Essential Skills Every Successful Consultant Should Develop

If you want to thrive as a consultant, you need to have the right expertise, communication and relationship skills, project management skills, create great deliverables,

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Develop Your Skillset

My skillset when I began consulting was limited. I occasionally reflect on some of the work I produced 15 years ago and cringe. If we can break the key skills into a handful of categories, I’d suggest:

1. Industry and discipline knowledge. You have to understand your sector and the discipline itself deeply. You should know the key players, the common problems, and best practices. You can’t just rely on your experience working with one or two organisations; you have to do a lot of research.

2. Communication and relationship skills. You must be a great communicator online and in person. You should be great at active listening, concise communication, storytelling, presenting, written arguments, empathy, adaptability, facilitation, and display sensitivity. You need to build trusting clients for decades and win over hostile stakeholders.

3. Project management. You should be able to set realistic timeframes, manage projects without delays, keep stakeholders informed, proactively address issues, and complete projects with minimal fuss or delays. You should be able to hire and manage suppliers as needed.

4. Problem-solving. You should be familiar with and confident using standard problem-solving techniques. You should be able to get clients to implement deliverables and ensure they are achieving the desired results.

5. Marketing and sales. You should be able to build an online presence, properly position yourself, structure your services, build awareness, create persuasive proposals, and sell to enterprise clients.

6. Design skills. Your presence and deliverables will need to be professional. You must know key design principles, colour theory, slide design, typography, data visualisation, and user-centric design.

Optional

These are the core six skills. However, depending on who you are and the nature of your services, I’d also add some technical skills (especially data analysis). These can go a long way to helping you achieve your goals.

1) Expertise

Expertise is less of a skill and more a question of knowledge. Many consultants assume the knowledge they have acquired by working at one or two companies for a long time is enough. But that’s only a fraction of the expertise you need.

I can’t stress enough that you should never assume you already know enough to do consulting. The core steps above are the most effective way to improve your results and attract clients.

Experience and expertise are the key things you need to do the consulting you’re doing. I’d break this down into two distinct levels:

1. Book knowledge. Do you have a deep theoretical understanding of the subject matter? Do you know what should be done, and are they familiar with what the journey looks like? Do you know the latest trends within that sector etc?

2. Experience. Do you know the issues which are likely to arise when implementing solutions? Do you know how organisations overcame those issues? Have you been through the journey and know what to expect? Do you know what works across most organisations vs. just your past employer?

3. Sector knowledge. Do you know the key players in your sector, the best examples, and which vendors to contact for support? Do you know how much to spend on different solutions and the pros and cons of various options?

4. Certifications and Credentials. Do you have qualifications you can show others that prove your skills? Have you been certified to an advanced level in the discipline?

I think you should aim to increase your knowledge in each of the above proactively. This includes:

• Set up regular research calls. This is where you can learn about prospects' needs and how others in the industry tackle challenges. You should gather insights no one else has. You should become the top expert on the problem.

• Read the latest industry books, blogs, newsletters, etc. There is a law of diminishing returns, but it’s still very worth doing. You want to know what’s happening and what people think in your sector. Attend relevant conferences in your industry, too.

• Build relationships with key vendors. You want to know what the vendors are doing, find great examples, understand the price points, and read the release notes.

• Undertake research projects. Undertake deep research into your audience, the sector, and relevant literature. Gather studies and other data points that can guide you in your path. Answer the most significant questions people have.

Another reason to undertake the above is that it equips you with everything you need to create great content to promote yourself and gives you the first step to selling successful consulting projects.

2) Communication And Relationship Skills

I’m tempted to split these, but I think they ultimately both lead to the same thing - strong, trusting relationships where people are receptive and eager to receive your recommendations.

This includes:

• Active listening. Can you genuinely focus on the speaker without interrupting, take great notes, ask great questions, and clarify what you hear?

• Concise communication. Can you summarise complex information and communicate effectively?

• Storytelling. Can you tell persuasive stories? Do you know how to structure your information to guide prospects and clients through a journey they remember? Does the story resonate with the client’s worldview?

• Presenting skills. You need to be able to present on stage, host great workshops, and stand up in front of a group to go through your findings and recommendations.

• Sensitivity. Can you display appropriate sensitivity to cultural norms, unique situations, and the recipient's position? Do you adapt your style accordingly?

• Facilitation. Can you facilitate in-person and online sessions to generate high-quality information?

• Dealing with hostility. Can you handle tricky situations and conflict and win over hostile stakeholders?

• Building strong relationships. Can you adapt the right tone and communication style to build good relationships? Can you develop systems to build mutually beneficial long-term relationships?

Working with some coaching clients, I’ve noticed that many consider their communication skills to be far better than they are.

For example, one client rated themselves highly in all of the above. Yet they struggled to answer when I asked them to prove they were good at these by sharing notes, past talks, or relationships they had developed. Sometimes, we must be honest and show that our success reflects limited skills.

It’s okay not to be great at these, but you can focus on improving.

3) Project Management

This is the ability of the consultant(s) to manage the project well. From the client side, it’s the feeling that the consultant is on top of everything; they’re fully informed of what’s going on, and they know what to expect and when. This is the easiest to do on paper but the hardest to implement. That’s because you need to be impeccably organised.

You need to embrace the practice of elite organisation.

1. Project Planning. This is the ability to map out the project, provide accurate estimates for its duration, and adapt if/when circumstances change. You should be able to gather key information on each activity and break down every task that needs to be done. There should always be a simple timeline a client can look at to see the status of a project.

2. Risk Management. You should be able to identify and anticipate potential risks, use tools like risk matrices to assess likelihood and impact and develop mitigation plans to address these risks proactively.

3. Quality Assurance. Can you define quality standards for deliverables up-front, properly align deliverables to desired client outcomes, and develop a transparent review process and feedback loops to ensure quality and iteratively improve the outcome?

4. Tools And Technology Proficiency. You can’t master every tool, but you should be proficient with tools like Asana, Smartsheet, Trello, Zoho, Airtable, Microsoft Project or Asana for managing projects. You should also be comfortable with collaboration tools like Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Zoom.

5. Documentation and Reporting. Can you maintain detailed records of project plans, decisions made, and progress? Do you have templates you can use consistently across projects? Can you keep all stakeholders in the loop through clear reports that highlight key achievements, next steps, etc.? Do you give feedback to the client following each consultancy engagement?

6. Meetings and Decision-Making. Can you avoid project hell by hosting high-value meetings, ensuring all stakeholders remain engaged, and making key decisions promptly?

Your project management skills give clients the perception that you’re a high-quality consultant. Laziness, sloppiness, and just inability to do the above will highlight that you’re not at the level they want to be working with.

4) Problem-Solving

One common mistake of new consultants is listening to clients explain a problem and proposing a solution based on their past experience. The problem with this is it might be right or wrong, but you don’t really know because you haven’t fully understood the problem.

All consultancy projects use problem-solving skills to some degree, but the extent to which you go deep into the weeds of problem-solving will depend mainly on the consulting you’re doing.

This is the foundation of almost all management consulting work. If you’re doing more work on the implementation side, this won’t be as big of a priority. But you should still know how to do it. Great problem-solving begins with:

• Root-Cause Analysis: Rather than treating its symptoms, use techniques like the “5 Whys” or Fishbone Diagram to identify the underlying causes of a problem. You should be able to distinguish symptoms from causes.

• MECE Framework (Mutually Exclusive, Collectively Exhaustive): Structure problems and solutions logically to ensure all possibilities are explored without overlap or gaps.

• Hypothesis-Driven Problem Solving: You should be able to develop testable hypotheses to narrow down possible solutions. You can then prioritise those with the highest impact and feasibility. You need to be able to gather and evaluate data to do this. So, data analytical skills help.

• Systems Thinking: Map out how system components interact to uncover interdependencies, feedback loops, and leverage points for effective intervention. You should know how interventions in one area impact another.

• Decision Matrices. You should be able to create decision matrices to compare and rank potential solutions based on the criteria you’ve agreed with the client.

• Pareto Analysis (80/20 Rule). This is perhaps the easiest thing to do on the list. Identify the 20% of activities which generate 80% of the results. Focus on the small number of factors causing most of the problem to maximise impact with minimal effort.

• Design Thinking: This is an iterative, human-centric approach to problem-solving that emphasises empathy, prototyping, and user feedback. It is worthwhile to learn the principles of design thinking and apply them to many types of projects.

This is far from a comprehensive list, as there are hundreds of potential frameworks you might use depending on the consulting you’re doing. But you must bring a clear methodology to the party instead of just sharing opinions.

Building Your Skills

If you want to improve your problem-solving abilities, focus on these activities:

• Practice Analytical Tools: Learn to use tools like Excel, Tableau, or R to analyze data and uncover insights.

• Study Case Studies: Examine how others have tackled similar challenges.

• Take Courses: Invest in training that teaches advanced problem-solving techniques and frameworks.

• Seek Feedback: Regularly ask clients and peers how effective your solutions were and how you can improve.

Problem-solving isn’t just a skill; it’s a practice that requires constant refinement. The better you get, the more value you’ll deliver—and the more trust you’ll earn from your clients.

5) Sales and Marketing

If you’re not attracting many clients, you lack sales and marketing skills. These skills include correctly positioning yourself, attracting clients' interest, and converting that interest into consulting projects.

Some consultants, like myself, love this part of the job. Marketing myself is one of my favourite things to do. Others dread it. But the reality is you can’t easily succeed without it.

• Positioning and Differentiation. You need to clearly define your value proposition, select the right niche, and establish what sets you apart from competitors.

• Target Audience Identification. You need to deeply understand your audience by setting up research calls, undertaking deep research, and learning everything you can about their problem. It also helps to build a network of allies.

• Content Marketing. You need the skill set to create engaging content which builds your following. You need to know which type of content is most likely to attract prospective clients.

• Lead Generation. You need to be able to run your own marketing campaigns to generate leads. Use email campaigns, webinars, and partnerships to generate a steady pipeline of qualified prospects.

• Networking. You need to build strong relationships throughout your industry and gradually build your circle of acquaintances. Can you develop and nurture strategic partnerships within your industry to expand your reach and referrals?

• Consultative Selling. You need to be able to adopt a problem-solving approach to sales conversations by profoundly understanding client needs and proposing tailored solutions. It also helps to avoid wasting time on rotten opportunities.

• Proposal Writing. You need to be able to write persuasive proposals which are compelling, establish credibility, and can be supported by all key stakeholders. You can lose so many clients if you don’t know how to write strong proposals.

• Sales Process Management. You need to be able to implement a system to track where people are in the pipeline and ensure you continue marketing to past clients.

• Negotiation Skills. You need to be able to use the ‘zero in’ technique to negotiate fees and confidently handle tricky negotiations.

• Referral and Testimonial Gathering. You need to persuade clients to give you testimonials and case studies you can use. You need a library of these to attract more clients.

6) Design

I used to think design skills were optional, but the presentation of everything you do significantly impacts how it is perceived. Work that doesn’t look professionally designed is poorly evaluated. Bad website design is like bad menu design at restaurants. You need good design skills and to have a set of high-quality design assets in place.

• Basic design principles. You need to know the basics of using contrast, alignment, balance (visual harmony), proximity, repetition, and hierarchy to prioritise information.

• Colour Psychology. You must understand how colours evoke emotions and influence perception (e.g., blue for trust and red for urgency). You also need to know about colour schemes (complementary, analogous, and triadic).

• Brand Alignment. You need to be able to match your colour schemes to the client’s guidelines and incorporate their brand assets.

• Accessibility. You should be able to ensure sufficient contrast for readability, especially for text over backgrounds, and be aware of accessibility standards.

• Slide Design. You should be great at slide design. You should be able to embrace the principles of minimalism, visual storytelling, consistency, whitespace, and transitions.

• Typography. You should know font selections and combinations, font hierarchies, line spacing, and alignment.

• Data visualisation. You should know the principles of data visualisation. This includes selecting the right chart types, avoiding information overwhelm, using consistent colours, simplifying and highlighting key insights, and using at least one data visualisation tool extremely well.

Improving Skills = Improving Results

I can’t stress enough how valuable it is to improve your skillset if you want better results. You have to engage in deliberate practice, take courses, and set yourself goals to improve your skill levels each month.

For example, one of our Proposal Mastery participants had previously always sent a two-page A4 proposal and never signed enterprise clients. In the first month, using our techniques and templates, he's signed two $15k+ enterprise clients (note - that’s a $30k+ return on a $500 spend).

When you invest in improving your skills, you get results. I suggest setting particular targets and then deliberately acquiring the skills you need to grow.

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