Your best thinking is in a deck. No assistant can read it.
Your partners have seen this problem many times, and clients who hire you tend to come back. But when a new COO asks an assistant who is good at operating-model work in her sector, the answer names firms that published a view — not the ones keeping it in pitch decks and partners' heads.
The short versionManagement consultancies miss shortlists because their expertise lives in decks and partners' heads, so buyers and AI assistants have nothing attributable to cite. Publishing named partners' points of view by problem and sector, explaining how engagements are scoped and priced, and answering briefs the same day fixes most of it.
Why these three“For mid-size manufacturers, Boutique strategy firm has partner-written pieces on this and explains its scoping…”
Leak 1No published viewPartner thinking sits in decks no assistant can read.
Leak 2“It depends” on feesNo sense of how work is scoped, phased or priced.
Leak 3Brief waitsA COO's brief sits until the right partner is free.
Start here
Tick anything that sounds like your week.
Eight things management consultancy partners commonly describe. Select the ones that apply and we'll show what usually causes them, in the order we'd tackle it. Nothing is submitted.
Tick what applies3 of 8 selected
Why a strong firm still misses the shortlist
Buyers can't judge your method. They judge your point of view.
A new COO can't assess your methodology before hiring you, and doesn't try. She asks two peers and an assistant who is good at the problem, reads what those firms have actually said about it, looks up the partner and sends a brief to two or three. Firms whose thinking stays inside pitch decks never enter that first round, however good the work is once someone hires them.
01
The shortlist you're not named in
Who helps redesign an operating model?
1Boutique strategy firmNamed first · cited
2Large advisory firmNamed · brand mentions
–Your firmNot namedNothing to cite
Why don't AI assistants recommend our consulting firm?
Executives increasingly ask an assistant to shortlist firms for a specific problem in a specific sector. The answer leans on what is published and attributable: partner articles, sector pages, case notes and mentions elsewhere. A firm whose expertise sits in decks gives it nothing to cite, so a smaller firm that wrote things down gets named.
02
The fee question met with “it depends”
management consultant fees
Your page“Every engagement is bespoke.”Tab closed
Answered pageHow we scope · diagnostic then fixed-fee phases · what changes priceQuoted by AI
Should a management consultancy explain its fees online?
Buyers know consulting is scoped, but they still need to know whether you're in range before spending a meeting finding out. A page explaining how you price — diagnostic first, fixed-fee phases, what moves scope — filters in the right briefs, and it is the kind of answer assistants quote. “Every engagement is bespoke” filters in nobody.
03
The brief that waited for a partner
We're reviewing our operating model before the board. Talk this week?Web form · 6:12 pm
Thank you — a partner will be in touch shortly.3 days later · 9:30 am
Thanks, we've already started with another firm.10:05 am
Why do consulting enquiries go cold?
Briefs often go to several firms at once, usually from a senior person with a board date in mind. A reply that waits until the right partner is back from a client site tends to find a buyer who has already had a first call elsewhere. Every brief needs an owner, a same-day reply and a call slot offered in that first message.
What we'd do about it
Five moves, in the order that pays.
Fix the leaks first, then grow. Scaling a funnel that loses enquiries just spends more to lose more.
Move
W1W2W3W4W5W6W7W8W9W10W11W12M3+
01Find what you already knowPartner interviews, past proposals and case work mined for the problems and sectors you want to be named for. We check what assistants say about you and two rivals today.AI Search Optimisation
Weeks 1–3
02Publish named points of viewPartner-bylined pieces on specific problems by sector, each stating a position. Structured so assistants can cite them, and approved by the partner whose name is on them.Content Marketing
Weeks 2–8
03Rewrite service and sector pagesPages that say what you think and how you'd start, a plain explanation of how engagements are scoped and priced, and case notes rebuilt around the problem.Content Marketing
Weeks 3–6
04Close the brief-response gapOne queue for forms, email and LinkedIn messages, a named owner, a same-day first reply and a calendar link for an introductory call.Marketing Automation
Weeks 4–7
05Then put the partners in frontPartner-led social, podcast and panel appearances, and earned mentions in trade press — once there is published thinking for people to land on.Social Media Marketing
Month 3 onward
Social presence · where clients check you
Executives check the partner before they send the brief.
Executives can't judge the work in advance, so they read what partners have said about their problem. Six things decide whether a point of view turns into a brief.
9:41●●● 5G
yourconsultancy
YCYour ConsultancyManagement consulting
Operations strategy for manufacturersHow engagements are scoped ↓Send us a brief ↓
Send briefMessageCall
ViewsSectorsScopingPartners
Point of view · by ClaraProblem: margin squeezeHow we scope phase oneCase note, anonymisedPanel clipSector outlookPartner Q&A · by FemiPodcast episodeMeet the partners
THUSector outlookWhat's shifting and what it means.
FRITalk or podcast clipTwo minutes from a partner.
DAILYRepliesSame day, with a call slot.
What we'd watch
Your dashboard, minus the vanity metrics.
Six numbers that show whether the work is turning into qualified briefs — each pulled from a system you already own. The audit fills in your baseline; every sprint after shows the trend.
Firm pipeline · monthlyYour dashboard after the free audit
Named in assistant answersAI visibility tracking
Baseline—
Pieces read before a briefWebsite analytics
Baseline—
Time to first replyYour inbox and CRM
Baseline—
Brief to proposalCRM
Baseline—
Partner profile reachLinkedIn analytics
Baseline—
New clients by sourceIntake form or CRM
Baseline—
Your numbers, not ours
What is the slow reply actually costing you?
Three inputs only you know. We don't know your business yet — so nothing here is a benchmark, just your own arithmetic.
Runs in your browser. Nothing is stored or sent.
What you may be losing
$155,880a month in clients who book somewhere else — worked out from your three numbers above.
6 × 4.33 weeks× 1 in 2× $12,000
The fix is ownership, not more marketing. One queue, one named owner, a same-day reply with a call slot — weeks 4 to 7 of the plan.
Free with any monthly plan from $499. Domain, hosting and paid tools are bought by you and stay in your name; shops and booking systems are quoted separately. The 48-hour clock starts once your plan is active and the launch checklist is done.
yourfirm.comLIVE
HomeAboutServicesManagement consultingContact
Your logo
Book a call
Schemallms.txtGA4Fast on mobile
FREEwith any plan
48h
Questions consulting partners ask
Straight answers, no sales script.
Straight answers. If yours isn't here, a 30-minute call is the fastest route — no pitch, no deck.
Our clients are confidential. What can we actually publish?
More than most firms think. A point of view on a problem doesn't need a client name, and a case note can describe the situation, the decision and the approach without identifying anyone. Anything that refers to client work is cleared with the client or anonymised properly before it goes live.
Should a consultancy publish its fees?
Not day rates, usually. But explain how you price: whether work is fixed-fee or time-based, what a diagnostic phase covers, what tends to change scope and the size of engagement you're typically suited to. That saves both sides a meeting that was never going to work.
Our partners are too busy to write. Does this still work?
Yes. We interview partners for twenty or thirty minutes and draft from what they say; they review and approve. The thinking is theirs and the name on it is theirs. What they can't skip is the approval — an unreviewed piece under a partner's name is a risk.
Does publishing make us look like we're giving the work away?
Buyers don't hire a firm because they read its framework; they hire the people who clearly understand the problem. A specific view is what gets you into the room. The judgement of applying it to their situation is still what they pay for.
How long before we're named in assistant answers?
It varies by how crowded the problem and sector are. Published pieces and rewritten pages usually take a few months to show up in answers. Reply-time fixes can show in pipeline sooner. We don't guarantee rankings or AI mentions, and we track both monthly.
We have a big-firm alumni network. Isn't that enough?
It's a strong start, and we wouldn't replace it. But networks stop at people who already know you. Published thinking reaches the buyer who has never met a partner, and gives your existing contacts something to forward.
Should social posts come from partners or from the firm's page?
Mostly from partners. Executives follow people whose judgement they can assess, so a partner's point of view on one problem travels further than a firm announcement. The company page gathers those views, case notes and sector pages in one place. Every post is approved by the person whose name is on it, and client work is referred to only with permission.
Do we get a free website for our firm?
Yes. Every monthly plan includes a free 5-page website for your firm — fast, AI-readable and yours to keep. It goes live within 48 hours once your plan is active and the launch checklist is done. Your domain, hosting and any paid tools sit outside the offer and stay in your name; online shops and booking systems are quoted separately. What's included
Free · one business day
Tell us about your firm. Get a plan back.
A strategist reads your brief and replies within one business day with what we'd fix first for your firm, a timeline and the real cost.
Reply in 1 business dayFrom a strategist, not a bot
Ask an assistant who to hire. See if your firm comes up.
We'll check what assistants say when buyers ask about the problems you solve, review your service pages and how fast a brief gets answered — then send you what we found. You keep it either way.
Social presence · where clients check you
Executives check the partner before they send the brief.
Executives can't judge the work in advance, so they read what partners have said about their problem. Six things decide whether a point of view turns into a brief.
yourconsultancy
Is your profile ready to sell?
Tap what's already true.
Where your clients look
A week that books, not just posts
Social Media Marketing Included in Zero to Hero (2 platforms) and Own The Answer (4 platforms).