David A Fields

MAY 14, 2025

Clutter. It’s not just lurking in your basement amidst your vinyl records, wrapping paper scraps and mystery electronics cables. Clutter might also be slowly (or not so slowly) sabotaging your consulting firm. Quite a few years ago, the brainy duo of a neuroscientist and a Princeton professor released this eye-opening article, “Interactions of Top-Down and … Continued The post 5 Distractions Derailing Your Consulting Firm’s Productivity appeared first on David A.

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Productivity Consulting Groups 221

David A Fields

APRIL 9, 2026

If you want your consulting firm to attract and close more engagements than you’re currently winning, you’ll need to make a change – to invest in growth. But where? The answer will probably surprise you. Below is a broad (and admittedly incomplete) range of people and services you could invest in to accelerate your consulting … Continued The post Two Proven Investments to Improve Sales of Your Consulting Services appeared first on David A.

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Sales Consulting Groups 396

David A Fields

MARCH 26, 2026

You and your colleagues are upbeat, enthusiastic, fun to be around people with a passion for solving problems. However, there’s one attitudinal quirk that, if left unchecked, will undermine your efforts to win and delight clients. Your consulting firm is all about nurturing warm, long-lasting partnerships and collaborating to create value. Unfortunately, there’s one ingredient … Continued The post An Attitude that Steals Opportunities from Your Consulting Firm appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

MARCH 19, 2026

Sometimes clients ask you to add scope to a project, for free, that they previously removed to reduce the project’s budget. Do you and your team know the best way to handle this situation? About a month ago your consulting firm won an engagement with wetlands landscaping giant, Sodden Changes, Inc. (SCI). It wasn’t an … Continued The post Scope Reinsertion – the Back Door to Larger Consulting Projects?

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David A Fields

FEBRUARY 6, 2026

Prospective clients need to hear certain messages from you in order for you to build a successful consulting firm. Are you sending the right signals? Dulcinea Bious was crushed when she learned the truth. Her parents, not the Tooth Fairy, placed Oreos under her pillow. Sure, that particular wool dropped from her eyes 40 years … Continued The post What Your Consulting Firm Needs to Communicate to Win More Clients appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

JANUARY 30, 2026

You’ve set goals, determined strategy and identified initiatives to build a more successful consulting firm. Are you actually propelling your initiatives powerfully enough to achieve your goals? Any outsider can tell you in a few moments how committed and focused you are and how rapidly your consulting firm will make progress by looking for where … Continued The post Accelerate Your Consulting Firm’s Growth with “RIDE” appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

JANUARY 23, 2026

Your consulting firm can generate customer delight, referrals and glowing testimonials by tackling a small, unexpected task for your clients. The Story A simple idea from a true story: A long, long time ago in a city far, far away, when I was an entry-level executive at a large, Midwestern consumer products manufacturer, all employees … Continued The post The Unexpected Activity That Wins Raving Fans for Your Consulting Firm appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

JANUARY 16, 2026

There are five common bottlenecks that constrain a consulting firm’s profits. Fortunately, that means there are also five, straightforward keys to increasing your consulting firm’s bottom line. Consulting is a simple business. You win projects and deliver them profitably. While eating chocolate. That’s the consulting cycle. Support that cycle with some infrastructure, wrap a strategy … Continued The post 5 Keys to a More Profitable Consulting Firm appeared first on David

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David A Fields

DECEMBER 12, 2025

The easiest source of new business is, of course, current clients. However, setting your existing clients aside, where will you find your next, new client? Below are the best places to look. The quest for new clients to grow your consulting firm can feel like a game of hide-and-seek, where you’re the six-year-old and the … Continued The post [Updated] The Easiest Source of New Consulting Clients appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

NOVEMBER 28, 2025

Does your consulting firm produce snoozeworthy content? Are you guilty of communicating blockbuster ideas in articles, webinars and social media posts that are utterly boring? Dull as lichen on a rock? By adding a magic spice, your consulting firm’s ideas will pop to the top like a Taylor Swift song. You’ll transfix your audience and, … Continued The post Read This: The Secret to Content that Attracts Consulting Clients appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

NOVEMBER 14, 2025

Correctly pricing your consulting firm’s projects is like positioning a balloon in an unlit room made of nails. I’m not sure why such a room would exist or how you would get the balloon in there, but go with me on this one. On the pricing floor of the room are the rusty nails that … Continued The post How to Price Your Consulting Projects High… But Not TOO High appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

OCTOBER 24, 2025

Watching the Dunning-Krueger Effect in action can range from amusing to frustrating to downright frightening. The impact on your consulting firm is very real because it affects your target market and also your consulting team (including you). What is the Dunning-Krueger Effect? Your ten year-old, having watched you drive from their car seat, and with … Continued The post Oh No!

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David A Fields

OCTOBER 17, 2025

There are better (and worse) ways for your consulting firm to react when you find yourself facing competition for an important project. Sometimes your prospective clients make inexplicable decisions. For example, promoting Jimmy “Straight Line” Jameson to head of innovation, holding inter-departmental competitions on team unity day, and considering consulting firms other than yours for … Continued The post Competing for Projects: Consulting Firm Dos and Don’ts appeared fi

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David A Fields

OCTOBER 3, 2025

Delegating consulting projects to new hires and subcontractors is prone to high levels of failure and frustration. The checklist below will help you deploy new resources better. You’ve won a big forecasting engagement from Mercator Projections, Inc. (hooray). However, since your consulting firm’s current capacity is insufficient to deliver the Mercator Projections projections project, you … Continued The post Hire/Subcontract Better [Consulting Firm Delegation Checklist] appeared first on

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David A Fields

SEPTEMBER 26, 2025

Based on data collected from lead generation firms and shared with us by hundreds of consulting firms, one sales benchmark, in particular, warrants your attention: the likelihood of cold, outbound lead generation (or, similarly, advertising) to result in a project for your consulting firm. Let’s say you reach out to Clara Coldington, CEO of Dunnoyu, … Continued The post Important Sales Benchmark for Your Consulting Firm appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

SEPTEMBER 12, 2025

You’re different from other people. Your Mom always said so, and when was she ever wrong?! Tools like DISC, Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument, Kolbe A, StrengthsFinder, BCPI and other tools are popular because smart folks like you know that understanding different types of people is important. Set aside personality types for the moment, though, and … Continued The post Consulting Firm Founders vs.

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David A Fields

JULY 11, 2025

Your consulting firm submitted a proposal to Chlorissa (“Chlo”) Zing, COO at Fantasma, S.A. However, Ms. Zing canceled your scheduled appointment to talk about the proposal, and hasn’t responded to your request to reschedule. Frustratingly, another hot prospect, Luke van Nesht, with whom your consulting firm held a number of promising conversations, has also stopped … Continued The post Prospects Ghosting Your Consulting Firm?

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David A Fields

JUNE 20, 2025

Most of your consulting firm’s business comes from referrals. Sure, inbound leads inspired by your marketing are great; however, leads who have been introduced to your firm by an independent source turn into paying clients faster and more often. Are you getting as many referrals as you could? Not by a long shot. Before diving … Continued The post Why Your Consulting Firm Doesn’t Receive Enough Referrals (and How to Fix It) appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

JUNE 13, 2025

You’re already leveraging emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and robotic process automation (RPA) in your consulting practice. How could you use these tools more and better? A few weeks ago, I snorkeled a Caribbean reef with a marine biologist who pointed out various sea life, latched a white sea urchin onto my hand … Continued The post 10 Clever Uses of Tech in Consulting Firms appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

JUNE 6, 2025

As a consulting firm leader, you’re winning projects, delivering client delight, upgrading your support infrastructure and pondering strategies for growth. What if there was a simple routine you could layer into your ongoing activities that would accelerate your progress? Your consulting firm may already incorporate a post-project retrospective into your standard operating approach.

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David A Fields

APRIL 18, 2025

Consultants frequently (and unknowingly) mishandle proposal discussions with prospective clients. As a result, they take on projects that were improperly scoped. Or they set their consulting firm up to disappoint the client, leave opportunities on the table or, in some cases, lose promising engagements. Imagine you submitted a proposal to Sara Noé, CEO of Bean-Free … Continued The post Are Your Clients Resistant or Just Confused?

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David A Fields

FEBRUARY 28, 2026

Breaking News: The challenge blocking your firm from the next stage of growth is… You. Growing your consulting practice requires you to surrender more and more responsibilities. Unfortunately, handing off parts of your consulting practice proves increasingly difficult as you graduate from administrative tasks and low-level analytical exercises to high-value work that fits your personal … Continued The post 3 Mindsets + 2 Plans to Relieve Your Consulting Firm’s Growth Obstructio

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David A Fields

FEBRUARY 21, 2026

Jeff Boyardi, CSO (Chief Sauce Officer) at a Stuphinacan Co. contacts your consulting firm to explore a potential project. You engage in a friendly discovery conversation (a.k.a. Context Discussion) and agree to a follow-up date to discuss next steps. Alas, Jeff isn’t alone at the next call. He’s joined by his colleague Cam Bell, the … Continued The post The CORRECT Response to “How is Your Firm Better?

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David A Fields

FEBRUARY 7, 2026

Remember your first boss, Justin Thyme? (Your first boss may have worked under an assumed name.) Justin taught you, “If you don’t have time to do it right, when will you find time to do it again?! Rework is bad.” Justin was right. Justin was also wrong. Rework is your consulting firm’s most important obligation. … Continued The post Rework is Bad.

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David A Fields

JANUARY 3, 2026

May Bezold, EVP of the Post-Revelry division at Back2Work, Inc., has asked your consulting firm for a proposal. You know from experience that if you share too little of your approach, a prospect like May won’t sign. However, sharing too much detail also leads to problems. What’s the right amount of information to share about … Continued. The post What Clients REALLY Want to Know About Your Consulting Firms’ Approach appeared first on David A.

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David A Fields

NOVEMBER 1, 2025

Oh wow, you’re a contestant on the new game show, Set Your Fees! Let’s listen in on the cheesy announcer. He seems to be giving you a choice of three doors.… “Door #1 is sponsored by Recession. Faced with uncertain revenues and reluctant prospects? Lower your consulting firm’s fees, to help you lock in projects! … Continued. The post Inflation vs.

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David A Fields

OCTOBER 18, 2025

Should you take more time off from your consulting firm? Let’s examine a case study. Quite a few years ago, I decided to take a month off from my consulting practice—standard fare for Europeans but basically unheard of in the U.S. Nine months later I took another full month off from the business. No client … Continued. The post Quitting for 2 Months Made My Consulting Firm Millions.

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David A Fields

OCTOBER 11, 2025

Consulting firms ranging from solo practitioners to $20m+ boutiques regularly secure engagements on Catalant, Umbrex, BTG and similar talent platforms. Those platforms can be an excellent source of projects for your consulting firm too… if you know how to win on them. Otherwise they can be a distraction and source of frustration. Fortunately, we recently … Continued.

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David A Fields

AUGUST 30, 2025

Your consulting firm’s clients are happy. You know this for three reasons: they tell you, they engage your firm for follow-on work and they refer you to other prospects. (If they send you s’mores, they’re really happy!) Could your clients be even happier, contract even more consulting projects from you and refer you more often? … Continued.

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David A Fields

AUGUST 23, 2025

Your consulting firm delivers creative solutions and excellent execution; thinking and implementation; fresh strawberries and whipped cream. Which of those should take priority (i.e., your time and resources) in order to win more clients? Let’s say that you, my dear chickadee, want to move from the southwest corner of Main and Broad to the northeast … Continued.

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David A Fields

JULY 27, 2025

Conversations reveal opportunities for your consulting firm. However, you could be pouring your time and energy into bushels of conversations and still not be finding consulting projects. That’s enormously frustrating, and the strategy below will help. As a hard-working consulting firm leader, you assiduously attend to your relationship-nurturing responsibilities (a.k.a.

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David A Fields

JULY 19, 2025

You can explain your consulting firm’s work to prospects in language that is far more fascinating, exciting and, ultimately, more compelling than your standard, dull descriptions. Before we dive in, I invite you to glance at the clock and give yourself permission to focus on this for 15 minutes. Reading the article will take only … Continued. The post If a Pro Advertiser Described Your Consulting Firm, Here’s What She’d Say appeared first on David A.

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Advertising Consulting Groups 243

David A Fields

JULY 5, 2025

The USA and Canada marked Independence Day this past weekend (as did seven other countries), which is a good reminder to reflect on why leading an independent consulting firm is such an amazing choice. 10 Benefits of Leading an Independent Consulting Firm You Define Success You decide what the goals are, what performance is acceptable … Continued.

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Consulting Groups 195

David A Fields

MAY 31, 2025

Would you rather be like Connie or Vin? Constance Fidanse and Vincent Doehr are real people we work with (the names have been changed, obviously) and both have been running their small consulting firms for around five years. Interestingly, Connie and Vin target the same industries with very similar services. However, Connie’s average project size, … Continued.

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David A Fields

MAY 17, 2025

Whether you’re a long-time reader or you’ve recently started perusing these articles, you’ve probably grumbled at least once… “How can someone who combines lackluster drawing skills with groanworthy puns build such a successful consulting practice? Sheesh, that illustration doesn’t even help!” Well, now’s your chance to show off your wit, charm, humor, punniness, knowledge of … Continued.

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David A Fields

MAY 10, 2025

Your consulting firm could be working on larger, juicier, more profitable projects. We’ve often seen firms double or triple their average project size. Achieving that goal may not be as distant or difficult as you’d think. Author’s note: The following article was originally published in 2015. Occasionally I update old articles; however, this one seemed … Continued.

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David A Fields

MARCH 15, 2026

If you’re known as the founder of your consulting practice (or one of the founders), you may feel your ability to scale your firm is limited because prospective clients want to work with a/the founder and there’s only so much of you to go around. You’re a victim of “It’s gotta be you” syndrome. Fortunately, … Continued. The post How to Make Clients Comfortable that You (the Star) are Not on Their Project appeared first on David A.

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