The Value A Consultant Truly Brings
I vividly remember asking a director ‘what is the point in even hiring consultants - surely they can do the job'
Despite this director having his eyes fixated to his laptop preparing for a workshop 30 minutes before the client was due to arrive.
He turned around to me and said, there are plenty of reasons. He outlined them as follows;
Consultants provide specialised expertise - I rolled my eyes
An objective perspective and fresh set of eyes - I once again rolled my eyes
Cost savings and time efficiency - I was ready to walk away
All jokes aside, consultants do provide the above, amongst a whole host of other attributes. We are there to find solutions, create clarity and provide a quicker and more adaptable approach.
Despite the old saying - ‘A consultant is someone who borrows your watch to tell you the time’ - it does truly work both ways.
As a consultant you are only there because someone doesn't know how to look at their wrist - well said. Highly relevant.
Whilst a client (a company who hires consultants to work on behalf of them/with them) is more likely to look for consultants when their team is less agile, new to the business or unfortunately not able to deliver. It is almost important to assess what real and tangible value you will get from a consulting organisation.
More often than not, consultants who bill by the day, or even by the hour, are aiming for expotential value realisation from the get-go.
However, if they cannot achieve this due to corporate in-house politics affecting timelines or Sue from procurement blocking a project being signed off for due to a spelling mistake, then being a consultant becomes extremely tedious and frustrating.
For a consulting organisation as a whole, as long as client relationships are handled appropriately and with ‘love’ in quotations marks. Whilst still having the appropriate level of expertise on the ground and delivering even when obstacles such as the above become apparent.
This is still a win-win for them.
Money is coming in, client relationships are solid and now time to make some tough decisions.
1. Objectivity Without Bias
In-house teams operate within a web of relationships, history, and politics. They often carry the legacy of past decisions and the fear of disrupting the status quo. A consultant arrives without these entanglements, enabling them to see the situation with fresh eyes and speak uncomfortable truths—something internal stakeholders may avoid due to career or political risk.
Their independence allows consultants to challenge assumptions, question sacred cows, and propose solutions that might be uncomfortable but necessary.
2. Cross-Industry Expertise
Consultants don’t live in a single corporate culture—they move across sectors, geographies, and company sizes. This broad exposure allows them to bring innovative practices from one industry into another. What’s cutting-edge in retail might inspire transformation in healthcare. In-house teams, no matter how talented, are often limited by their organization’s dominant logic.
This cross-pollination of ideas is one of the greatest values consultants offer—leveraging patterns and strategies proven elsewhere to solve problems in new contexts.
3. Accelerated Problem Solving
Consultants are built for speed. Armed with structured methodologies, diagnostic frameworks, and experienced teams, they can rapidly assess challenges, synthesize data, and formulate actionable strategies. While internal teams might take months juggling existing responsibilities and stakeholder approvals, consultants deliver results within tight timelines—because that’s their job.
They’re not distracted by day-to-day operations, firefighting, or departmental politics. Their singular focus enables rapid movement.
4. Capability Building and Change Enablement
The best consultants don’t just deliver a PowerPoint deck and leave. They build capabilities within the organization. Through workshops, knowledge transfer, and collaborative implementation, consultants empower internal teams to sustain improvements long after the engagement ends.
Additionally, change management is where consultants often shine. Employees resist change, especially when it’s led from within. Consultants offer credibility as “neutral” parties and often act as catalysts, helping leadership drive transformation with less internal resistance.
5. Access to Tools, Data, and Talent
Top consulting firms invest heavily in proprietary tools, benchmarking databases, and specialist talent pools. A single client engagement benefits from not just the individuals onsite, but the collective intelligence of the firm’s entire global network.
Trying to build this capability in-house is cost-prohibitive and slow. Consultants give companies immediate access to world-class resources without the overhead.
6. Accountability and ROI
Consulting engagements are results-driven. The scope is defined, outcomes are measured, and timelines are enforced. While internal projects can be deprioritized or diluted, consultants are contractually bound to deliver outcomes.
This focus on measurable impact ensures a level of accountability and performance that internal teams often struggle to maintain, especially when juggling multiple priorities.
If I had one takeaway, it's that our clients were entirely too risk averse. Rather than just start executing on something and learn along the way, they would rather front-load every business decision with 500 hours of coordination and planning meetings
