Millions get lost in how consulting firms go to market. And the unfortunate part is that, in too many cases, it is self-inflicted!
Most consulting firms go to market by leading with lists of capabilities and industries they cover. It is the default. And it is this approach that is sabotaging the consultancies’ chances of success.
In this article, I’d like to discuss why leading with capabilities and industries drowns consulting firms in the sea of sameness, and what the fix is. Heads up, though – while the fix is simple in theory, it is hard when it comes to making the trade-offs.
“We know how to do X, Y, and Z”
“We transform your business.”
“We are a client-centric transformation partner.”
“We can do A and B, and here is a list of industries we can do it for.”
In our work with consulting firms, we see these statements all the time – in conversations with senior partners, on websites, in marketing and sales emails, and on social media platforms like LinkedIn.
It’s a common and natural way of thinking in consulting. A supermarket sells products and displays them on the shelf. Consulting firms’ product is their service portfolio. So they display them loudly and proudly on their marketing shelves. The hope is that by declaring which services are offered and specifying which industries they can apply to, the right buyer will find them.
The buyer won’t. The buyer doesn’t care. The buyer is bored of the bombardment of identical marketing messages from consulting firms.
So why does the capability- and industry-first go-to-market fall on deaf ears?
Two reasons: sameness and buyer disconnect.
Sameness: When every website reads the same – Strategy, Transformation, Data, Change – consulting firms lose their differentiation. Industry lists do not differentiate either. Everyone claims the same sectors. The consulting firm becomes interchangeable before a conversation even starts.
Buyer disconnect: Contrary to what many consulting leaders and their marketers believe, buyers do not search for a “client-centric transformation partner.” They don’t stay late in the office looking for a consultancy that’s “100% committed to the success of clients”. Buyers search for solutions to the problem that is costing their business time, money, or credibility. Generic, vague, and broad capability language forces translation – how to connect Service Y to their Problem X. So, most buyers move on – they don't have the time to do that translation.
Getting lost in the sea of sameness and failing to instantly make it clear to prospective buyers why the consulting firm is a good fit creates a persuasion treadmill. The consultancy has to put all its efforts into outbound campaigns. Those who get captured by the funnel require constant follow-ups, clarifications, slide decks, negotiations, and convincing. It’s a whole lot of effort for rather disappointing returns.
Recommended reading: The Client-Centricity Lie in Consulting
The toughest part of our work with consulting firms is redesigning their propositions. It is a foundational change that often requires consulting leaders to completely change their mindset and approach to business and client engagement.
In theory, it’s a straightforward process. The pain comes when consulting firms have to make trade-offs and follow through on execution.
The fix to drowning in the sea of sameness and buyer disconnect is leading the go-to-market with business issues.
Issue: The concrete problem the buyer is trying to fix. “Digital transformation” is not a problem buyers face. Stalled revenue growth, rising operational costs, customer churn – these are the problems that are typically at the heart of the problem. Digitalising processes and setting up automations are just one way to tackle the real issues.
Buyer context: The role and situation where that Issue shows up. A CFO of an FMCG company experiences the same issue differently from a COO of a tech company. Understanding the buyer’s pressures, incentives, limitations, goals, and priorities makes the proposition feel tailored rather than generic.
Outcomes: What changes, what improves, what stops hurting. If the issue is solved, what gets better, faster, cheaper, or safer? What pain goes away? Buyers want to see results in practical business terms. They want higher win rates, faster decision-making, stronger margins, and so on. Outcomes translate expertise into value.
Proof and method: A repeatable approach and evidence. Industry becomes Proof. A consulting firm should be able to show how it can credibly solve an issue, and do so repeatedly. This means having a clear approach, a structured methodology, and evidence from past work – case studies, testimonials, client stories, and so on. Industry expertise becomes proof when a consulting firm can demonstrate that it understands the buyer’s context and has successfully delivered outcomes to buyers with similar contexts in the past.
That order changes the commercial curve, and here is a visual that summarises it:
The bottom line is:
Capability and industry-led GTM creates spikes, not enough momentum.
Issue-led GTM creates compounding demand.
On their own, capabilities- and industries-led messages don’t provide great ROI:
Capabilities: Capabilities still matter, of course. They are based on expertise, and consulting firms ultimately sell expertise. Capabilities frame the expertise domain: “We are experts in sales forecasting.” This tells the buyer what the consultancy does and what its technical competencies are. It can help buyers shortlist this consultancy. However, on its own, it doesn’t necessarily create urgency or build trust. The buyer thinks: “This seems to be one of the consultancies we are looking for, let’s check them out.” It invites evaluation but doesn’t create demand.
Industry: Industry acts as proof: “We’ve done that in these industries: Fashion Retail, Supermarkets, and international e-Commerce shops.” A declaration of sector experience reduces buyers' perceived risk. It signals the consultancy’s understanding of operating models, commercial realities, sector-specific terminology, and operational limitations. The buyer thinks: “Great, they understand our specific context”. It builds some confidence but doesn’t really translate into relevance to the exact problem that the buyer needs to solve.
Capability- and industry-led GTMs feel logical internally, but they put the work of connecting the dots and figuring out differentiation on the buyer.
To create relevance and build trust, consulting firms need to reverse their thinking. It is on them to connect the dots, create meaningful differentiation, and then put out externally-facing messages. That’s where issue-led GTM propositions come in.
Issue-led: Leading with the Issue is how a consulting firm earns trust. “We fix revenue leakage from out-of-stocks (context) in multi-region supermarkets (client profile) by helping demand planning and forecasting teams (capability and expertise) improve new product launch forecasts that keep missing demand (issue) with a typical accuracy improvement of 10 to 30% within 10-15 weeks (outcome).” The buyer feels confident: “This consultancy has solved exactly the problem we are suffering from, repeatedly and reliably”.
That’s the major change in thinking that consulting firms need to embrace truly. Stop thinking about how to promote individual services to various industries. Instead, think of what urgent, high-impact issues the consultancy can solve using its expertise and by designing repeatable methods that deliver reliable outcomes. Services and expertise matter, but they should play a supporting role – not shoved into the spotlight. The client’s real issues – that’s what should take centre stage.
To improve the commercial impact (and stop leaving money on the table), consulting firms need to stop leading with what they do and start leading with the problems buyers urgently need solved. They should focus on the type of problems that present the toughest challenges for clients, for which they're willing to pay a premium to get rid of!
Capabilities and Industries in consulting build Context and Proof. They are essential. But they don’t lead. They provide a mechanism, help set up context and proof. On their own, they fail to create relevance or trust.
Issues create relevance. They show buyers that the consulting firm understands what is at stake and has a proven method for addressing it.
Issue-led GTM changes the dynamic. Instead of forcing buyers to figure out the value behind vague claims, the consultancy does that work upfront. It becomes memorable for solving a specific, valuable problem.
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