Case Study: Listening to Grow

BACKGROUND

HaysMac, a top UK accountancy and tax firm, serves a broad range of corporate, social purpose and private clients from its London headquarters. With ambitions for significant organic growth, the firm recognised the need for a structured client feedback programme – one that would not only support client retention but also identify opportunities for service improvement and inform strategic priorities.

Katie Hiddleston – Head of Marketing and BD

Having Graham present the findings directly to our partners brought the market’s voice into the room. His independent perspective gave real weight to the insights and helped focus our conversations on what clients value most.

SOLUTION

Chorus Insight was engaged to design the programme’s structure and methodology, with five objectives: to identify the main drivers of client experience, assess brand perceptions, benchmark service quality against competitors, highlight training needs, and advise on the direction of key business strategies.

A comprehensive survey of the client base followed, achieving a 39% response rate and gathering 19,884 performance ratings and 1,095 verbatim comments. Detailed analysis mapped service strengths and weaknesses across practice areas and benchmarked HaysMac’s performance against leading rivals.

Findings were delivered through detailed client-specific reports, broader sector summaries, and firm-wide insights. Chorus’ founder, Graham Archbold, presented key outcomes to the board and later to the full partnership, highlighting patterns in client experience and making recommendations for improvement across service, training, and positioning.

IMPACT

The findings provided a clear mandate for change. Drawing on the insights, the managing partner set out a new client care charter, with a focus on improving responsiveness, collaboration and communication.

Brand perception data also prompted a strategic shift. To align more closely with client and staff usage, the firm simplified its name from haysmacintyre to HaysMac, launching a new corporate identity that reflects the firm’s modern, dynamic culture.

Through careful listening, HaysMac not only strengthened client relationships but also sharpened its competitive edge – laying a stronger foundation for future growth.