reader, most “specialist” consultancies still sound like generalists. And they likely don’t realise. ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­    ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏  ͏ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­  
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Helping to Build High-Performing Consulting Firms

🔴 EDITION #153 | July 1, 2026

Dear reader, 

Welcome to the 153rd edition of our newsletter. 

 

In this edition, the featured article discusses why most “specialist” consultancies still sound like generalists. And they likely don’t realise. As a result, these "specialised" consulting firms fail to reap the commercial benefits that are supposed to come with a narrow focus.

 

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 Many Consultancies Fail to Reap the Benefits of Specialisation

Why Many Consultancies Fail to Reap the Benefits of Specialisation (1)

 

Many consulting firms believe they are highly specialised because of their domain expertise. A data and analytics consultancy, for example, may offer services such as data engineering, AI enablement, cloud migration, governance, reporting, architecture, and platform strategy.

 

That is certainly narrower than the positioning of a broad management consultancy. Yet many of these firms still struggle to attract the right clients. Their messaging fails to resonate, marketing campaigns underperform, and sales cycles become longer and more complex than necessary.

 

So does that mean specialisation is overrated? Not at all.

 

What we’ve found is that many consulting firms are technically specialised, but still sound like countless others in the market. And when prospects are presented with little more than a list of services, they often struggle to connect those services to the outcomes they actually need.

Read Our New Article

 

Our Recent Articles

CLIENT ENGAGEMENT

Most Consultancies Design Their Own Scope Creep

BUSINESS GROWTH

Winning Consulting Clients: Start with Their Problem, Not with a Service List

STRATEGY

Why Most Consultancies Should Segment by Issue First and Industry Second

Consulting Proposition Design - 2026 Book

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

BUSINESS MODEL

Value-based pricing is a dangerous open door for consulting customisation.

PRODUCTISATION

Most consulting firms misunderstand productisation.

BUSINESS GROWTH

One of the biggest growth blockers in consulting firms: internal leadership disagreement!

VALUE-DRIVEN CONSULTING

Pricing power in consulting is earned long before the pricing conversation begins.

STRATEGY

Customisation weakens the long-term economics of a consulting firm.

PROPOSITION-SELLING

Relationships in consulting matter. But they are not a commercial model.

🔴 FLORIAN HEINRICHS

CONSULTING PERFORMANCE

A lot of consulting firms try to fix commercial performance by repairing whatever looks broken first.

STRATEGY

When it comes to building their "book of business," there's a choice most practice leaders in large consulting firms don't even realise they have.

CONSULTING FOUNDATIONS

Consulting proposition pro tip: Remember, the more specific your firm's proposition, the stronger your commercial position.

STRATEGY

There's a moment many practice leaders in large consulting firms know (or so I presume, having witnessed said moment many times).

FUTURE OF CONSULTING

Lots of talk here on LinkedIn about how AI will finally kill the billable hour.

BUSINESS GROWTH

Differentiation in consulting: Why "coherence" matters.

PROPOSITION DESIGN

"We need to sharpen our proposition." Translation: let's have a workshop, produce a document, and go back to pitching exactly the same way we always have.

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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