What Makes A Good Strategy Consultant?

When a business is transitioning from a startup to an established business, there will be a need for a good strategy consultant. A strategy consultant is an expert in the industry and knowledgeable about running a business and solving specific problems it has. They may offer budgeting advice, uncover hidden opportunities, and provide production insight to help a business grow.  

If you are a business owner looking for a good strategy consultant, you may want to continue reading. This article is about what makes a good strategy consultant, and you may want to take some notes. 

The last thing you would want for a strategy consultant is poor communication skills. Aside from verbal communication skills, good consultants must also be eloquent in writing. Remember: you’ll talk with the consultant a lot – both in person and by mail. With that said, they should easily convey all the information they’ll provide you, as there’s no room for misunderstanding in your business. A lot is at stake for every decision you’ll make based on their expert opinions. 

Some of the characteristics of a good communicator are the following: 

• Speaks concisely and observant 
• Empathetic and friendly 

• Appreciative and polite 
• Sincere and respectful 
• Inquisitive and proactive 

They must also be good at facing criticisms and rejections, even if they drafted the right strategy for you. They must always be prepared for those, as introducing new and even conflicting ideas will be often met with resistance.  

Of course, they must also know when they’re wrong and listen to everything you or their client says. Being an attentive listener is required to be a good strategy consultant. After all, an attentive listener allows them to formulate the right strategies and puts you and your business partners at ease.   

Unfortunately, not all good communicators are good consultants. Note that some people can profess their confidence, motivation and competence. And the last thing you want to do is trust them. Remember that you need an actual expert for the job. Thus, you’d want to find someone to help set your business up. 

Thankfully, there are multiple ways how you can verify if a person is an actual expert in their field. And while doing those ways, you should focus on finding if they have the following: 

• Good track record and credentials indicating successful performance 
• Long career length and peer respect 

• Tacit knowledge of the industry  
• Many stories demonstrate reliability  

Also, they should be aware of the question, ‘What is strategy consulting vs management consulting?’ Know that the former is under the latter. In most cases, a company may hire a management consultant to deal with every problem the company has. In contrast, a company may employ a strategy consultant to deal with one specific issue. 

A curious person is often a good consultant. They love acquiring data, and when given a chance, they’ll barrage you with questions about your business and demand reports and require other helpful information that can help with their job.   

They often use data to find correlations and causation. As your consultant, they need to act like a principal investigator to produce a uniting strategic plan. They need to find significance and meaning in every event they discover. And as a result, they can find hidden opportunities and provide insight that no one in your business has thought of. 

These qualities are heavily important for those from an IT consulting firm. What is an IT consulting firm, you ask? These companies focus on data- and tech-related industries. And if you’re in the tech industry, you must make sure that the consultant you’ll get from the firm has a deep curiosity and puts a lot of emphasis on gathering data. 

Strategy consultants aren’t hired to be a ‘yes’ man or placate you. Their loyalty mustn’t lie to the person who hired them, but to the company they need to help. This characteristic means that a consultant must have the gall to disagree with their clients when they see something wrong that can be detrimental to the business’ success.   

Also, good consultants must be steadfast and neutral most of the time. They should only stick with the directives given to them and avoid working on their self-interests as long as they are employed or deal with other problems present in the company that are out of their scope.   

However, it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t care about things other than their task. And if they’re showing signs of sneaky people, you should avoid them at all costs. Some of those signs are: 

• Lacks boundaries and makes strong eye contact 
• Dominates conversation and instigates confusion and dissonance 
• Dictates steps instead of suggesting them 
• Judges everyone and issues fake apologies if they wronged someone 

And if they don’t have the answers to your concern, they must be responsible enough to admit that they can’t give anything as they’re still drawing a blank. However, in return, they must also be transparent with their processes and how much work has been done. 

These are the qualities of a good strategy consultant. Be sure to take note of these once you decide your company needs one. On the other hand, if you’re a consultant, work on these characteristics as they can help you get a fine-paying profession. 

1. Indeed Editorial Team. “20 Good Communicator Characteristics.” Indeed. Last updated May 2022. Accessed June 2022. https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/good-communicator-characteristics  
2. Klein, Gary. “How Can We Identify the Experts?” Psychology Today. Last updated September 2018. Accessed June 2022. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201809/how-can-we-identify-the-experts 
3. Justin. “Signs of Sneaky People: 20 Things That Should Make You Run.” LBiBinders.org. Last updated November 2021. Accessed June 2022. https://lbibinders.org/signs-of-sneaky-people/