listening programme are the interviews themselves. Good interviews are not scripted interrogations. They rely on skilled interviewers who have the time, confidence and curiosity to listen properly. Techniques such as allowing silence, “double clicking” on interesting comments, and creating space for honest reflection all contribute to more meaningful conversations.

For firms with established programmes, this is often where incremental improvements can have the most impact. Investing in interviewer capability rather than simply increasing the number of interviews conducted.

Follow-up is where value is realised

The work does not end when the interview finishes. Our write-ups focus on clear insight supported by client quotes, rather than verbatim transcripts. This makes feedback easier to digest and more likely to be used. Red flags should be escalated quickly, and actions should be tracked and revisited, not left to fade into the background.

Focusing on strong foundations rather than adding more layers of complexity and simply generating feedback for its own sake provides a reminder that sometimes the most powerful progress comes from going back to basics.