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As professional services firms continue to navigate 2025, growth is back on the table following the capacity challenges many firms faced last year. But with this renewed focus, it’s clear that it’s not about more clients: it’s about strengthening and expanding relationships with the clients you already have.
That theme took center stage during a recent LeadersConnect event in Chicago hosted by Introhive, where Danielle Berg, Founder and Partner at Evolve Partners, and Sara Circosta, Growth Leader, Enterprise Technology Solutions at Wipfli LLP, joined moderator Justin Picciano, Vice President of Sales & Client Success at Introhive to share practical insights on firm growth and digital business transformation strategy professional services.
The conversation surfaced common challenges and offered clear examples of how firms are starting to move forward with more intentional, scalable growth. Here are four takeaways that stood out.
1. The biggest untapped opportunity: cross-selling existing clients
While many firms are revisiting their growth strategies in 2025, expanding existing client relationships remains a largely underused lever. Danielle observed that in most firms she works with, 80 to 90 percent of clients are still single service — a significant untapped opportunity.
But while the potential is clear, execution still remains a challenge. Many firms continue to struggle with cross-selling because professionals feel they need deep expertise in another area to even bring it up. As a result, valuable client needs often go unmet. However, professionals don’t need to master every service. Instead, they need to be trained to ask the right questions, listen for signals, and make confident introductions to other service areas.
Sara pointed out that cross-selling isn’t just about revenue, it’s also a retention play. Firms that expand relationships across service lines create greater stickiness with clients. Growing an existing relationship is typically far more cost-effective than acquiring a new one and firms with a strong advisory culture and integrated client view are far better positioned to recognize and act on those opportunities.
Both panelists emphasized that cross-functional collaboration and visibility are essential to making this work. Digital transformation in accounting helps create that foundation by breaking down data silos and enabling teams to access the insights they need. Without the right data, those opportunities often go unnoticed, and firms risk leaving significant value on the table.
2. Siloed sales structures and fragmented data limit growth
Even as firms push for growth, internal silos remain an ongoing barrier. Many professionals still operate within their own service line or book of business, with little visibility into what others are doing, or what their clients may need. Danielle noted that this siloed approach limits firms’ ability to grow relationships across multiple service lines.
This structural disconnect is compounded by data fragmentation. While many firms are collecting client data across departments, that data is often stuck in different systems, lacking integration or clear ownership.
Sara explained that firms are placing greater emphasis on creating unified client views, supported by data that highlights trigger events. This helps advisors focus their time and energy on the right clients and projects, while also identifying opportunities to collaborate across service lines, operating companies, or portfolio companies.
Building that view, however, takes time, investment, and operational change. It’s important to enable professionals with not just information, but also actionable insights. Yet, even when the right tools are in place, advisors and executives may still lack the training or incentives to fully leverage those insights for cross-selling or strategic advisory, underscoring the importance of intuitive, easy-to-use tools that fit seamlessly into the existing workflows of partners, fee earners, and marketing and business development teams alike.
3. Technology alone won’t drive digital business transformation strategy in professional services
Technology has been a hot topic at conferences for years, but according to both Danielle and Sara, many firms are still struggling to make their technology investments deliver real business value. That’s because successful digital business transformation strategy across professional services industries requires more than buying new platforms
Danielle shared that many managing partners express frustration that, despite large investments in technology, their teams, and even their clients, don’t know how to use the tools effectively. In many cases, technology is implemented without a broader business transformation strategy, leading to disconnected tools, low adoption, and missed opportunities. These challenges are often compounded by unclear ROI expectations, lack of internal tech leadership, and weak accountability structures.
She emphasized that many firms lack the in-house leadership needed to drive effective software selection and adoption. Her team often helps bridge that gap by mapping business needs to the right solutions and building actionable, phased roadmaps to success.
Sara added that firms are becoming more intentional about tech investments, focusing on platforms that support core goals, improve data quality, and deliver insights advisors can act on.
The bottom line? Digital transformation isn’t about technology alone. It demands a strategic foundation, strong change management, and a clear link between data and decision-making.
4. Client experience is the real differentiator
As Danielle pointed out, what truly differentiates firms today is how they manage and elevate the experience surrounding them. From a prospect’s first interaction to onboarding, service delivery, and long-term engagement, every touchpoint shapes how clients perceive value.
In today’s experience-driven economy, services are table stakes. Clients bring the same expectations to their accounting, advisory, or legal firms that they have for brands like Amazon or Apple.
Too often, firms approach “client experience” from the lens of internal efficiency, focused mostly on the service delivery phase. Danielle encouraged firms to broaden that view and be more deliberate especially when offering tiered or value-priced services. It’s important to engage directly with clients to understand what they truly value in an experience.
Sara emphasized that the most successful firms are using client data to support more personalized, proactive engagement. When advisors are equipped with timely insights, they can tailor conversations, bring in the right experts, and differentiate based on how they engage, not just what they offer.
Final thoughts on growth and digital business transformation strategy in professional services
Throughout the conversation, Danielle and Sarah highlighted that growth is increasingly coming from within. Firms are focusing on better collaboration across teams, stronger client engagement, and more effective use of data and technology. But making progress takes more than good intentions.
Many are rethinking how teams work together, how opportunities are identified, and how technology supports both daily execution and long-term strategy. The firms moving forward are doing so with a coordinated approach, investing not just in systems, but in the people and processes that bring them to life.
If your firm is rethinking how it grows, Introhive can help. Request a demo to see how our platform helps teams work more collaboratively and make better use of their data to drive revenue growth. Or explore our Digital Transformation Guide for practical steps to move your strategy forward.
About Introhive’s LeadersConnect series
LeadersConnect is Introhive’s executive event series, bringing together senior professionals across the professional services landscape for candid conversations, peer networking, and practical insights on the challenges and opportunities shaping the industry.
Attendance is by invitation, but if you’re interested in joining a future session, let us know.
