"So, Have You Worked With Clients Like Us Before?"
Master the SHARP framework to address client questions about your past experience. This approach will help you turn potential doubts into genuine trust and stronger professional relationships.
Hi, I’m Rich. Welcome to my weekly newsletter where I share systems and frameworks for scaling your consulting practice from $0 to $1m+ in revenue.
You can get 1:1 personal coaching or explore my new course: Proposal Mastery: Learn To Write Winning Business Proposals.
“Have you worked with organisations like us before?”
This question comes up a lot from nervous prospects looking for total reassurance.
It creates an obvious chicken-and-egg problem.
If everyone asks this question before hiring you, how will you ever work in that sector?
You can fudge the question by blending and exaggerating experience. But that’s a slippery slope. Far better to zero in on what they want, which is;
Can you understand my world without me having to explain everything?
They want to know if you speak their language, whether it's industry jargon, internal politics, customer expectations, or cultural dynamics.Can you deliver results in my specific context?
They’re trying to assess whether your methodology will work for someone with their structure, budget, challenges, and goals.Am I going to waste time and money?
If you haven’t worked with someone like them, they worry they’ll be paying you to learn on their time. They want confidence that you can hit the ground running.Can I trust you to navigate our unique complexities?
Even if you're great at what you do, they wonder whether you can adapt that excellence to their organisation’s quirks, constraints, and culture.
Ultimately, they want to know if this person will take the time and effort to truly understand the ins and outs of my business and industry before making many recommendations that won’t work here.
This is why you typically want to respond with something like:
Not someone exactly like you, but I’ve helped [companies at a similar growth stage / in your industry / with similar goals] tackle [shared challenges]. I find that the best results come from mixing relevant experience with a fresh perspective tailored to your situation. This gives me the context to understand your situation.
Ahead of this conversation, I reviewed your recent [product launch / rebranding / shift in customer strategy] and noted how you're [expanding into new markets / consolidating tools / redefining customer experience]. I’ve also explored your community touchpoints and the public feedback you’ve received. My next step is always to speak with key stakeholders: marketing, support, and product, so I can surface the underlying dynamics and tensions that don’t show up in case studies or public data. That way, my recommendations will reflect not just what works broadly, but what will work for you.
The benefit is that you’re resolving their concern without trying to fudge the truth.
You need them to feel:
Reassured that your experience is applicable.
Understood without needing to educate you from scratch.
Safe from wasting time, money, or political capital by bringing in the wrong person.
And you do this by following the same, similar, and different structure:
Same: “I’ve helped clients at your scale”
Similar: “Facing a similar adoption issue with X tool”
Different: “But in a different industry, which gave us some surprising advantages”
Understanding nuance beats simply matching a client profile. Rather than relying on surface-level similarities to past clients, focus on a thorough discovery process - speaking with stakeholders, uncovering internal dynamics, and gathering context that rarely shows up in a brief.
Your value doesn’t come from seeing the exact situation before, but from knowing how to extract and translate the correct information into tailored, practical solutions. This process of deep understanding - not just past experience - makes the work relevant and effective.
No Can Be A Better Answer Than Yes
It’s tempting here to fib and fudge the truth. But the reality is, this is what clients are testing you for.
They’re looking to filter out consultants who over-explain and ramble, lie or exaggerate, or are simply too vague (“I’ve worked with lots of companies like you”).
You'll lose if you get defensive instead of leaning into the concern.
A consultant who says “No, not exactly - and here’s why that’s a strength” can stand out by showing humility, insight, and adaptability. You can provide a fresh perspective and insights, and teach the client something they didn’t know.
You have to be honest, but prepared with a SHARP answer.
The SHARP Framework
Whenever you get this question, prepare a SHARP answer to the question. This means:
S – Show Understanding. Demonstrate that you understand their business, goals, and challenges by referencing specifics they’ve shared or that you've researched.
H – Highlight relevant adjacent experience. Share adjacent experience that shows you’ve successfully tackled similar problems, even if not with an identical client.
A – Acknowledge their uniqueness. Respectfully recognise that their situation is unique, and you’re not here to apply a generic, pre-packaged solution.
R – Reinforce your discovery and collaboration process. Explain how you uncover nuance by speaking with stakeholders, reviewing internal context, and customizing every recommendation. Highlight a relevant story if possible.
P – Position the difference as a strategic advantage. Reframe your outside perspective as an asset, offering fresh thinking without legacy bias or internal entanglements.
For example:
“I’ve looked closely at your recent shift toward customer-led onboarding and noticed how you're trying to reduce time-to-value without increasing support load - that’s a really smart move in your space (S). I haven’t worked with a company with your exact product mix. Still, I did help a SaaS client in the healthcare sector tackle a similar challenge - we redesigned their community onboarding experience. We saw a 40% drop in support tickets within three months (H).
That said, I fully appreciate that your structure, culture, and customer expectations are unique, so I’m not going to assume the same playbook will apply here (A). I typically begin by speaking with product, support, and customer success teams to map out the current journey and surface any internal blockers or conflicting priorities. That’s where the most valuable insights usually come from (R). And because I’m not coming in with internal bias or historical baggage, I’m often able to spot things your team may be too close to see - that outside perspective is a big part of the value I bring (P).”
Here you can see everything in action. You can change the order if you like, but as long as everything is in there, you’re going to be great.
Expect The Question And Prepare An Answer
As a consultant, it’s smart to expect the question, “Have you worked with anyone exactly like me?” It comes up often, and it’s really about the client wanting to know they’re in safe hands. The best way to handle it is to be ready with a solid, confident answer.
Do your homework in advance, understand their business, and be ready to share similar work you’ve done (even if it’s not an exact match). Then explain how you tailor your approach based on what makes them unique.
A clear, thought-through response shows you’re prepared, thoughtful, and focused on making things work specifically for them, not just repeating what’s worked before.
Good luck!
Connect with Rich
Are you new to the newsletter? Subscribe for free
Follow me on LinkedIn for more insights
Learn to write persuasive business proposals with my Proposal Mastery course.
Get 1 to 1 personal coaching. Get a personal coach to help you grow your consultancy practice. Tackle topics like positioning, client acquisition, delivering exceptional value, industry leaderships, and building the systems to thrive. Hit reply or learn more about my coaching approach.