Your Consulting Business Needs An Offer Framework

One of the critical elements in consulting success is increasingly coming down to how well-crafted and compelling your offers are.

An offer in textbooks is defined as a proposal outlining services and terms. But that's too academic.

"An offer is how you package up the solution to a potential client's known or unknown problem in a way that makes sense to hire you to get the defined results"

If you want to thrive as a consultant, focusing on refining and developing robust offers should be a top priority.

1. The Discovery Call to Analysis

This offer usually works for smaller consultancies when there is high expert positioning and accompanying inbound leads.

The lead is a discovery phase to identify the challenge's root cause and allow for suitable recommendations.

Key Elements:

2. The Consult to Long-Term Program

Unlike the previous framework, this starts with a paid 1/2 day 'Strategy Consult' in a specific area.

For example, in my business, I have exceptionally well-defined standard consults in:

I constructed these consults as standard offers that are easy to define and say yes to.

3. Irresistible Front-End Offer to Long-Term Program

This offer is used when there is more of a cold audience - possibly started by an outbound prospecting method or through social media.

You run 'Irresistible Front End Offer' campaigns talking to 1 particular pain point of a target audience. Once someone is interested, make the offer to work on a long-term consulting program.

Create your Irresistible Front End Offers by segmenting your main consulting offer. For example, a consultancy may work on:

Each can serve as a front-end offer leading into your more extensive program.

4. Larger Consulting Company Full-Blown Offer

This model takes an initial enquiry through a staged program which elevates the value, deliverables and fees at each stage.

It is designed specifically to:

1. Make it easy to say yes at each stage

2. Quantify deliverables at each stage

3. Engage the decision-making unit

4. Recoup revenue from invested time and energy

Most consultants reach a Yes/No decision point and lose potential. This model recoups revenue by including multiple ways to gain revenue - even from prospects that initially say No.

The Power of Structure

Having a clear offer framework:

The right offer framework can transform how you engage with potential clients and dramatically improve your close rate.