By Nathan Simon, Partner at Kennedy Intelligence - Consulting Industry's Trusted Partner for Research and Advisory Services. I Co-Author the Consulting Navigator.
One of the key messages from our roadshow on consulting trends to watch out for in
2025 is the importance of connecting investments in consulting capabilities to value-enhancing growth. We track thousands of investments made by consultancies each
year, including acquisitions, alliances, internal initiatives, and venturing. Our research
shows there is effectively zero correlation between the investments a consultancy
makes in new capabilities and the extent to which clients consider them to be differentiated in those capabilities.
We believe earning a return on those investments is a lot like getting the power to
the road in a car. No matter how powerful the engine, getting the power to the road
and controlling it requires the right transmission, wheels and, tires, and brakes.
For a consultancy, the go-to-market strategy embodied in a consultancy’s business model
is the drivetrain.
Our latest consulting industry analyses have identified four over-arching go-to-
market strategies:
Top-Down: performed for the client executive leadership team (either directly or through downstream workstreams) led by the CEO/Board and direct reports (i.e., N and N-1 levels). Consulting resources align to a strategic alignment role with a decentralized industry and functional matrix operating model.
In-Function: work originates and stays within a particular functional group in the client organization led by functional leaders and their direct reports (i.e., N-2 and N-3 levels). Consulting resources align to a combination of domain expertise, project leadership, and technology platform roles coupled with a decentralized industry and functional matrix operating model.
Cross-Functional: offerings designed to unlock more optimal outcomes by connecting solutions in adjacent stages of the value chain for higher-level functional leaders (i.e., N-1 and N-2 levels). Consulting resources combine domain with technical expertise in an operating model that adds more centralized cross-functional and cross-industry management.
Data-Forward: offerings built on a foundation of technology and data infrastructure solutions for client technical leadership. Consulting resources combine technology platform and technical expertise with an operating model that adds centralized technical and product management functions.
In the current market environment, we see Cross-Functional go-to-market strategies
gaining the most traction.
If you’re interested in discussing your own Go-to-Market strategy or other strategic
considerations in the context of consulting sector themes that Kennedy Intelligence
is monitoring and analyzing, please get in touch.
Please note: This article is for educational and informational purposes only and does
not constitute investment, tax, or legal advice. The intelligence has been gathered
from a variety of public and non-publicly available sources. The views and opinions
expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the views of
any affiliate organization. Any opinions or views expressed are as of the date written
and are subject to change without notice and may be updated or modified at any
time.
