Everyone in consulting is talking about AI right now. But there’s something far more important you should focus on:
How you frame your services.
Most consultants lean on capabilities and experience:
“We can do X, Y, Z”
“We have 25 years’ experience in A, B, C”
But here’s the real challenge: that doesn’t mean much to your buyers.
The shift is simple – yet powerful. Frame your offerings around outcomes, not capabilities. For example:
👉 For CFOs: cash, cost, and compliance
👉 For CMOs: qualified sales opportunities, pipeline velocity
👉 For founders: revenue, growth, margin
Even if your consulting doesn’t feel “quantifiable,” you can define both short-term and long-term outcomes. For example:
🌟 For leadership consulting:
Short-term: More direct reports receiving regular feedback
Long-term: Higher engagement scores in employee surveys
🌟 For brand strategy consulting:
Short-term: Increased brand recall and sentiment in customer or industry surveys
Long-term: Higher customer retention and revenue growth
🌟 For culture consulting:
Short-term: More cross-team collaboration in meetings
Long-term: Reduced turnover and higher Glassdoor ratings
Dig deep. Map both short-term and long-term outcomes. Position your services around those.
And here’s the stretch goal: price your packages around those outcomes.
McKinsey and Accenture are already doing it – smaller boutiques and independents can too. And they have to in order to stay relevant.
Outcome-based selling can be harder to design but far easier to sell.
Because buyers don’t buy hours. They buy outcomes. 🎯
✍ How are you currently framing your services – around capabilities and time or outcomes?
Ready to add $100k-$500k revenue to your consulting business in 12 months or less without burning out? Schedule a call and let me show you how.
Image credit: Dalle-3
