Choosing a Strategic Planning Consultant: Start with the Outcome

What do you actually need a strategic planning consultant to do?

Help you decide where the business is going? Remove the obstacles holding it back? Get your directors and teams working towards the same outcome? These are different jobs. Before you choose someone to help, be clear about the job you need done.

A strategy earns its keep when it changes what people do and improves the business. More focus. Better productivity. Stronger customer relationships. Sustainable profits. A well-written document is useful only if it leads to action.

Start with the business problem

Perhaps sales are growing but cash is getting tighter. Perhaps everyone is busy, yet the important projects never quite get finished. Or the market has moved and your organisation is still working to yesterday’s priorities.

Describe the outcome you need in plain language. What should be different, by when, and how will you know? That gives you something useful to discuss with a consultant, and something against which to judge their proposal.

You do not need all the answers before the first conversation. But you should expect that conversation to sharpen the questions.

Choose someone who can turn thinking into action

Relevant experience matters. So does the ability to listen, challenge your assumptions and explain things clearly. You need to understand how their approach will work in your business, with your people and your constraints.

Ask for examples of the problem they helped a client solve, what changed and how the result was measured. A familiar client name is reassuring; evidence of useful work is more valuable.

Pay attention to the questions they ask you. Are they trying to understand the business, or fitting you into a programme before they have understood the problem?

And ask what you will have when the work is finished. Clear priorities? Defined projects? Named owners? A way to review progress? Your team should know what happens next.

What should the investment buy?

The fee matters. So do the time your people will spend, the disruption involved and any further work needed to implement the recommendations.

Ask for a clear scope: what is included, what is excluded, the timetable, your team’s involvement and the basis of the fee. Establish whether you are buying advice, a defined programme or ongoing support. They serve different purposes.

Then consider the value. What is the current problem costing you? What would solving it release or improve? Agree sensible measures at the outset, rather than trying to justify the spend afterwards.

Be cautious about promises of a guaranteed return. You want a credible explanation of how the work can create value, with the assumptions made clear.

Questions worth asking before you commit

What do you think is preventing us from achieving the outcome we want?

How will you draw on the knowledge of the people who work here?

How much time will you need from our leadership team and staff?

What decisions remain with us, and who will own the resulting projects?

How will we measure progress, and what happens if priorities change?

What knowledge and capability will remain in our business when you leave?

You are looking for clear answers and a working relationship in which you can challenge each other constructively.

Bring your people into the process

Your team will often know where time is wasted, customers are frustrated and work gets stuck. Make use of that knowledge. Explain why the work is happening, what you want to achieve and how their input will be used.

Keep their involvement proportionate. Gathering useful insight should help the business move forwards. Agree the time commitment and the method before you start.

As directors, you remain responsible for the decisions. Give projects clear owners, agree what success looks like and review progress regularly. A consultant can help create momentum; leadership has to sustain it.

Have the conversation

Choosing a strategic planning consultant starts with a straightforward question: how will this help our business become better?

If you would like to discuss where your business is getting stuck, or what needs to change, get in touch. We can start with the outcome you need and consider an appropriate way forwards.

Contact Philip