18 Feb Team restructures continue

Posted at 08:30h in Insights by Charles Handley

18 February 2019

When it comes to marketing and business development (BD) team structures in professional services, there is no ‘one size fits all’ and teams continue to change and evolve e.g. centralised vs. de-centralised teams.

Movement at the senior leadership level often triggers change within the team, especially when the new Director/CMO is from outside the industry (e.g. Matt McGrath, CMO at Deloitte Australia, was most recently the Chief Brand Officer at Network Ten). While 2016/2017 was relatively stable at the senior level, there has been some movement in 2018 and we predict more change in the future.

“The only constant in business is that CEOs will always be focused on reducing costs and increasing revenues. They expect their business development leaders to share this focus and be able to demonstrate the link between marketing and sales activity, and immediate commercial outcomes.”

Richard Kohinga, (then) Head of Markets Victoria, KPMG

Drivers of change

  • Movement at the CEO level tends to drive major structural change within BD teams
  • Change generally triggers more modifications within the firm and across the industry
  • Partner buy-in to invest in experienced (and usually senior) client and/or sector specialists means increased headcount and movement across the market
  • The greater access to, and availability of, experienced contractors and consultants who can efficiently complete tasks while freeing up the BD team to concentrate on higher value work is also prompting structural changes.

Next steps

Thinking of making a change? Contact Dalton Handley for a confidential discussion and expert advice.