reader, here's why polite testimonials from clients have little commercial value. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  
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Helping to Build High-Performing Consulting Firms

🔴 EDITION #160 | October 21, 2026

Dear reader, 

Welcome to the 160th edition of our newsletter. 

 

In this edition, the featured article looks at the testimonials that most consulting firms put up on their website and add to proposals.

 

We explain why polite praise from clients fails to move the needle and what type of client feedback delivers real commercial value.

 

And, as always, we were very productive on LinkedIn again. Below are the topics we wrote about over the past two weeks. Check it out! 

 

Enjoy reading,
Luk & Florian

Our New Article

Why Consulting Firms’ Testimonials Are Completely Useless

Why Consulting Firms Testimonials Are Completely Useless (1)

 

“Great team to work with! Super responsive, highly professional, and felt like a true extension of our internal team.”  

 

Sound familiar? Most readers have almost certainly seen some variation of this exact quote on dozens of consultancy websites. It’s polite, positive, and entirely useless.  

 

Every year, we review hundreds of consulting firms. Almost all of them fall into the exact same trap: mistaking polite praise for proof of commercial value. But in a crowded, uncertain market where risk-averse buyers fear making an expensive mistake, generic feedback does zero heavy lifting. It doesn't build trust, reduce perceived risk, or persuade anyone to sign a proposal.  

 

So what kind of feedback should consultancies actually be gathering? And what does real "commercial proof" look like when put on a website, inside sales proposals, or across a marketing strategy? 

 

Read Our New Article

 

Our Recent Articles

CONSULTING GROWTH

A Weak Consulting Pipeline? Stop Asking the Wrong Questions to Fix It.

STRATEGY

Consulting Has a Revenue Quality Problem

BUILDING TRUST

The Consulting Firm Trust Trap: Why Buyers Click Away

Consulting Proposition Design - 2026 Book

OUR BOOK IS COMING, LATE 2026:

Consulting Proposition Design Book

Mastering Value Proposition Design for Consulting Performance

Join the waitlist to receive early access, get invited to a few pre-launch activities, and receive the book at the special launch price.

Join the Waitlist

Our Recent LinkedIn Posts

🔴 LUK SMEYERS

FUTURE OF CONSULTING

As an investor in consulting, I became very cautious about consulting firms that confuse AI activity with commercial progress.

DIFFERENTIATION

Consulting firms are drowning in their own outcome-fluff.

BUSINESS MODEL

"But Luk, all our clients are different. Their problems are different. We can't design repeatability." 

PROPOSITION-LED CONSULTING

AI is collapsing the cost of ideating consulting value propositions. But that’s only 1% of the work.

STRATEGY

A 50-person consultancy with a 5,000-person identity.

🔴 FLORIAN HEINRICHS

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

A quick, simple, yet effective test for your consultancy's proposition-related thought leadership content.

STRATEGY

Sometimes it takes me a while to clarify my own thinking on a point... and sometimes chats with Luk Smeyers, especially during our final editing work on our upcoming book, help me get there faster - as with this one.

Here's How We Help Consultancies

Luk and Florian announcement-1

 

1. Consulting Value Review

 

A structured, 4 to 6-week, value-proposition-anchored rapid assessment of a consulting firm's growth and performance potential.

 

Best for:

  • Buyers or Investors evaluating the proposition and performance of a consulting firm pre- or post-acquisition/investment

 

2. Value Maximisation Program

 

A 10 to 12-week intensive program designed to define, sharpen, and operationalise a firm’s consulting proposition. 

 

Best for:  

  • Boutiques struggling with differentiation & business development
  • Practices in large consultancies needing a clearer positioning
  • Consulting firms launching new service lines
  • Enterprise SaaS companies starting a consulting/service function or needing to improve their current consulting proposition

 

3. Service Portfolio Optimisation Program

 

A deep dive into the cohesion, efficiency, and superior client value of a consulting firm’s service portfolio.

 

Best for:  

  • Large consulting firms with too many overlapping or unclear service offerings
  • Consulting firm practices seeking to scale profitably by optimising service-market fit

 

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