Welcome to this month’s Outbound Advantage — insights across the three key segments we support, covering market conditions, automation, resourcing and growth, along with what’s happening across the world of sales and marketing.
Explore this month’s articles below. August 2026 - Episode # 1
Business conditions
The market is competitive rather than weak. Buyers remain active but more selective, while AI, consolidation and changing business models are reshaping competition.
- Sales teams: AI and automation are transforming prospecting and sales execution, making targeting and differentiation more important.
- Accounting: Consolidation, PE investment and AI are driving change, with routine compliance under pressure and advisory becoming more valuable.
- Law firms: Competition for clients, partners and specialist capability is increasing, with M&A, expansion and AI shaping growth strategies.
The common theme: growth is harder to achieve traditionally proactive business development is becoming more important.
Accounting
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- Accounting M&A remains very active - global deal volume is up 14.8% YTD
- Consolidation continues — larger firms and PE-backed platforms are acquiring smaller practices for scale, capability and reach.
- Private equity remains active — attracted by recurring revenue, retention and predictable cash flow.
- Growth is becoming strategic — firms are pursuing acquisitions, advisory, specialist services and geographic expansion.
- Organic growth is harder — headline growth can mask slower underlying organic performance.
- AI is reshaping the model — reducing the value of routine compliance while increasing demand for advisory and higher-value services.
- Australia remains fragmented — around 37,200 accounting businesses provide significant consolidation opportunities.
- Large firms face pressure too — cost-cutting is occurring even as higher-value services continue to grow.
Law
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- Law firm consolidation remains strong - global law-firm mergers rose 18% in 2025, with momentum continuing into 2026.
- Expansion is accelerating — firms are adding offices, partners, specialist practices and international capability.
- Partner movement is intensifying — firms are competing aggressively for high-performing partners and client relationships.
- Private equity is entering legal services — providing new capital for expansion and investment.
- M&A remains a growth driver — firms continue to strengthen corporate and transaction capabilities.
- AI is becoming a competitive advantage — improving efficiency across research, due diligence and transactions.
- Competition is increasing — firms need a combination of organic growth, partner-led growth and strategic expansion to stay ahead.
Sales
- AI agents are moving into the sales workflow — prospecting, research, outreach, lead engagement, quoting and administration are increasingly being automated.
- Salespeople are being given more time to sell — Australian sellers expect AI agents to substantially reduce research and email-drafting time.
- Sales cycles remain challenging — buyers are more informed, more channels are involved and purchasing decisions are becoming more complex.
- High-performing teams are rewiring their sales process, rather than simply adding AI tools to existing processes.
- Prospecting is becoming increasingly automated, but human interaction remains critical for complex, relationship-led sales.
- Data quality and process structure are becoming more important — AI amplifies poor data and fragmented sales processes rather than automatically fixing them.
Marketing
- AI has moved from experimentation to execution — increasingly automating campaigns, content, targeting and marketing workflows.
- AI agents are becoming the next major shift — both marketers and consumers are increasingly using agents to make decisions and execute tasks.
- AI/search is changing discovery — brands increasingly need to be visible in AI-generated answers, not just Google search results.
- Marketing ROI is under greater scrutiny — CFOs are demanding clearer links between marketing expenditure, pipeline and revenue.
- Content is becoming commoditised — AI makes producing content easier, increasing competition and making genuine expertise, trust and differentiation more important.
- The big shift: marketing is becoming more automated, but human relationships, strategy and commercial conversations remain difficult to automate.
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