Most Consultants Haven't Worked For The Brands Featured On Their Websites

Don't play the silly game of pretending you've worked with clients you haven't

The Truth About Those Logos

If you see a company’s logo on a consultant’s website, you would be forgiven for thinking the companies represented by the logos had hired the consultant at some point.

Because that’s not usually the case.

I can browse logos of organisations on the website of plenty of consultants who I know haven’t been hired by the organisation.

So, what’s going on?

How Do Consultants Get Away With Claiming They’ve Worked With Brands They Haven’t?

Well, they don’t make that claim, not directly.

They imply it.

What’s happening the consultant fudges the truth.

The consultant uses some type of past engagement to imply they have consulted directly with the client. They do this through the use of ambiguous terminology and poor disclosure.

This is why you will often find consultants using terms like worked with, helped, or supported. There are plenty of similar terms susceptible to many interpretations.

‘Helped’ is probably the most common and most problematic because its definition is so broad.

If I meet with a friend who works at Walmart and I share advice, can I say I’ve helped or advised Walmart? It’s feasibly accurate but grossly misleading.

Likewise, if my previous employer was hired by Walmart and I was briefly involved in that project - have I worked with Walmart?

Yes, but I’m clearly not being forthcoming that Walmart hired my past employer and not me. This lack of disclosure is common.

Why Do Consultants Fudge The Truth?

The sad answer is probably because it works and few companies bother to challenge consultants featuring their logos for free (technically you usually need explicit permission to use a company’s IP for commercial purposes).

Logos are one of the first things a prospect looks at to determine if the consultant works at their level.

Adding logos helps overcome the chicken and egg problem. New consultants want to attract big clients, big clients want to attract consultants who have already worked with big clients.

Because almost nobody carefully reads the description or checks on the truth, the consultant thinks they can gets away with it.

But that will lead to problems later when the client asks the consultant about their past engagements with their clients and the consultant will struggle to provide good answers.

Create Super Proof

At FeverBee, we pursue a philosophy of super proof in our work.

First, we never fudge the truth. If we feature a logo on our website we can literally show the receipts to prove it.

However, we know anyone can (and does) make claims about their results and fudge logos on their website. So, we go the extra mile and gather testimonials and case studies which we feature prominently in every possible location.

It’s very hard to fudge a testimonial. Either a client is happy to provide one or not.

Some consultants create anonymous testimonials - but they lack any sense of authenticity. After all, why would a client not want to add their own name to their words? I suspect they do more harm than good.

However, to prevent using carefully edited pre-written testimonials, we aim for the gold standard of video testimonials. Video testimonials raise the bar because a client has to be genuinely happy with the work we’ve done to participate in them. They are pretty much impossible to fudge.

If you can complement the video testimonial with a detailed case study, you have super proof of your methods.

If you can’t get these, then it’s worth considering why not and what it would take to acquire them.

Trust me, there’s nothing more powerful than a collection of video testimonials and case studies.

Fudging Logos Will Come Back To Haunt You

I used to find it frustrating to work with a client for six months only to see another consultant add the same logos because they were briefly assigned to the account at a past employer several years ago.

These days I’m more direct.

I have no problem telling prospective clients to check whether the companies featured on a competitor’s website have hired the consultant directly or not. If not, why are they being used? If they’re using the same logo as us, I share our reference to the client and let them check for themselves who they did or didn’t work with. This is where fudging logos can work against you.

One reference told a prospective client

“I’m surprised she’s listed us on our site, we only met her once at a workshop. However, we worked with FeverBee for 12 months and they revamped our strategy, analysed our ROI, and did a great job”

By using fudging a logo, she had created a situation for a direct comparison between someone who had worked for a client for years and someone who hadn’t. That was never going to be favourable to her.

I also match our logos to a list of around 20 to 30 references from past clients the prospect can contact. I also advise the prospect to check if any competitors also have similar proof of their work with the clients they feature on their logos.

If a competitor wants to fudge the truth, I’m going to use it to my advantage.

The Logo Game Cuts Both Ways

Every new consultant wants to work with the biggest brands. That desire is understandable. But, forgive the ego, the air gets pretty thin the higher you go. If you’re going after Fortune 500 organisations, you’re entering a highly competitive space with an extremely narrow number of potential clients.

There are far, far, more medium-sized organisations where you can earn a great living with less competition. They might not have the budgets of the big brands, but it’s much easier to sign clients at this level.

Picking up 10 clients at $10k to $20k clients a year can be far more enjoyable and reliable than trying to attract 4 to 5 $40k to $50k clients per year.

The thing to remember is the logo game cuts both ways. We’ve had plenty of prospects who look at our site, see the logos of companies we’ve worked with, and decide we’re not the right fit for them because we work with large brands.

I don’t know where else they turn to, but it’s not us. There’s a huge opportunity there.

What Should You Do If You’re Just Starting Out?

Don’t pretend you’ve been consulting for years if you haven’t.

Be honest that you’re just starting out. Target a small niche you can build trust with and highlight your experience. Who was your experience with (and in what capacity?). What did you achieve? What do you think you can do for other organisations that want the same?

There are far more prospective clients beneath the logos people recognise. The budgets might be a little lower, but the competition is less ferocious too. Over time, you can establish yourself within your niche and feature the logos of clients you have genuinely worked with.