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Luk’s Bi-Weekly 'Think Piece' For Consultants

Edition #53 - June 29, 2022

Dear reader,

Summer has arrived, here in Munich. And here's the newest consulting 'stuff' to learn from.

As always, I hope I can create a bubble of calmness with my bi-weekly ‘think piece’, a place of stillness in the face of everyday stress. A chance to reflect on what really matters in your consulting work.

Enjoy reading,

Luk

A new client project

Reader Questions and client case studies from the consulting frontline.

Every Consulting Firm Needs a Discovery Service

It has become an all too common story; a company hires a consulting firm to help them with a specific problem, and winds up spending a lot of money without any real solution. Unfortunately, this happens because many consulting firms rely on the outdated method of "trial and error" to solve problems for their clients.

Let me be straightforward with you. I would never again start an important consulting project again with a new client with such a ‘trial and error’ mindset. And that's what I am telling my consulting clients.

Just like an operator wouldn’t order spare parts of a broken manufacturing machine without a full diagnostic, a consulting firm will only quote costs on a large-scale project with a proper discovery.

And to avoid ‘hit and miss’ I’ve learned to leverage the incredible power of an upfront discovery or diagnosis approach, fully paid.

I am currently working with 2 consultancies developing such a new discovery capability, hence why I decided writing about it.

Read my experience with an upfront discovery approach here

Would you like to send a question for one of the following newsletter editions? Please send it to me here.

The Irresistible Content

I write a lot. Here's the update from the past 2 weeks.

The latest blog article: Client Question: The Productization Dilemma

The Productization Dilemma In Consulting

Consulting firms love to create ‘products’. But most of these consulting firms get it wrong. I always get that question from consulting firms: “How can we turn our self-developed tool into a product that we can sell at scale?” I get that. We are all looking for new revenue sources.

Unfortunately, I haven’t seen that many productization successes in consulting firms. Why is that? Mainly because of these two reasons.

My other content from the past 2 weeks

TVA blog: To Succeed As A Consultancy, Get Rid Of The Scarcity Mindset.

LinkedIn post: Stop writing your ‘About’ in the 3rd person.

LinkedIn post: Is your consulting firm offering a laundry list of à la carte services?

LinkedIn post: Are you afraid of consulting competitors?

LinkedIn post: Prospects don’t care about your consulting services.

LinkedIn post: Lack of clarity in consulting is revenue hell.

LinkedIn post: Should we start a podcast, Luk?

LinkedIn post: The ultimate business development goal in consulting?

The Authority, previous edition: Edition #52

The Inconvenient Number

Evidence-based learning for consultants.

The importance of expertise is on the rise!

Expertise is one of the most crucial differentiators in consulting. This has become all the more evident in the last two years. Many client requests no longer need to be fulfilled by experts on the ground. Remote working has made it significantly more acceptable to work with consultants located anywhere in the world. This has made the depth of expertise easier to evaluate and compare.

Between 2020 and 2022,

● The importance of sector knowledge and expertise of consultants for buyers has changed its ranking from #12 to #3.

● The quality of subject matter experts has risen in its importance from #15 to #2.

Here’s what it means for your consultancy: while you can still trade on your brand reputation, it alone will no longer fuel business growth. With subject matter expertise-related factors quickly catching up in their importance, whether you are a new brand or an established one, you have to demonstrate the depth of knowledge that your consultants bring to the table to win new clients.

Source: Source Global Research

My Inevitable Services

Better consultancy firms, better consultants.

🅾️ Assessing the Consulting Firm's Market Positioning

Many consulting firms make the same mistake – rushing to pitch their services without putting enough effort into their positioning.

It always seems so counter-intuitive to me. It makes growing a consulting business so much harder, such a poor positioning.

Without a strong market positioning, you do not have a proper framework to organize your priorities, client work, and business development. Moreover, your target market has no clear idea of what you do, how you do it, and why what you do is of value.

I can help you assess the consulting firm's strengths and the areas for improvement. So take a piece of paper and a pen and return to the drawing board. Get the foundation right, and the rest will follow.

My assessment takes you through a rigorous process of diagnosing, researching, assessing, and comparing the touchpoints that connect your consultancy with your ideal audience for the years to come.

If you don't assess your positioning every 2 to 3 years, you might have missed a few things on the market.

Interested? Here's a detailed info page.

🅾️ In-company workshops

Are you seeking help to build and grow the foundations for a solid business development footprint in consulting?

I can help with short virtual interventions, 2-hour virtual workshops, half-day or full-day classes (virtual or live in West Europe), or 2-day boot camps in a retreat format?

Everything is possible.

Interested? Please send me a mail at info@thevisibleauthorithy.com.

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Previous 'The Authority' edition: Edition #52

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