We keep seeing the same pattern in consulting firms that invest extreme effort into winning the client:
Relentless pitching,
Heavy proposal tailoring,
Constant persuasion through follow-ups,
Frequent reframing of the story to fit each opportunity,
Overcustomising services before the work even begins.
Yet, despite all these efforts, they still face pressure on win rate and pricing power, along with too many objections in the sales process.
It makes decision-making harder and, as a result, extends buying cycles.
So where is all that effort actually going?
In our experience, the low win rates and weak pricing power are rarely a sales effort problem. The consulting firm is usually working very hard – everyone from individual consultants to support staff.
In fact, many of the firms we’ve interacted with would go above and beyond to strengthen their sales efforts – fancy tech stacks, regular sales training, monthly and quarterly meetings to track and set up targets, and so on. But nothing seemed to move the needle. Not in a significant way anyway.
So what is the root of the problem?
Well, the issue sits earlier, in where the effort is being invested and what the market receives before the first serious buying conversation even starts.
What we have observed in many consulting firms is that weak proposition work pushes commercial effort downstream:
Having to start all sales conversations from scratch, explaining the problem and capabilities
Facing the same set of objections, trying to come up with new creative ways to overcome them
Spending senior time on persuasion as opposed to early-stage qualification
Developing detailed, tailored proposals to prove value
Competing against dozens of other consulting firms because differentiation is not clear
The consultancy then compensates with more pitching, more reframing, more customisation, and more persuasion, but it usually creates a treadmill instead of momentum.
Because the proposition is weak – be it due to its lack of clarity or business appeal – the pre-qualification process is also weak. Since there are no strict proposition-defined parameters, consulting firms cast a wide net. They constantly adjust their messaging to appeal to a wide/undefined audience. They struggle to zero in on any particular offering because of the fear of missing out on opportunities.
This makes the top of the funnel sluggish, which then pushes all the effort to the bottom of the funnel:
Broad and generic positioning. Buyers struggle to recognise fit quickly. They don’t see themselves clearly in the consultancy’s positioning, which forces them to connect the dots themselves. This creates buyer hesitation early on. Consequently, the sales process has to do the work the proposition should have done – explaining who the offerings are for, establishing relevance, and so on. The work of narrowing and clarifying ends up being done in the bottom half of the funnel.
Relentless persuasion. First meetings turn into persuasion pitches rather than fit conversations. Since the proposition hasn’t already built confidence, this burden shifts to the sales interactions. Instead of exploring the way forward, consultants are forced in the position of having to convince prospects. This also changes the dynamic of conversations. Instead of trying to understand prospects’ specific context, consultants spend time talking up the offerings and capabilities.
Frequent reframing. The story shifts to match the opportunity, creating more objections and slower decision-making. Since the proposition is not clearly defined, conversations with prospects become inconsistent. This creates confusion and damages trust. It also makes it difficult for consulting firms to build any sort of momentum since every opportunity starts from scratch.
Heavy proposal tailoring. Each opportunity pulls the consultancy into custom work before the project even starts. Proposals are used to introduce clarity and argue value – at last. This typically requires significant involvement of senior consultants.
What we have learned is that this does more than slow down sales. It also reduces delivery repetition, increases variance, and limits the consulting firm’s ability to build reusable IP that strengthens future work.
Recommended reading: The Toxic Effect of Improvisation on a Consulting Firm’s Performance
As the visual earlier illustrates, a proposition-led strategy places a stronger burden on the top of the funnel. This means the effort moves upstream into the parts that improve buying confidence:
High-value problem definition. The consultancy invests effort into clearly defining the problem it resolves in a way that resonates with the buyers’ reality. This often means being able to articulate the problem even better than the clients can themselves by framing the problem beyond its immediate importance to include what happens if it’s not resolved. Getting this part right means reducing ambiguity and increasing urgency early on.
A well-defined target audience and problem context. When a consultancy focuses on a specific audience, its messaging gets more precise. This clarity in messaging narrows down the audience that it attracts, improving the quality of leads. The more relevant the messaging is, the easier it is for the right buyer to see it and say “this is for us.”
Outcome-based proposition with proof by repetition. Instead of focusing on capabilities, the proposition is based on clear outcomes which, in turn, are backed up by evidence of successful delivery. This further increases trust and buyer confidence.
Easy entry point to get started. The final step in the upper part of the funnel is making it easy for the buyers to get started by lowering barriers to engagement. Making this step as low-friction as possible convinces buyers to take the next step, making the transition from interest to action more seamless.
By putting more effort into the upstream part of the funnel, consulting firms can change the quality of the entire buying journey: buyers can recognise fit earlier, objections are easier to prevent, decisions are easier to make, and the path to closing becomes shorter and more natural.
Due to the effort in the initial stages, buyers go in with a substantial level of trust and buyer confidence. This makes the later stages of closing that much easier, requiring minimal tweaks, follow-ups, and price justifications.
Proposition-led buyer engagement strategies create trust-based buying.
I understand why many consultancies drift toward a sales-led model, as it feels responsive and commercially active in the moment. I have experienced that same pressure firsthand for many years, unfortunately.
The cost shows up later, when the consulting firm is busy, stretched, and still not getting the commercial advantages that should come from all that effort.
However, when consulting firms invest earlier in proposition design, they reduce persuasion effort later, improve buying confidence, shorten buying cycles, build stronger pricing power, and ultimately achieve better win rates.
Sales success in consulting comes from the quality of the proposition.
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