What’s really keeping clients awake in 2026?

Before your next catch-up, ask yourself whether you’re responding to last year’s priorities — or this year’s pressures.

Most professional services firms invest significant time in understanding their clients. High-performing teams treat that as a moving picture, and refresh it often.

The Middle East conflict is firmly on corporate agendas, influencing everything from supply chains and energy costs to risk appetite, travel decisions, and stakeholder expectations.

Add economic uncertainty, regulatory change, and evolving commercial models — and it’s easy for client priorities to change without your realising.

Building that refresh into your rhythm reduces risk and improves relevance in every client conversation.

1) Use insight to show up more sharply

One of the most effective ways teams do this is by getting up to speedbeforemeeting clients — using insight to understand the client’s context and what’s changed so that you can prepare better questions.

When you understand a client’s context, recent developments, and external pressures, the conversation moves beyond surface-level updates more quickly. Your questions sharpen — and clients are often more willing to say what’s genuinely worrying them.

In this sense, insight isn’t about prediction. It’s about creating the conditions for a better dialogue.

2) Don’t over focus what the client has already ‘solved’

An often-overlooked step is understanding which risks the client has already identified and mitigated. Annual reports and risk disclosures show what they’ve publicly flagged — and what they believe is under control, while a competitor sweep can help you understand who is already advising.

When you’re clear on their level of understanding and preparedness, you can focus on emerging risks where your advice is genuinely valuable.

3) Ask about second‑order risk (the bit most teams miss)

Once the obvious is set aside, better questions come into focus:

• What risks and opportunities sit behind their ambitions and agenda?
• Which decisions made years ago now look exposed?
• What regulatory or market changes might hit them before they’ve publicly acknowledged them?

These concerns don’t show up in investor presentations or company accounts. They surface in analyst commentary, sector research and what you hear when you ask the right questions in the room.

4) Track the internal shifts that change decisions

Alongside external pressure, many clients are navigating leadership changes, restructures, or strategy resets. A senior change often signals a strategy shift that's looking to learn from their achievements.

Knowing the priorities of new leaders helps you spot what pressures your key contact will be required to deal with and where you can help.

A question that improves every client conversation

When teams come in well-informed — aware of what’s already been addressed as well as what may be emerging — conversations move to what matters most.

Try this before your next client meeting:

What is our client worried about this year that they didn’t worry about last year?

If you can answer with evidence, you’re in a strong position.

If not, it’s an invitation to get up to speed — and let the right questions do the work.