“We publish content regularly, present at events, experiment with various marketing campaigns across different channels – yet, nothing seems to be working. We are still struggling to generate quality leads.”
This probably resonates with a lot of consulting firms. We hear it from prospects and clients on a regular basis. Marketing and business development campaigns often fall flat, so consulting firms keep trying new things: new platforms, new messaging, new sales decks, new topics.
Similarly, sales conversations seem to lead to dozens of followups and constant discussions of prices. It makes sense why so many consulting firms feel stuck.
So what is missing? Why do some consulting firms get constant engagement – be it prospects reaching out, articles reshared, or leaders invited to present at industry conferences – while most get lost in the crowd?
In eight or so of ten cases, it’s a strong, differentiating point of view or perspective - the firm’s “flag in the ground” which clearly signals how its experts think and work.
What Is a Point of View (PoV) in Consulting?
A PoV in consulting is a firm’s view on clients’ issues and how to best solve them. It’s this firm’s distinct perspective on what’s changing in their clients’ world, what causes the changes, and what they should do about it.
Don’t confuse this with a tag line, a sales pitch, or a recital of generic industry trends. Rather, it’s the core belief along which a consulting firm – and all its team members, from marketing to consulting teams – operates, interprets its market, and positions itself as a category leader.
In our Ultimate Guide to Consulting Value Proposition Design, we list PoV as a crucial element of Step 5: Clarification of Work.
After showing a deep understanding of the clients’ pain points, the PoV frames why those challenges exist, what’s changing in their world, and why this consulting firm is uniquely positioned to help address them.
Recommended reading: The Ultimate Guide to Consulting Value Proposition Design
Why Does a Consulting PoV Matter?
A sharp, differentiating PoV frames both external messages and internal operations.
- It helps consulting firms cut through the noise. A clear PoV differentiates firms from the crowd by going beyond simply reciting market trends. It explains what is happening in a particular segment and why, it showcases a consultancy’s expertise on the consequences of inaction or missed opportunity costs.
- It helps shape a firm’s identity and market authority. Yes, consulting is an expertise-driven business. However, clients don’t just buy expertise = capability. They are looking for high-value transformations. A well-crafted PoV signals that a consulting firm deeply understands their challenges, has a distinct interpretation of how to resolve them, and, most importantly, has a proven roadmap to deliver the transformative outcome.
- It creates urgency and supports premium pricing. Facts alone don’t necessarily drive change. A PoV highlights the risks of maintaining the status quo as well as the upside of acting now. It reframes a client’s situation in a way that shows just how costly inaction is.
- It reframes sales conversations. Instead of responding to endless RFPs with proposals that detail dozens of capabilities or competing on price, consulting firms with a strong PoV lead conversations about the future of their segment, which, in addition to influencing buying decisions, allows them to help clients rethink their strategy as a whole.
- It directs delivery and IP creation. A strong PoV doesn’t just shape how a firm shows up in the market – it also clarifies how it should engage with clients once work begins. By anchoring delivery to a clearly defined perspective, firms can focus engagements on what truly drives value, rather than diluting efforts across too many directions. This clarity accelerates the development of services, standards, frameworks, and processes, ensuring that intellectual property is not only consistent but also directly reinforces the firm’s distinctive stance.
A PoV is not a marketing gimmick. It’s a bridge between a consulting firm’s expertise and its clients’ challenges. It’s what differentiates run-of-the-mill consulting firms from the ones that shape how clients see their challenges and macro trends in their segment.
Can a firm have multiple PoVs?
Every firm will naturally develop multiple points of view – perspectives that address the challenges their clients face, the shifts within their industries, and the opportunities on the horizon.
These diverse viewpoints are valuable, but they shouldn’t exist in isolation. A firm also needs one defining, firm-wide point of view that rises above the rest – a prime perspective that shapes its identity and differentiates it in the market.
When done well, the relationship between these ideas forms a hierarchy: the primary point of view anchors the firm’s positioning, while the secondary perspectives reinforce and elaborate on it, adding substance, nuance, and credibility.
Together, they create a coherent narrative that helps clients see both the bigger picture and the practical steps within it.
How to Extract a Point of View That Stands Out: The PoV Canvas
To help our clients distill their internal and external messaging into a PoV that clearly articulates their distinct interpretation and approach to client work, we have designed a PoV canvas.
At its core, the canvas maps the client’s journey from yesterday to tomorrow:
- Yesterday (the status quo): This describes how things currently work for clients. It forces consulting firms to capture the norms, practices, and assumptions that define their day-to-day reality. Without this grounding, a consulting PoV risks sounding abstract or disconnected from the actual experiences and observations of clients.
- The downside of the status quo: Here, consulting firms have an opportunity to highlight why the current way of operating is unsustainable. This is where firms highlight the tension, the urgency – a clear articulation of risks, inefficiencies, or missed opportunities. Afterall, if the status quo seems comfortable or “good enough,” there’s no reason for clients to act.
- Tomorrow (the ideal state): This is the consulting firm’s vision of how things should work. It’s not about selling services directly. Rather, it’s about painting a picture of a better, more effective way forward. It’s about helping clients see their challenges and opportunities in the same light.
- The upside of changing: Finally, consulting firms can show the benefits of moving from the status quo to the transformed state. It’s about making benefits feel tangible, giving clients a clear sense of reward for taking action. This part translates a consulting firm’s PoV from an observation into a call to action.
Furthermore, the canvas is divided into three “lenses” to make sure a PoV is grounded in the client’s reality:
- How their world works: This lens captures the external environment in which clients operate – industry shifts, regulatory changes, technological disruptions, evolving customer expectations, and so on. By articulating these forces, consulting firms showcase their understanding of the broader context shaping prospects’ challenges and opportunities.
- How their organisation works: Here, the focus shifts inward – to the client’s structures, systems, and ways of operating. Through this lens, consulting firms can highlight where friction occurs internally and why certain challenges persist despite investment or effort.
- Where they focus: This lens looks at the leadership agenda in clients’ organisations and what keeps senior-level decision-makers up at night. By showing a thorough understanding of what’s top of mind for them, consulting firms connect their PoV directly to the decision-makers’ priorities.
Recommended reading: The Value Proposition Gap: What Consulting Firms Say vs. What Clients Hear
The PoV Canvas: Examples
Example 1: Consulting firm for media organisations
This consultancy works with large media organisations, helping them identify viewership trends and plan content accordingly to ensure consistently high engagement and audience retention.
Example 2: Consulting firm for retail brands
This consulting firm helps retail brands identify operational inefficiencies in their supply chains and resolve them.
A Strong PoV = One of the Foundations of a Differentiating Value Proposition
Firms that invest time in articulating their PoV are able to clearly differentiate themselves from competitors, build authority, and create urgency that motivates clients to act. It helps firms stand out, strengthen its relevancy, and explain their value.
By using the framework of the PoV Canvas, consulting firms can ground their perspective in the realities of their clients’ world, clarify the value of moving from the status quo to a better future, and guide conversations toward transformation rather than transactions.
Ultimately, a compelling PoV is what turns expertise into influence.
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