It's a great summer, 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
The returning client discussion
Reader questions and client case studies from the consulting frontline.
With improper diversification, consulting firms are at risk to fail
The most frequent client discussion I am having: focus or diversification? Most consulting firms keep adding new services because they believe that more services will lead to more opportunities and revenue. And, for those who don't know me yet, I am a big diversification opponent :-).
Why an opponent? Because, unfortunately, more services mean more competition, more price erosion, smaller margins, thinner expertise, poorer thought leadership, less time to get visible, more hiring challenges, more training hours, more client gatekeepers to deal with, and more objections from more stakeholders, and probably 100 more fallouts.
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Unfortunately, this happens because many consulting firms rely on the outdated "trial and error" method to solve problems for their clients.
To avoid ‘hit and miss’, I’ve learned to leverage the incredible power of an upfront discovery or diagnosis approach, fully paid.
Grow your business on the back of your referenceable client list (RCL)
Earlier this year, I wrote an article where I explained why consulting firms should target at least 70% referenceable clients. The Referenceable Client List (RCL) represents the focus and expertise of your consultancy as well as its ability to deliver specific results by solving prototypical problems of your narrowly defined target audience.
An RCL is a natural step of well-executed thought leadership. It’s the organic way to grow your business, maintain a stellar reputation on the market, further improve and deepen your consulting expertise, and recruit new talent.
Unfortunately, most consulting firms fail to take any meaningful actions toward growing their RCLs.
Only 12% of consulting firms have a fully implemented sales referral strategy, with those that do grow much quicker as a result.
Is it really surprising that consultancies that dedicate time and effort towards referral strategies grow faster than the ones that rely on outdated business development techniques?
It’s time to audit your business development strategy and make A LOT of room for growing your RCL.
🅾️ 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.
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?
