How do you develop your consulting business?

1. Getting known: outbound and inbound marketing
2. Showcase and develop your expertise
3. Focus on the customer experience

At the heart of a complex, ever-changing economy, consulting firms are characterized by their highly diverse profiles, which resonate with a highly competitive market. Indeed, every year, business in the sector grows significantly, peaking at 12% in 2018 after 6 years of consecutive increases. Even after a decline in business in 2020 (-11.4%), the consulting market continues to evolve thanks to new trends. As a result, business is gradually continuing to grow.

The Big Four (Deloitte, PwC, Ey and KPMG) alone account for 37.4% of the global market. The top 10 consultancies hold up to 56.6% of the total market. That's why the smallest remaining structures have to be both responsive and intelligent in order to gain a foothold and remain competitive. The growth of a consulting firm depends on sales and marketing strategies, and their adoption is crucial.

Once a consulting firm has identified its target market, its niche and a perfect customer profile, it needs to take the lead in order to boost its growth.

1. Getting known: Outbound and inbound marketing

Peter Drucker, the "pope of management", Austrian-American management professor and consultant, considers that " the aim of marketing is to make selling superfluous " . In this way, a well-branded product or service sells itself: it has become essential in the eyes of the customer.

If a consulting company is aware of its target audience, it will be able to fine-tune its communication to suit their needs and present a truly tailor-made message to its customers.

Outbound marketing: reaching out to prospects

How do you gather the right audience?

With professional associations and federations, or other events such as seminars, trade shows, workshops or round tables. These provide a wealth of opportunities to meet and exchange ideas.

However, getting known and exposing yourself to circles of potential customers starts with a regular and relevant presence on the web and social networks (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn...). Acting proactively, the consultancy is thus omnipresent when its audience is looking for a solution to one of its problems, and finds itself exposed to a wide range of choices and options.

Indeed, the Internet, unlike face-to-face networking, has multiplied the alternatives while offering more optimized comparisons. This makes for tougher competition, based more on the company's services than on its employees.

Once contact has been made, the key is to stay in the customer's mind. In addition to constant activity on the Internet, this involves targeted emailing (newsletters, invitations, publication of articles, etc.). The exchange must not be broken off once it has begun. That's why the firm's website should offer a direct way to maintain contact: sign up for the newsletter or social networks. In this way, it's easier to create a commitment with the prospect.

Pay-per-click advertising on the web or offline is also a possible marketing strategy for developing your consulting business.

Inbound marketing: getting prospects to come forward naturally

Create quality content. This demonstrates the company's expertise in a specific niche and responds to the issues and developments in its field. It's also a way of illustrating a consultancy's capabilities. More than just a popularization, these articles correspond to a discussion between experts. 

Most of this content takes the form of blog posts published in the blog/articles section of the firm's commercial website and hosted on a platform such as WordPress, Blogger, Tumblr, Squarespace or Posterous. These articles illustrate the constant updating and questioning of the consulting firm's expertise, and increase activity, and therefore traffic, on the website. 

With the right SEO, this content becomes a real indirect sales strategy. Customers click on the article, attracted by its content, and land on the consulting firm's website. They are exposed both to the relevance and expertise of a company with appropriate answers to their questions, and to a way of continuing the dialogue via the blog, newsletter or even social networks. The site's visibility grows, increasing the number of potential prospects.

2. Showcase and develop your expertise

In 2021, digital communication is all the rage, and it can be difficult to stand out from the crowd and highlight your expertise. The multiplicity of distribution channels can have the opposite effect to that intended: visibility.

It's up to you to choose your method and media. For consulting work, the written word is often more appropriate.

Once a consulting firm is aware of the type of customers and topics to prioritize, it is in a position to write a white paper outlining its skills and expertise in its field of activity. A white paper, often in e-book format, answers a specific question. In the form of professional advice, it offers a range of answers and solutions.

A white paper can serve as a veritable practical guide to consultants' services, positioning them as experts in their field. Mainly used in a B2B context, the white paper enables a particular company to stand out from its competitors, through technical capabilities on the one hand, and communication skills on the other. 

Process communication with target customers also needs to be developed and deepened. More than a brief overview, it's a question of explaining in depth the work cycle, from start to finish, and the services offered by the advisory firm. In this way, the audience can be reassured and better understand why and how their money will be invested. 

In addition to demonstrating the consultancy's expertise, these business strategies also help to clarify the exact role of the consultancy in addressing the various issues faced by customers. Why is this particular consulting firm the right answer to this or that question? Justification lies in targeted expertise and effective communication.

3. Focus on the customer experience

A consulting firm, like all companies, needs to perfect its inner workings in order to reach its full potential. Indeed, it is fundamental for any consulting firm to equip itself with the appropriate tools to prepare itself to respond as effectively as possible to each of its customer projects, and to offer the most successful customer experience possible.

The company's reputation depends on this, and can be passed on by its customers spontaneously or in the form of comments on comparison sites, recommendations, etc. The customer becomes an ambassador for the consulting firm. They form their first network of acquaintances and contacts.

What's more, in addition to having proven their worth in marketing and serving as information-rich indicators for prospects when exposed to them, testimonials from past customers are also crucial to the consultancy's ability to evolve and calibrate its services with even greater precision. They inform the company about the needs, criteria and requirements of its audience, and enable it to continue perfecting its communications and marketing.

Faced with an economy in transition, consulting firms must react accordingly and adapt. The development of the Internet and connected markets multiplies the potential for every customer. A consulting firm must therefore stand out from the crowd through regular, high-quality, if not constant, communication in the most widely used media, through up-to-date and challenged expertise, and through a particularly high-quality customer experience.  

Find out more about Stafiz, ERP for the consulting industry