January 26, 2026|Kim's Blog, Lawyers, Management Skills, Marketing, Statistics and trends, Strategy|
Private Client – Strategic and Operational Plans

Last week I facilitated MBL’s  workshop on “How to manage and grow your private client practice”. Amongst the delegates were newly-appointed partners and heads of Private Client departments. Almost every delegate left with the view that they needed to consider strategic issues, engage the team in those discussions and agree priorities – including how to overcome operational challenges. Many committed to building a business plan for the department – with greater engagement across the Private Client team. This article is a supplementary resource for the delegates – documenting the key points arising during discussions, breakouts and polls. Private Client – Strategic and Operational Plans

Private Client topics covered:

  • Aims for Private Client teams
  • Core challenges for Private Client teams
  • Trends affecting Private Client practice
  • Competitor analysis and pricing
  • Strategic and management priorities
  • Generate the right sorts of client and work
    • Marketing and Communication
    • Managing client enquiries and sales conversations
  • Private Client systems and data
  • Will Banks and Probate
  • Delegate conclusions and takeaways
  • Delegate information
    • Poll results
  • Related Private Client resources

Aims for Private Client teams

Delegate aims and reasons for attending the workshop included: 

  • Lead the team (recently taken over)
  • Develop the Private Client department (both the business and the team)
  • Create a plan for the Private Client team
  • Join the partnership – Learn about new role
  • Support our expanding department
  • Scale the department without affecting quality of service
  • Build systems to future-proof the team
  • Grow and develop of team
  • Establish new offices
  • Develop new business
  • Obtain new ideas for growth and best practice

Aims for their Private Client practice

  • Review and strengthen our mission statement
  • Lead the team effectively, fairly and efficiently
  • Increase turnover and profitability
  • Drive efficiency by operating in a more proactive way
  • Attract more high net worth clients
  • Generate more Probate work locally – people are money conscious and attempt DIY
  • Encourage clients to come to us rather than deal with Probate themselves
  • Be proactive in marketing the department and firm to attract clients

Core Challenges for Private Client teams

Delegates faced a variety of core challenges for their practices:

  • Strategic
    • Lack of clear direction and priorities
    • Profitability (one delegate reported that they had stopped doing Legal Aid work recently – and now only do so for guardianship work)
    • The right sort of growth
    • Different offices have different target markets so the approach must be tailored and nuanced for each
    • Blending the firm brand and personal brand approaches
  • Operational
    • Difficulty in recruiting
    • Getting the right people at the right level doing the right work (allocation of people)
    • Performance management
    • Issues relating to remote working and team engagement (value in a work environment for social contact, team spirit and learning)
    • Impact of the consultancy model – managing with more contract staff
    • Generating the right sort of clients
    • Automating processes (support people doing ID checks etc)
    • Compliance headaches
    • Integrating technology and people
    • Input of the right information – You can’t manage what you can’t measure

Trends affecting Private Client practices

During the session, we worked on PESTLE and other trends analyses (see Be more strategic – PESTLE, Positioning and Plans and Political, Practice and Marketing Trends)

Amongst the recent changes and trends affecting Private Client practice:

Inheritance Tax (IHT) reform

    • More estates face IHT due to fiscal drag – and there’s greater impact on some markets (e.g. rural)
    • Continued scrutiny of trust-related Capital Gains Tax (CGT) schemes
    • UBS’ Global Wealth Report 2025 reports that $83tn of wealth will be transferred to the next generation within the next 20 to 25 years. Millennials will hold five times as much wealth by 2030 as they do today, but significant wealth will also pass to Gen Z

Wealthy Individuals and international issues

    • Foreign Income & Gains (FIG) Regime: A new regime offers tax exemptions for newcomers
    • International complexity: Growing need for multi-jurisdictional planning for HNWIs with crypto, art, and global assets

Technology and Client Expectations

    • Digital Divide: Gap between high client expectations (secure communications, real-time updates) and current firm capabilities, highlighting the need for secure portals
    • Digital Assets: The Law Commission’s 2023 report on digital assets confirming that crypto‑tokens, online accounts and digital records can constitute personal property
    • Building capacity for growth: simplify, digitize, automate – AI normalization (AI augmented advisers), hyper-personalization and services for neurodivergent clients

Court of Protection and Capacity

    • 982,000 people in the UK are living with dementia, including approximately 71,000 under the age of 65. Lawyers need confidence in applying the Mental Capacity Act 2005
    • Costs and Guidance in Court of Protection matters, while updated guidance clarifies gifting rules for attorneys/deputies

Operational Challenges:

    • Probate delays: Whilst improving, delays persist, compounded by higher IHT interest rates (4% above base rate as of April 2025)

Sustainability and Trust Practice

    • Firms must navigate the risk of “greenwashing” in ESG-focused investments and trusts, with potential legal liabilities

Further information on trends and changes affecting Private Client practices:

Navigating 2026: Key trends driving solutions for UK wealth managers – WTW 

Finance Bill 2025-26 published | Chartered Institute of Taxation

Top 10 trends in private wealth for 2026 (Farrer & Co)

10 Wealth Management Trends For 2026

Five trends that will shape private client workloads in 2026 | LexisNexis Blogs

Practical Law: what to expect in 2026 across practice areas

Private client legislation and consultation tracker 2024-29 | Practical Law

Legal tech trends in 2026: Insights for business and IT leaders – Legal Futures

Competitor analysis and pricing

Competitor analysis is not just about considering other solicitor and accountancy firms. Clients may seek substitutes such as AI and some think they can do it themselves.  Some may do nothing. Particularly if they are concerned about the cost of Will writing or Probate services.

One delegate commented: “My line to clients is that if your Will is challenged, an AI tool cannot defend its wording, explain the reasoning, produce attendance notes, or give evidence in court. A Solicitor can”. We need to educate clients about the limitations and dangers of low cost and AI-enabled services.

Some delegates reported that they’ve previously focussed on price comparison, but this can be different in different areas. One reported that they do a quarterly review from a pricing perspective. They argued that they need to focus on different services and the range and quality of services offered by others and the method of delivery.

It was noted that local competition affects market price – anchoring at the low end. So lawyers need to be clearer on value offered to clients rather than low price (which signals a comparable commodity). Raise the real and perceived value of the lawyer-client relationship.

Some thought that there is a market for people who want face-to-face advice from a trusted professional, rather than AI, online services or doing it themselves. The value of these people is that word of mouth (and down generations) is important and should not be overlooked.

Lawyers need to be brave and walk away when clients react against “high” fees. There’s also a need to segment the market – and target messages to those who understand and appreciate the value of good advice and service.

Strategic and management priorities at mid-point of the session

At the end of the morning session on management, delegates identified the following priorities:

  • Strategic
    1. Strengthen mission statement and involve other team members in this
    2. Review and update the private client department (business) plan – ensure there are clear goals and focus
    3. Ensure business plan is team driven
    4. Monitor and regularly update the business plan
    5. Be aware of external and internal pressures and reinforce processes to manage these
    6. Think about competitors from a client perspective
  • Operational
    1. Recruit good quality people and look after them
    2. Give staff the tools to develop and grow
    3. Get team involved with improving the client experience
    4. Ensure staff are properly empowered
    5. Be more alive to issues and pressures internally
    6. Make team meetings more interactive and involve staff in strategy discussions
    7. Improve delegation skills
    8. Appoint an on-boarding person to improve efficiency, client experience and fee-earning potential
    9. Consider mental health of team and ease pressures with appropriate workloads

Generate the right sorts of clients and work

We talked about the value of targeting and personas to consider the investment styles, lifestyle and life stage of different clients. Then to obtain more insight into their current and future needs. This will support having the right content and right sorts of conversations with clients.

There was a discussion about niche private client markets. And the need to think of the client type and their issues (external view) rather than just the services being promoted (internal view).

Sales Targeting Toolbox for Professional Services Firms

Selling basics – Targeting with rabbits, deer and elephants (Video)

marketing professional services to high net worth clients

Marketing and BD planning – Segmentation, Rock Stars and Engagement

Back to basics – importance of segmentation and personas

Marketing and communications must recognise that competition isn’t just from other law firms. So we need to communicate the value of our service – trust, relationship, personalisation, sensitivity, reliability, reassurance, guidance, defendable etc.

Brand exposure was a theme. Some worked with their media relations advisers. Some provided leaflets to Registrars. One of the biggest challenges mentioned was trying to establish presence in a new area when new offices opened. We talked about phased integrated campaigns.

Advanced: Planning Digital Marketing Campaigns and Content Strategy

Basics: 10 steps to create a business development campaign

There was agreement that we needed to combine modern, digital methods of marketing with more traditional approaches. Some combined social media with a presence in local community. There was a separate discussion about the importance of data and systems (especially CRM – see below) to support this

Most firms used events. Some organised coffee mornings. And some presented events with local businesses such as surveyors and banks. Some arranged talks to local elderly client groups and sponsoring charities that organise events for seniors.

Communications should also support existing clients on an ongoing basis – for example, communication after Budgets to help them understand what the implications might be for them and what possible action they might take. Some delegates mentioned their work with Wills Banks (see below).

Focusing on the client experience, one firm mentioned that it was updating its reception area.

Managing client enquiries and sales conversations Some remarked that not all lawyers were natural salespeople. I suggested that the focus might be on improved client communications skills and that these could be developed by everyone.

Reflecting this and time pressures, some firms had recruited support staff to help with activities such as enquiry management and client onboarding. Some firms have systems for reviewing client and referrer relationships on a regular basis.

Another sales challenge was talking to clients who feel that fees appear high.

Private Client systems and data

Some firm conduct regular analysis of data on new enquiries, new clients, new matters, fees etc. Others have processes for analysing past and existing clients.

There were concerns about the data and systems to support marketing, service delivery and maintaining client relationships. Particularly CRM systems. One delegate commented: “We have had a couple of case Management Systems with integrated CRM but they have never been that good – more like a feature that has been added on as an afterthought. It can be a great CMS but have a bad CRM bolted on it”.

Others commented that any CRM system is only as good as the data input. Just because it is difficult to produce and maintain a good CRM, doesn’t mean you shouldn’t attempt to improve things. There’s some general advice here: CRM – Applications, systems and fee-earner engagement

One delegate mentioned they had used Estate Search (Will Bank Data Cleansing brings benefits to The Will Company) to do a cleanse on the data before putting it into a new CRM system. I mentioned Marketing technology system review – Clean contact data with Cirrom which many law firms had found useful.

We touched on best practice in listening to client feedback, understanding client expectations and managing client research. First understand (and measure) the issue internally before trying to elicit reviews and ratings for public consumption. client feedback playbook – How professional services firms

Will Banks and Probate

Whilst there was a view that Wills Banks were probably more valuable to firms in the past, one delegate asked how best to use their Will bank – particularly with regards to GDPR. Key issues included:

  • Mobility of clients
  • Central Will registration systems
  • Keeping data up to date
  • Automated systems for regular reminders to review
  • How often to follow up with clients

On Data Protection, The Law Society provides guidance such as: Data Protection Toolkit (2nd Edition) (2019 second edition) and Report a data breach | The Law Society. We talked about legitimate interest in processing Wills data Data processing: legitimate interests | The Law Society

“Probate is still considered simple by most who’ve gone through the process, especially when the will is clearly written and the estate is straightforward. However, 45% now say it took longer than expected, up from 40% in 2024. Meanwhile, 59% used the Ministry of Justice’s online probate portal, a sign of increasing digitisation” More adults making wills, yet legal confusion remains – 2025 Wills & Probate report reveals | Today’s Wills and Probate April 2025

When it comes to maximising the value of your Will bank, you might:

  • Collate the average age of your clients. In an investment sense, organisations are generally more interested in a Will bank where the average client age is higher, as this may indicate a nearer-term likelihood of estate administration work
  • Work out the average estate value. A higher average estate value, coupled with an older client base, can significantly increase the commercial value of your Will bank

Some consultancies offer a three-stage service including assessing, cleansing and notifications. The initial screen provides a free health check of the testator database. This enables firms to see the percentage of out-of-date records, before proceeding with a full cleanse. (See above on data cleansing systems).

Reframe thinking about contacting clients about their Wills from a business development initiative and see it instead as part of the service to help clients manage their estate planning affairs. One delegate commented “Going back to people living longer or with blended families and the rise of litigation following death – this is probably more important than ever”

Will banks are a promise to your clients | Today’s Wills and Probate October 2025

Law firms: should you purchase a wills bank? | Lockton May 2025

Helping Firms Maximise the Potential of their Will Bank – Estatesearch May 2024

Grow your Will bank with The National Will Register | The National Will Register January 2023

Delegate takeaways from session

  • Business plan – Ensure the private client plan is in line with the firm’s business plan. Use the team to engage in discussions about mission. Evolve the business plan and separate strategy (helicopter view) from operational Why do you need a business plan? 10 reasons why
  • Use client personas to focus promotional activities. Use client profiling tools and tailor marketing for different segments
  • Team management – Consider individual attributes in the team and how these can be tapped into (emotional intelligence and teams in change management). Encourage all team members to participate in strategy and planning discussions and in business development activities 
  • Develop internal processes – Tap into best practice and share for consistency across offices and teams – particularly for client care. Recruit specialists to manage key tasks (e.g. consider hiring people to focus on client relationship management processes – from initial enquiry, through onboarding and staying in touch)

Delegate Information

Delegate roles included: Head of Private Clients; Property and Private Client partner; Partner;

Legal Director; Head of Private Client Services; Wills, Probate and Estate Planning

Delegate locations included: Barry, Biggin Hill, Blackpool, Blackwood, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Gravesend, Kent, Norfolk, Northampton, Nottinghamshire, Orpington, Paisley, Sevenoaks, South West and Swansea

Delegates found the strategy and operational discussions “really interesting and fulfilling” and valued talking to their peers. The discussions acted as a temperature check of the views, challenges and experiences of comparable teams.

Delegate Poll Results

Delegates find it helpful to compare their responses to others

How many partners in your private client team?

  • 75%      1
  • 25%      2 – 5 partners

How many offices?

  • 44% Just one
  • 33% 2 – 5
  • 22% Over five

 Which private client services do you provide?

  • 100%    Wills
  • 100%    Trusts
  • 100%  Probate
  • 78%  Private wealth/family offices
  • 78%   Tax and Estate planning
  • 78%     Elderly support
  • 78%    Court of Protection
  • 56%  Private client disputes
  • 11%      Charity law

 Topic of most interest to you today?

  • 36%      Develop vision and leadership
  • 18%      Develop a business plan
  • 0%     Improve operational management
  • 36%      Be strategic with marketing and business development
  •  0%      Enhance marketing communications and promotion
  •   9%    Enhance selling and relationship management

 Is your business/marketing planning based on:

  • 55%      Departments
  • 9%       Markets (sectors and niches)
  • 36%      Mixture of both (matrix)

Do you have a business plan for private client? A three-tier approach to private client marketing (kimtasso.com)

  • 20%     Yes
  • 40%      Yes but it’s out of date
  • 40%     No

Do you have a marketing or business development plan for private client? A three-tier approach to private client marketing (kimtasso.com)

  • 27% Yes
  • 73% No

What professional marketing/BD support do you have?

  • 73%      Inhouse marketing/business development team for the firm
  • 18%      External marketing/PR agencies
  • 9%       None – we do it ourselves

 Is your strategy:

  • 25%      Mostly generating new clients
  • 75%     Mostly developing existing clients

 Which area of business development requires most attention at your firm?

  • 33%    Marketing
  • 0%      Selling (converting enquiries)
  • 58%    Client relationship management (developing existing clients)
  • 8%      Referrer management (developing referrers)

 Do you have plans to develop or introduce new private client services?

  • 45%     Yes
  • 55%     No

 Do you have plans to enter or develop new markets?

  • 64%      Yes
  • 36%      No

 Social media platforms used:

  • 82% LinkedIn
  • 64% Facebook
  • 45% Instagram
  • 27% Podcasts
  • 18% YouTube
  • 9% X/Twitter/Threads
  • 9% TikTok
  • 9% Other
  • 9% None

 How effective do you find social media?

  • 27%      Reasonably effective
  • 27%      Good as part of an overall campaign
  • 45%      Don’t know

Related posts on private client management and private client marketing

Private Client – Vision, Leadership, Plan, Engagement November 2024

Private client leaders balance operational and strategic May 2024

A three-tier approach to private client marketing (kimtasso.com) May 2024

Private client commercial conversations (kimtasso.com) March 2024

Private client management and marketing: Business plans (kimtasso.com) November 2023

Manage and grow your private client practice – Recruitment, Performance (kimtasso.com) February 2023 

Eight management questions from private client lawyers (kimtasso.com) April 2022

Strategies for developing a private client practice – Business development (kimtasso.com) September 2021

Managing and growing your private client practice (January 2021) (kimtasso.com) January 2021

Key takeaways from “How to manage and grow your private client practice” (kimtasso.com) December 2020

developing more private client work (kimtasso.com) December 2019

developing a private client practice (kimtasso.com) June 2016

marketing professional services to high net worth clients (kimtasso.com) August 2010

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