Consulting Firm Performance Advisor ?? Advisor to Consulting Firm Buyers/Investors ?? Author of 'The Authority' newsletter
Do you have at least 70% referenceable clients? If not, something is wrong with your consultancy’s positioning. Let me explain ?? The referenceable client list (RCL) in your consulting firm is THE representation of your focus, your expertise, and your ability to deliver specific results by solving prototypical problems of your narrowly defined target audience. I see 2 main reasons why consulting firms are not achieving this critical 70% target: 1?? Fluffy focus and positioning In my experience with auditing consulting firms, with an RCL <70%, you either 1) aren't targeting the right companies, 2) you're not delivering value with the acclaimed expertise or 3) your offering is a laundry list of services. In either case, it's time to reevaluate the focus of your consulting firm, your positioning strategy and/or your value proposition. 2?? Missing referenceable language In order for reference-based business development to catch fire for your consultancy, you need to give your clients and prospects the ‘referenceable language’ you want them to use: ? Target audience A struggles with problem X ? Your consultancy unlocks prototypical problem X with expertise Y ? Which gives your clients transformation Z If not a strong majority of your former clients (>70%) are using this referenceable language, the reference flywheel effect to boost the organic growth of your pipeline, won’t exist. ?? HERE’S MY ADVICE ?? Referenceable social proof is the backbone of any successful consulting firm. It acts as THE accelerator for prospective new clients, by sharing prototypical success stories and case studies linked to the specific expertise of the consulting firm. I think you got the point (again): to achieve a >70% RCL, you will need a narrow focus of your consulting firm or practice, clearly (and openly) articulated to your target audience. Otherwise you’ll always struggle with your ORGANIC pipeline growth. Why don’t you set the 70% RCL target to achieve within the next 12 months? It will accelerate your growth in the long run. #consulting #consultants #managementconsulting
So true in any business
This is a great proxy for assessing firm positioning both 'in theory' (how strong are strategy and messaging) and practice (how disciplined are we in executing our strategy [which includes 'saying no' to stuff]). Really like it, thx for sharing!
Consulting Firm Performance Advisor ?? Advisor to Consulting Firm Buyers/Investors ?? Author of 'The Authority' newsletter
2 年By the way (somebody DM me today), to be clear about ‘reference-based bizdev’: it’s just one component of bizdev. But…also an important one to be used as a mirror to assess your positioning.