Pragmatic Consulting Club - Fewer Targets, More Focus

Every single week, consulting partners and soloists reach out to me asking for advice on growing their sales pipeline. "We don't have enough leads", "we need to have more sales conversations", etc.

At some point in the conversation, I ask my million-dollar question: Who are your dream clients, and what are you doing to connect with them?

If you had to guess, how many consultants would you say can answer this with confidence? (You must be thinking, "around 20-30%?")

I don't keep count of the exact numbers, but it's probably closer to 10%. Only 1 in 10 consultants have identified which organizations they want to work with and are likely to be a fit. Now, here's the next question for you: what does that number mean? ("the average firm needs more focus?")

Yes, the average firm needs much more focus. How can you create initiatives that are relevant to your prospects when you don't know who these organizations are? How can you invest time in building (the right) relationships if you don't know who are the exact people you want to connect with?

The key point here is understanding that you are selling specialized consulting and advisory, not products or generic services. You are not competing with freelancers selling their hands by the hour on on-demand platforms. You deliver high value in the form of personalized recommendations and/or expert implementation.

This means you are scarce and valuable to the marketplace. You only need ONE dream client to drive significant revenue and profit to your pocket. Now question why you are marketing to everyone.

You can (and should) pursue fewer targets with a greater level of effort each.

Pick one of the companies on your dream list. Market to them. Win them.