Perhaps the best way to show you how to market a Management Consulting firm is by showing you how NOT to market a Management Consulting firm.

All tongue in cheek of course, but the underlying message for management consulting firms is the inability to clearly articulate what they do and for who and therefore who the client is and what it is they are actually buying.

Services and processes are very, and I mean VERY rarely differentiators, I can count on one hand how many clients I have had that were meaningfully different in this regard.

The problem is compounded when you try and appeal to a wide audience, leading to a lack of differentiation and the all-too-common template of vague positioning, buzz words, client logos and meaningless testimonials.

In effect, you’re making yourself what we would term “unmarketable” which is why so much marketing effort is ineffective and we default to referrals because we are unable to attract and win sufficient if any clients without them.

Yes, it may make some of you feel a little uncomfortable, but I promise you, there’s nothing there that I haven’t actually seen or heard. I’m not clever enough to make this stuff up, it’s all from experience.

A warning for those of you brave enough to take a look it may either may make you laugh, squirm or cry.

PS: When you do take a look think about this – What actual business problem(s) are you solving, how and for who?