Helping to Build High-Performing Consulting Firms

🔴 EDITION #155 | August 12, 2026

Dear reader, 

Welcome to the 155th summer edition of our newsletter. 

In this edition, the featured article discusses why cold outbound strategies don't work in consulting.They fail to fix the revenue problem in the short term and further aggravate fundamental issues in the long term.

We were very productive again with our LinkedIn activities. Below are the topics we wrote about over the past two weeks. Check it out! 

Enjoy reading,
Luk & Florian

Our New Article

Why Cold Outbound in Consulting Doesn't Work. And What a Consultancy Can Do Instead .

How does a cold outbound campaign work? There are several strategies, but the main one comes down to building giant lists of prospects using tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, ZoomInfo, etc., finding email addresses of the prospects, and then blasting them with emails. There is the intro email, and then many many follow-up emails.  

Most prospects don’t engage. The vast majority simply click “delete” and move on. Sure, a few may bite and agree to a call. A couple may even convert into clients.  

The problem? That client, chased into the pipeline today, often becomes the problem client tomorrow: misaligned, margin-draining, and hard to develop and retain. We’ve seen it multiple times. And I have been there myself.

Read Our New Article

Our Recent Articles

GO-TO-MARKET

The Internal Org Chart Shouldn’t Dictate the Consultancy’s Go-to-Market Strategy, but in Most Firms, It Does

STRATEGY

Why Many Consultancies Fail to Reap the Benefits of Specialisation

CLIENT ENGAGEMENT

Most Consultancies Design Their Own Scope Creep

OUR BOOK IS COMING IN 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

DIFFERENTIATION

Most consulting firms claim outcomes, but unfortunately, most of it is consulting fluff.

PROPOSITION DESIGN

Consulting success is all about building trust. Here's a trust-building concept consulting firms can use.

FUTURE OF CONSULTING

One of the most important strategic priorities for consulting firms over the next few years: staying away from the AI Risk Zone! 

STRATEGY

Most specialist consultancies think they sound specialised. They don't.

VALUE DESIGN

The future of consulting is not built by selling more capabilities, but by deliberately designing where value is created.

VALUE COMMUNICATION

If a consulting firm's website explains what the consultancy DOES rather than what the client can GAIN, it has already lost its pricing power.

BUSINESS DESIGN

Consulting firms keep mistaking standardisation for productisation.

DIFFERENTIATION

98% of consulting firms compete in the ‘Sameness Zone’.

STRATEGY

Revenue pressure broke our consulting discipline.

BIG CONSULTING

“Luk, we’d love to improve how we go to market, but everything is defined by the global firm.”

BUSINESS GROWTH

Most consulting founders quietly build the ceiling they later struggle to break. I’ve been there.

Q2 SUMMARY

A Summary Of Our Content - April-June 2026

🔴 FLORIAN HEINRICHS

GTM STRATEGY

How's this for a metaphor for the two kinds of consultancy go-to-market Luk Smeyers and I are seeing all the time.

COMMERCIAL MODEL

Capability-led consulting and where the model might take you ... A - sort of - case study feat.

PROPOSITION DESIGN

Consulting demand isn't the industry's issue right now - relevance and clarity are...

Here's How We Help Consultancies

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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