We are only a month away from entering 2023. I hope amid the rush that the end of the year typically entails, you are finding time to look back and take a strategic look at the wins and losses of 2022, using this introspection to identify growth areas.
In the meantime, 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
Client Learnings
Client questions and case studies from the consulting frontline.
A business development template consultancies can use to introduce their firms
When pitching a consulting firm to potential clients, what's the best way to introduce them? Most consulting leaders default to talking about the consultancy’s history or impressive lineup of consultants.
But there's a better way to make an impression - by highlighting the firm's unique achievements in solving problems. In other words, focus on your firm's client-centered outcomes that were achieved in previous projects.
The outside, client-centered view instead of the inside, self-centered view.
In this post, I’d like to share this template and explain why consultancies should aim to always introduce their firms according to it.
And by the way, there’s no difference: solo, small, medium, and big consultancy, everybody can use this introduction template.
In the past couple of years, I’ve audited the positioning and business development models of 50+ consultancies. In addition, I had in-depth conversations with 100+ leaders of consulting firms of various sizes on the challenges they face, trying to get to the root of the problem.
There are many similarities in the struggles that consulting leaders report having in their business development efforts. The ones I’d like to focus on here have been coming up most often and most prominently.
Consultancies disregarding Google's importance in their business development are racing to the bottom.
In one of my earlier newsletters, I mentioned that a general web search is one of the top 3 ways buyers find consulting firms.
In fact, I spent a lot of time over the past couple of years urging consultancies to pay special attention to search engines and digital marketing channels in general. To grow as a business, the influence of search engines on growth can't be ignored.
And the trick is specialization. Google's E-A-T algorithm will promote high-quality niche content over pages that lack focus, direction, and depth.
Here are some further stats on the importance of creating thought leadership content with a purpose.
The first result on Google’s search engine results page (SERP) gets approximately 32% of all clicks. In fact, the first organic result is 10x more likely to receive a click compared to a page in the #10 spot.
So I'd like to propose an experiment for consultancies. Think of the keywords that prospects are most likely looking up when they look for solutions to their pain points. Does your consulting firm come anywhere near the top few results? If not, that's a sea of lost business.
🅾️ 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.
🅾️ In-company business development workshops for consultancies
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.
🅾️ Soon to come (early 2023): a new social media support service for owners, leaders, or partners of consultancies
I always get that question, "Luk, could you help me with my thought leadership and social media?"
Well, as of 2023, I will be able to support these requests. With a group of experts, we are developing a brand-new service to build and help manage the social media of people like you...on popular demand.
Curious? Interested? Please send me a mail: luk.smeyers@thevisibleauthority.com.
