Making the jump to partner
Rachel Davison joined the Taylor Wessing partnership in 2021. She shares her story, how she maintains her client relationships and tips on how to succeed with that all important jump. How would you describe your progression up to the partnership? This is probably common to most people, but I wouldn’t say it was a straight-line trajectory. Starting as an associate on day one, looking forward and being ambitious, which I always was, I sort of knew early on that, ideally, I’d like to become a partner. But it wasn’t a case of ticking the boxes each year, and then boom, year ten, I’m suddenly ready to become a partner. Part of that journey, to use the cliché, was slowly but surely realising what all the different component parts are to being a partner and that appreciation over the years of the different skills that you need to have within your toolkit to be an effective partner. There will always be times when you’re receiving constructive criticism, and it can feel quite difficult sometimes receiving this, but you need to learn and develop, and some things will be more natural than others. How did you know you were ready? For me, it was the moment when I no longer felt insecure about the thought of having the partner badge. It really came down to my client relationships and how those had developed, specifically how I was interacting with key clients and how they were looking to me as their trusted advisor and the first point of contact. It was that moment of realising when the client had a problem I would be the first person they called. They trusted me to do that, and I trusted myself to play that role for those clients. That is such an integral part of being a partner, but it’s not the only part. You also need to be able to go out there and win work. Having built up a profile in the market and having referrals coming directly to me, I could see how I could develop this if I had the partner badge, and I was ready for that. It wasn’t waking up one day and just saying, ‘I’m ready now’. It was that slow but sure appreciation that actually, I was effectively performing the role of partner, which I think is the ideal. You don’t want to be made a partner and suddenly be floundering around saying, ‘Oh my God, what do I do now?’. I think that’s a necessary part of it, that you feel you are operating at the level of a partner before you actually become a partner. How did you build your client base? I would say it was two aspects, the first being existing clients. I think a big mistake anyone could make is to say, ‘I’ve won those clients, I’m now the client partner, it’s done and dusted, so I must focus on new clients’, because existing clients continue to be the best referrals of new clients. When you start neglecting your existing clients or even seem not to be paying them attention, you’re really doing yourself a disservice in terms of your ability to win new clients from them. So that’s something I always do my best to keep an eye on. In terms of completely new clients (i.e., those that existing clients don’t refer) it’s all about contacts and trying your hardest not to let any go cold, which is easier said than done. Time just passes so quickly, and you need to make sure that you’re not looking at your contact list and saying, ‘Gosh, I haven’t spoken to that person in six months or a year’ because that’s just way too long. There needs to be that continuity and that constant sort of engagement in whatever form that may be, if it’s updates, phone calls, going for a coffee, etc. But just so that when that matter comes into them, you are there in their mind because if you’re not there, you’re not part of the thought process. And you just never know where your next instruction might come from. I think what I’m realising as a partner is that new work can come from really weird and wonderful places. You said that you keep up with all of your contacts. How do you manage that list in practical terms? I suppose it’s a bit old-fashioned, but I have an Excel spreadsheet, and it’s kind of broken down by category. The US market is my central focus, so I have a list for the various ‘hubs’ making up the US private wealth market e.g. Miami, New York etc, and I have a list of the people who work in the US space. I literally look at it each week. I have a handwritten list in my BD to-do list, and it’s just putting their names so that I make some contact with individuals on my list, so that, as I say, they’re not going completely cold because it is quite hard to pick things up over a year, when you may as well be starting from scratch. What strategies or activities have been most effective for you in building your client base? I think it comes back to the earlier point about the lists. It can sound a little mundane, but I think it’s having that discipline of knowing you have to give a certain amount of time on a daily or weekly basis in order to keep all of the plates spinning. Clearly there’s your fee-earning work, and I’ve talked about how fundamental it is that your clients are getting the best possible and highest quality service because your reputation rests upon the work you’re doing out there for your clients. But then also, there’s going out into the market and looking to win new work. I spend around 30 – 40% of my time on business development. So, I think it’s being disciplined and not