How to be a market-led consultancy

Getting a market-led growth strategy in place (rather than prioritising internal process improvement) will mean a consulting business structured for success and ready to adapt to market conditions. Here’s what you can do.

5 top tips from our Growth Experts

1. Revisit your business plan and ensure you have adopted a customer-centric approach, not a skills-based one. Ask yourself the key question: What problem are we trying to solve? – Marc Jantzen
   
   
2. Next ask yourself “What’s working extraordinarily well for us?” It’s an innocent mistake many businesses make, pouring all their effort and resource into what isn’t working, rather than looking at what is going gangbusters. Go with the flow, not against the grain. – Sarah Matthew
   
   
3. Stay close to your existing clients, mine them, and listen to them now more than ever. When going after new clients maintain your focus on them and their needs. – David Bailey
   
   
4. Don’t lose sight of what the purpose of a consultant really is. The ultimate role of a consultant is enablement, to identify the problem for the client and solve it – not to only do the bits of the problem for which you have competency. – Augusto Negrillo
   
   
5. Aim high. It takes the same amount of time and energy to draft a strategy to grow by 15% as it does to draft a strategy designed to deliver 100% growth. Aiming for a significant step change opens up a new level of thinking. – Marc Jantzen