Looking for consulting templates to become more efficient with your clients?
The right consulting templates will help you close new business, deliver your work, and streamline your operations.
By the end of this article, you’ll have a library of consulting templates that our clients have used to help build high 6 and 7-figure consulting businesses.
Ready? Let’s dive in…
(NOTE: This article is for informational purposes. It is not legal advice. Consult with an attorney before drafting and sending any formal agreements with your clients.)
Consulting Templates: Quick Links
- Consulting Proposal Template
- Consulting Agreement Template
- Consulting Website Template
- Consultant Invoice Template
- Consultant Statement Of Work Template
- Consulting Report Template
- Consulting Business Plan Template
- Consulting Presentation Template
(For more in-depth examples, check out our Clarity Coaching Program)
The right consulting templates will help you close new business, deliver your work, and streamline your operations.
1. Consulting Proposal Template
What It Is
A consulting proposal is a document that you send to a potential client, outlining your understanding of the client’s problem based on the conversation(s) you’ve had with them, the proposed solution or strategy to address that problem, and the value, results and fee associated with the engagement. It serves as a formal way for you, the consultant, to get formal written acceptance that you and the client are on the same page and agree to move forward with the project.
Consulting Proposal Template: Best Practices
- The consulting proposal isn’t meant to win the business. The business should have already been won before sending the proposal.
- Present your consulting proposal live on a Zoom call. That way, you can handle objections live on the call with the client, and get their confirmation to move forward or agree to any changes or adjustments on the call together.
- Keep legalese out of your proposal. Keep it simple and clear. It’s a way for you to formalize what you’ve spoken about with the client and finalize the deal.
Further Reading: The WINNING Consulting Proposal Template (& 7 Proposal Writing Tips)
Questions about how to use these templates? Check out our frequently asked questions section of this article.
2. Consulting Agreement Template
What It Is
A formal consulting agreement is a comprehensive document that covers key aspects of the project, including: the responsibilities, deliverables, payment schedule, terms and more.
People often wonder if you need a Consulting Agreement if you are using a consulting proposal. The answer is, it depends. We’ve worked with hundreds of consultants that have used the consulting proposal by itself to secure six-figure engagements.
That being said, many organizations and projects will require a longer-form, more detailed Agreement. A consulting agreement is the same thing as a consulting contract. They are interchangeable: use whichever language you prefer.
Consulting Agreement Template: Best Practices
- In general, here’s what you should be including in your consulting agreements:
- Parties: who the agreement is made by and between.
- Services Provided: the services you’ll be providing the client.
- Term: when the agreement begins, and when the project is completed.
- Services Provided: the services you’ll be providing the client.
- Fees: what you will be paid for your work, and when.
- Expenses: who’s responsible for the expenses of the project.
- Intellectual Property: who owns the project deliverables.
- Confidentiality: what information is not to be made public.
- Termination: what would cause the project to be terminated.
- Keep your consulting agreement as short as possible. Only include the key details necessary in order to move the project forward.
- The longer and more complex your agreement is, the higher chance your client will want to get lawyers or their legal team involved.
Further Reading: Consulting Agreement: Template, Best Practices, & Examples
3. Consulting Website Template
What It Is
A “consulting website” is a website designed to promote your consulting services. An effective consulting website is more than a digital brochure: it speaks to your reader’s problems and desired future state, provides them with helpful information, and prompts them to sign up for your newsletter or book a consultation with you.
Consulting Website Template: Best Practices
- Instead of making your website about you, make it about your client. Talk about them: their challenges, their objections, their frustrations, the results they want, and their desired future state. Make it read like a page out of their diary. Show your ideal clients you understand them, what they’re dealing with now, and where they want to be. Once you’ve accomplished that, then you can talk about yourself as the “bridge” that can take them from where they are now, to where they want to be.
- Your consulting website is more than a mere digital brochure. When we tell consultants to actually USE their website, we mean for them to use it to share what they know. We’ve been publishing in-depth content on our blog for over 13 years. And that’s why we’re known as the go-to source for useful information on starting, growing, and scaling a consulting business. Why not do the same in your business? What could you become the go-to consultant for?
- What do you want your website to do for you? If you’re like most consultants, you’d love it if your website could send you just a couple of calls per month. If you want it to do that, make it simple for prospects to book a call. Forget about the complex contact form with no clear directions or instructions. Create a page where you offer a free consultation that makes it easy for them to book a call at a time that works best for them in a few clicks. And sell them on why they should take 30 minutes out of their day to have that call with you.
Further Reading: Best Consulting Websites (& How They Use Them)
4. Consultant Invoice Template
What It Is
A consulting invoice is a bill sent by a consultant to a client for services rendered. It specifies what services have been provided, how much they cost, and how the client should pay. It’s an important part of managing finances and ensuring that you get paid on time and in full.
Consulting Invoice Template: Best Practices
- Hire an administrative assistant to handle invoicing. A common mistake that consultants make is not staying on top of their invoicing. They drag their feet. They delay sending invoices. Cashflow is king so it’s key you have a good process for invoicing. If you are a one-person show, you will either have to tackle this yourself or hire an assistant, or outsource the task.
- Make sure your consulting fees and how they are calculated are crystal clear from day one. If you aren’t clear on setting your fees effectively you may end up making significantly less than you should. Doing this right will also help you avoid scope creep.
- Keep track of time spent on a project — specifically, if there is more than one consultant on a project or if you are being paid per hour. Not charging for billable hours could cost you a lot of money. We don’t recommend hourly fees, but you should still have a sense of how much time you are spending on each project so that you can run project and client profitability analysis.
Further Reading: Consulting Invoice Template (& 10 Invoicing Best Practices)
Make sure your consulting fees and how they are calculated are crystal clear from day one. If you aren’t clear on setting your fees effectively you may end up making significantly less than you should. Doing this right will also help you avoid scope creep.
5. Consultant Statement Of Work Template
What It Is
A statement of work is a document used to describe what will be done in order to complete a consulting project. In some cases, a statement of work is included in your consulting proposal. In other cases, it can also serve as a contract. In your statement of work, you’ll write the deliverables (and their due date), expenses, the scope of work, and more (see the template below for the full list). It organizes the key aspects of a project into a 1-2 page document. Thus, your statement of work should make both you and your client’s lives easier.
Consultant Statement Of Work: Best Practices
- In our Clarity Coaching Program, some of our clients use statements of work, and some don’t. Whether or not you use one depends on the nature of your services and your relationship with the client. They are not always required.
- Writing a statement of work can eat up your time, so it’s best to systematize and delegate them as soon as possible. Therefore, it’s a task you should outsource to someone on your team.
- You can use ChatGPT or another tool to help speed up the process of writing your SOWs. AI can help you generate parts of the document, such as the business terms, deliverables schedule, project details, and more.
Further Reading: Statement Of Work Template (Consulting): Use This For Managing Projects
6. Consulting Report Template
What It Is
A consulting report is a document you send your consulting clients to report on your progress for a consulting project. Your consulting report can come in many formats. They can be a Word document, a PowerPoint presentation, an Excel spreadsheet, a Google Analytics dashboard, or even a simple email. It depends on the nature of your project and the information your client would like to see.
Consulting reports are helpful for your clients because they allow them to see the progress that you’re making on a consulting project. They are helpful to you because you keep a pulse on how your project is going by creating them. And they help you organize your thinking and possible next steps to make improvements to the project.
Consulting Report Template: Best Practices
- A valuable consulting report is succinct, clear, and leads to more action and more progress. After reading your report, your client should be thinking “Excellent, that’s what I needed to know. The project is moving forward. Please continue.”
- Only report on what is important to the client. Ask them what they’d like to see in your report and be sure to focus on what is most important to cover in the report. Avoid sending a bunch of data or notes that have little impact on the project. Your report should keep the project moving forward — not drown your client in endless facts and data.
- If you do have suggestions on how to improve the results in your report, write those suggestions in your report. And prompt the client for a call if a discussion is needed about how to progress.
Further Reading: Consulting Report Template (For Any Type Of Consultant)
7. Consulting Business Plan Template
What It Is
Traditional consulting business plans are long, drawn-out business plans full of projections and predictions. A consulting business plan, in our way of thinking, is a 1-3 page document to cover the foundations of your business. Those are:
- Your Consulting Business Model
- Your Ideal Client
- Your Magnetic Messaging
- Your Strategic Offers
- Your Marketing Engine & Pipeline
Once you’ve brainstormed on these foundations, it’s time to stop planning and start taking action. Your plan will change as you engage with the market and receive feedback.
Consulting Business Plan Template: Best Practices
- If your business plan is more than 5 pages, every extra page you write is almost certainly wasting your time.
- For every hour you spend on planning, you should spend 4 hours on putting your plan into action.
- Join a community of consultants who are also actively building their consulting businesses. This is one of the best ways to get feedback from those who are where you want to be.
Further Reading: Consulting Business Plan: 5-Step Plan For A Successful Firm
8. Consulting Presentation Template
What It Is
A consulting presentation is a verbal presentation prepared and delivered by consultants for their clients. This is typically done in the context of a consulting engagement. The presentation allows you to share your findings, ideas, strategies, or suggestions with your clients. It’s similar to the consulting report template, but instead, you deliver via a slideshow instead of a written document.
Consulting Presentation Template: Best Practices
- Your consulting presentations should be simple and clean. Avoid clutter and ensure that there is a lot of white space on each slide to make your points clear and easy to digest. Consistency in fonts, color schemes, and layout reinforces your professional brand, and makes the presentation feel cohesive for your clients.
- Clients often respond better to visual information than to text. Use charts, diagrams, infographics, and other visual aids to represent complex data or ideas. This makes it easier for clients to understand your point and remember the information.
- Your presentations should provide a clear and logical progression from one point to the next. Each section should be clearly defined, and transitions between sections should be smooth and logical. Each slide should also have a clear main point. A common rule is to have one main point per slide.
Consulting Templates: Frequently Asked Questions
1. How can I customize the consulting templates mentioned in the article to fit the unique needs of my consulting business and my clients’ industries?
Customizing consulting templates to fit the unique needs of your consulting business and clients’ industries involves a detailed understanding of both your business processes and your client’s specific challenges and goals.
To tailor these templates effectively, you should start by analyzing your past and current projects to identify patterns, specific requirements, and feedback from clients.
This analysis will help you understand the modifications needed to make the templates more relevant.
For example, a consulting agreement template can be adjusted to include industry-specific terms and conditions, while a consulting report template might need customization to reflect the metrics and outcomes most relevant to a particular client’s sector.
It’s also beneficial to have a flexible mindset, allowing for adjustments as you receive more client feedback over time.
2. What are the common pitfalls or mistakes to avoid when implementing these consulting templates into my business operations?
Avoiding common pitfalls when implementing these consulting templates into your business operations requires a proactive approach.
One major mistake is using a template rigidly without considering the unique aspects of each project or client relationship.
Templates should serve as a starting point, not a one-size-fits-all solution.
Another pitfall is failing to update the templates based on evolving best practices or legal requirements. To prevent these issues, regularly review and revise your templates to ensure they remain effective and compliant.
It’s also wise to solicit feedback from clients and peers to identify areas for improvement.
3. Can these consulting templates be integrated with project management or CRM software, and if so, how?
Integrating consulting templates with project management or CRM software can significantly enhance efficiency and streamline operations.
Many modern software platforms offer the capability to import templates and customize them within the system. This integration allows for automatic data population, task assignments, and progress tracking, saving time and reducing manual errors.
To achieve this, you should first identify which templates are most frequently used and assess the compatibility of your project management or CRM software with these documents.
Then, work with your IT team or software provider to set up the templates within the system, ensuring they can be easily accessed and utilized by your team.
This process might involve some initial setup time and potentially some customization work, but the long-term benefits in terms of efficiency and data accuracy can be substantial.
Get Access To Our Repository Of Proven Consulting Templates & More
These consulting templates will help you reduce friction in terms of selling engagements, getting projects going, and delivering your offers.
However, there’s no “one-size-fits-all” agreement that works for every type of consultant on every type of project.
You’ll need to create one (or work with an attorney to create one) that works for your unique consulting business model, consulting offers, fee structure, etc.
These consulting templates are a great starting point. But eventually, you’ll get to a point where you create your own consulting templates — one that fit your unique offers, fee structures, and business model.
If you’d like our help creating bulletproof consulting proposals that help you win consulting projects at the highest rate and ensure you don’t leave money on the table, and develop strong relationships with your clients, our customized Clarity Coaching Program is for you.
Learn More About Clarity Coaching
We’ll work hands-on with you to develop a strategic plan and then dive deep and work through your ideal client clarity, strategic messaging, consulting offers, fees and pricing, business model optimization, and help you to set up your marketing engine and lead generation system to consistently attract ideal clients.