How to Build a Firm Around Problems Clients Actually Need Solved With Phil Ratcliffe

Want to solve Branding and Lead-Gen for good for your B2B Business? Download our Completed Playbook for FREE: https://ghapodcast.com/b2b-podcasting... ********************************************************** Phil Ratcliffe is a Director at Code Advisory and a corporate real estate, facilities management, and project advisory professional with more than three decades of experience. In this episode, we explore what Phil has learned about building and leading an advisory business, winning the trust of major organisations, creating long-term client relationships, and staying relevant as technology and client expectations change. ********************************************************** Links: StreamYard (for guest): https://streamyard.com/ew8eetej8m YouTube (for sharing):    • How to Build a Firm Around Problems Client...   Apply to be a guest: https://ghapodcast.com/application-to... ********************************************************** Phil's Bio: Phil Ratcliffe is a Director at Code Advisory with more than three decades of experience across corporate real estate, facilities management, project delivery, advisory, and business leadership. Before joining Code Advisory in 2023, Phil spent more than 21 years at Procore UK, including several years as Managing Director. Earlier in his career, he worked across project services and facilities management consulting. At Code Advisory, Phil advises organisations on CRE and FM operating models, technology and AI adoption, transformation, benchmarking, and organisational design. His work includes the Fit for the Future benchmarking initiative, helping CRE leaders understand how peer organisations are structuring and resourcing their functions for what comes next. Phil was awarded the CoreNet Global Luminary credential in 2025. ********************************************************** Show Notes: Phil Ratcliffe has spent more than 30 years working across corporate real estate, facilities management, project delivery, and advisory. Before joining Code Advisory as a Director in 2023, he spent more than 20 years at Procore UK, including several years leading the business as Managing Director. Today, Phil works with organisations through Code Advisory on challenges including operating models, technology, transformation, benchmarking, and how CRE and FM teams need to evolve for the future. A recurring principle behind his work is deceptively simple: understand the problem before choosing the solution. In this conversation, we go beyond CRE to unpack the lessons behind building a successful professional services business: how Phil approaches winning clients, establishing credibility, turning engagements into long-term relationships, leading teams, and adapting an advisory firm as AI and technology reshape both client problems and the way professional services are delivered. ********************************************************** Proposed Interview Structure: 1. You’ve spent more than 30 years in professional services, including over two decades at Procore and now as a Director at Code Advisory. How did you originally get into the business, and what kept you in it? 2. What specific problem are you helping clients solve through Code Advisory today, and why does solving that problem matter so much to you personally? 3. Who are your ideal clients at Code Advisory, and within those organisations, who usually holds the decision to bring you in and hire the firm? 4. In a specialist advisory business where reputation and trust matter so much, how are clients typically finding Code Advisory today, and what have you found works best for consistently generating new opportunities? Current Acquisition Channels: Referral, Speaking, engagements network Sub Question: What do you think about podcasts as a marketing and trust-building tool for professional services firms like yours? 5. When a potential client comes into your world, how do you take them from an initial conversation to trusting Code Advisory enough to bring you in, particularly when you’re selling expertise rather than a tangible product? 6. Once you’ve won a client, what do you do to make sure they keep coming back, and what have you learned over the years about building client relationships that last? 7. Where do you find yourself most challenged right now as a leader at Code Advisory, if at all? 8. Looking ahead, where do you see the biggest opportunity for your work over the next few years?