The Value Proposition Gap: What Consulting Firms Say vs. What Clients Hear

Most consulting firms operate with weak or generic consulting propositions. There is no clarity, true differentiation, or relevance to real client pain points.

In our experience, consultancies with weak consulting propositions tend to fall into one of three categories:

• Indifference: Some consulting firms simply don’t care. They don’t believe that investing time and effort into sharpening or completely changing the value proposition will yield any meaningful results. They slapped a tagline-type of messaging on their website and believe it suffices.
  
  
• Stuck in value proposition limbo: These consulting firms know their value proposition isn’t working, but they don’t know how to fix it. Perhaps they’ve outgrown their original positioning. In many cases, it was never that strong to begin with. They sense the disconnect, but the risk of getting it wrong feels too high.
  
  
• Blind spots and the internal echo chamber: Many firms are simply unaware of just how weak their positioning is. They have convinced themselves that their value proposition resonates, often because it sounds good internally or has been in use for years. Often, these blind spots are reinforced by positive feedback from loyal clients who already “get it.” But to new prospects, the ones you actually need to convince, the message doesn’t land.

Here is what all three groups have in most instances: what they call a “value proposition” is just a description of what they do. It’s a laundry list of capabilities and services.

“We are experts in X and here are our services” may sound impressive internally. It emphasises the firm’s expertise, capabilities, and scope of work. However, it means nothing to the outside world, especially not to new prospects. Clients are not searching for services; they are seeking solutions to their problems, and they want them delivered with maximum effectiveness and minimum risk.

And that is where the disconnect lies between internal and external perceptions of value propositions, which I wish to discuss in this article.

How Clients Experience Value and the Dangerous Disconnect

The “internal echo chamber” consulting firms believe they have a strong value proposition because they talk about results, expertise, or capabilities:

• “We help our clients succeed with digital transformation”
• “We reduce your cost base”
• “We optimise your supply chain”.

They are confident in their value proposition because they (seem to) promise a result or outcome. What they often fail to understand or acknowledge is that this is simply a promise. It’s not a proven problem-to-resolution path.

Consequently, such propositions often fail during the initial client meeting. They appear generic and “we-centric,” reflecting an inside-out perspective. The more a firm discusses what it does, the greater the risk of sounding like every other firm.

Clients often don’t experience proven value during the project scope or in the slide decks. They can only experience it by having the following questions answered:

• Clarity about the problem: Does this consulting firm grasp the full extent of the client problem? Can it diagnose and fix it with surgeon-like precision? 
  
  
• Confidence in resolution: Does this consultancy have a proven problem-to-resolution path that has been tested multiple times in the past? How confident are we in the consultancy’s ability to actually execute this path?
  
  
• Tangible business impact: Will solving this problem make a measurable difference to the business? Will it reduce risk, significantly reduce costs, or improve performance in a way that can be seen and felt on the bottom line?
  
  
• Emotional reassurance: Do we trust this consulting firm and its team members? Do they make us feel understood, or is this just a facade of a sales pitch? Will they bring confidence and clarity to a complex situation or just add to the complexity?

Symptoms of a Misaligned Value Proposition

There are numerous symptoms of the core issue: a misalignment between the prospects’ perception of the consulting proposition and the consultancy’s internal view of its strength. 

These symptoms show up across various dimensions:

Targeting & Positioning

Symptoms:

• Inbound leads are off-target
• Firms win work outside their sweet spot and lose work they’re well-suited for
• Business development relies heavily on individual relationships or founder reputation

Underlying cause: the consultancy is selling broad capabilities rather than a clearly defined transformation. The positioning is reactive and inconsistent.

Consulting Proposition

Symptoms:

• Prospects frequently ask, “So what do you actually do?”
• Referrals reflect outdated or misaligned messaging
• The firm’s offer is explained differently in every conversation
• Outcome discussions are avoided because they are difficult to define

Underlying cause: the value proposition is vague or overly “we-focused”. It may sound compelling within the firm, but it lacks external clarity or relevance. It does not clearly convey the problem solved, who it's for, or how it leads to meaningful results.

Client Engagement

Symptoms:

• Proposals get stuck in decision cycles without closure
• Clients disengage after an initial strong meeting
• Sales cycles are erratic and often longer than expected

Underlying cause: the value proposition doesn’t create confidence or clarity. Clients are not drawn into a compelling journey because the firm is pitching services instead of offering a clear path to resolution and impact.

Service Offering

Symptoms:

• Teams frequently start from scratch on proposal decks
• Referrals are vague or unrelated to the firm’s core strengths
• Outcomes are difficult to define or anchor in conversations

Underlying cause: the service model is improvised or disconnected from high-stakes client challenges. Without a structured, repeatable offer that takes prospects on a client success journey, clients struggle to understand the value.

Delivery & Operations

Symptoms:

• Frequent project scope creep
• Delivery approaches vary widely across projects
• Execution is inconsistent and inefficient

Underlying cause: the absence of a standardised delivery model leads to complexity, low repeatability, and operational strain. There is no clear link between the promise and the process.

Growth Model & Pipeline

Symptoms:

• Business development is driven by a few key individuals
• Pipeline quality is unpredictable and lacks consistency
• Project work is short-term and fails to build toward strategic growth

Underlying cause: without a compelling transformation narrative and repeatable model, growth remains opportunistic. Consulting firms chase leads rather than systematically attracting the right-fit clients and developing and retaining them over an extended period.

Pricing

Symptoms:

• Pricing pressure arises despite strong credentials
• Clients focus on cost rather than value
• Projects are scoped to budget rather than to impact

Underlying cause: selling capabilities positions the consultancy as a commodity. Without a differentiated problem-resolution path, pricing power is weak, and the value of transformation is unclear.

Talent & Team

Symptoms:

• Talent is misaligned with the firm’s stated value proposition
• New hires introduce inconsistency instead of clarity
• Internal teams spend excessive time tailoring the pitch per client

Underlying cause: a vague or constantly shifting proposition makes it hard to build and maintain a team with shared expertise. Talent strategies are often reactive rather than aligned with strategic goals.

Trust & Risk

Symptoms:

• Clients hesitate to commit even after a strong pitch
• Firms are asked to do unpaid exploratory work
• Larger firms (bigger brands) are perceived as safer bets

Underlying cause: without a proven, repeatable path to transformation, the consultancy is seen as a risk. The pitch may sound good, but the delivery model lacks the confidence-building structure clients look for.

Recommended reading: Do Consulting Firms Know the Real Problems They Solve?

Bridging the Gap: From Describing Services to Delivering a Transformation

Step 1: Zeroing in On the Client Pain

It is imperative that consultancies switch the mindset from “we”-centric to client-centric. And at the foundation of that should be the client’s typical pain points.

I recommend that, instead of leading with services, consulting firms start by thinking about the client's high-stakes challenges and struggles. 

These core pain points should be clearly defined, and the consequences of inaction strongly highlighted.

Step 2: Articulating the Desired Solution

I strongly encourage consulting firms to reconsider how they describe the end state that clients aim to achieve. It shouldn’t use buzzwords or technical jargon.

Step 3: Mapping Services to Outcomes

This is about reversing the order. Instead of giving a list of services and then expecting prospects to connect them to the desired outcomes, consulting firms first state the business outcome and then, only after it’s clear, connect it to the services: "Here's how these outcomes can be achieved with services X, Y, Z."

Step 4: Designing the Value Proposition

In one of our most-read articles, we offer consulting firms a straightforward way to design a winning consulting proposition. I encourage consultancies to rethink and rearticulate their value proposition based on the following template:

1. Our clients come to us because… (urgent problem)
2. They typically are… (the ideal client profile)
3. They struggle with… (specific pain)
4. They can expect… (measurable outcome)
5. Here’s how we help… (journey, roadmap, methodology)

Step 5: Testing the New Consulting Proposition

The fear of getting it wrong stops many consulting firms from redesigning their value proposition. However, I always emphasise that it doesn’t have to be perfect or permanent to get started. A redesign of such a foundational element requires testing and validation. So, I recommend starting small and using the new consulting proposition in actual meetings, iterating fast, and trying again, until hitting the sweet spot.

Recommended reading: Building a Winning Consulting Value Proposition

Nobody Buys a Capability List – Time for Action

The gap between what consulting firms say and what clients interpret goes beyond mere messaging. It poses a strategic risk. 

Consultancies that persist in leading with “We do X” or "We are experts in X"  risk becoming commoditised without even realising it. Top-performing consulting firms don’t just detail their services. They mention their list of services only as a last resort in client discussions.

Instead, they focus on a specific, high-stakes problem and demonstrate how they resolve it. They address the client's typical pain points, rather than vanity results ("We improve your X") or impressive capabilities. Their approach centres on high-impact transformation, not just service offerings.

It’s a shift:

• From “We do X” to “We solve X”.
• From selling capabilities to offering transformations  (“Here's what you can achieve”).
• From listing the consulting firm's services to explaining the high-stakes scenarios or context where they deliver the most value.
• From promising vanity results to demonstrating a proven problem-to-resolution path.

It’s not always an easy change, but it can deliver a radical impact. To succeed, it demands the commitment to clarity, the courage to say no (much) more often, and a willingness to step outside the internal echo chamber.

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