Generally, strategy consultants support their clients for a fixed timeframe. Within that window, they are expected to dedicate all of their time, effort, and attention to a specific problem.

What does a strategy consultant do?

When a strategy consultant takes on a new project, they typically start by doing an in-depth analysis of their client’s business goals and objectives. The goal of this analysis is to understand if their current practices are in alignment with what they want to achieve. Based on their analysis, they will provide strategic recommendations the company can implement to drive better results.

In addition to their business analysis, strategy consultants can provide expertise on market research and the competitive landscape so the client can make well-informed decisions that are in the best interest of the health of their company.

When working with a strategy consultant, a company can receive guidance on the following:

• Budgeting advice — Input on best practices to cut costs and drive revenue.
• Production strategies — Recommendations to increase efficiency creating their product.
• Opportunity management — Highlighting new opportunities for revenue or product offerings.

After providing sound recommendations to their clients, consultants may have the opportunity to support the implementation process.

Strategy Consulting Example

In the example above, a strategy consultant with expertise in digital transformation could help the publication decide how to proceed.

Once the consultant was on board, they would begin by learning the ins and outs of the magazine’s operation, analyze their current web traffic and sources, review physical magazine sale data to find trends, and conduct in-depth competitive analysis on the print and web editions of the company’s main competitors.

They’d address issues like whether the website’s ad revenue would offset losses from reduced subscriptions. They could gather information on the company’s IT infrastructure to see if it could handle more web traffic. And they could make an educated projection as to whether people will still be interested in the company’s printed magazines a few years down the line.

With this information in hand, the consultant recommends a two-prong approach to capitalizing on the magazine’s web traffic, and to accommodate reader behavior. First, the company should implement a redesign to improve the reader experience and boost their SEO. Once the web content has been optimized, they can implement the second phase – a gated content system allowing devoted readers to access more content by paying a small monthly fee. 

The consultant makes this recommendation to the executives at the publishing company, along with forecasted data to show the revenue they could capture, and how this strategy supports the company’s growth. Once the executive team has bought off on the strategy, the consultant can work with management on the implementation plan.

Why strategy consulting?

The concept of strategy consulting may raise some questions.

Why do companies need external industry experts? Shouldn’t executives at companies be experts themselves? Can they not pull other employees from within the company to help address these kinds of issues in-house?

The answer to all of those questions is mostly a matter of focus and impartiality.

In the example above, a strategy consultant would be focused solely on the issue of the publication’s transition from print to digital and the implications of that shift. The executives at the company wouldn’t be able to do that. They’d have an entire company to run. They wouldn’t have time to get fixated on individual topics.

Strategy consultants also offer level-headedness that can’t always be expected from people within the company. Boards, executives, and other managers have personal stakes in their businesses. Those stakes often come with biases and preconceptions that can cloud their judgment on specific issues.

A strategy consultant brings an outside perspective. They’re not bound by personal investment in the company. Their judgment is supposed to be clear and impartial. This way, executives can get an opinion from a source that’s free of emotion and personal sensitivity.