Key 9 of 9 in the Loading Growth Wheel

Growing Market

Positioning, thought leadership and market visibility.

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What this Key unlocks

A perfectly capable consulting firm can be ineffective at sales and marketing, and small strategic improvements here yield outsized rewards. This Key covers positioning against the global consultancies, thought leadership, market visibility and the compelling market proposition.

Inside Everest, this Key is worked in 90 Day Sprints: one or two levers per sprint, measured, reviewed with peers and locked in before the next cycle. The Growing Market result page shows the three levers most firms need to pull first.

Guides on Growing Market

IT Mastermind Talks episodes on Growing Market

Questions founders ask about Growing Market

How does a small IT services firm compete with Accenture or Deloitte?
In a defined niche, with a quantified result the global SIs cannot claim, said every week until the market associates the problem with your name. Across the board you lose on logo. In one industry or one problem, specialism beats scale.
Should we niche down? We might miss opportunities.
Clients outside the niche still buy from a firm that is clearly excellent at something. What you lose is the price competition that comes from being indistinguishable from twenty other firms on the partner directory.
What should the first screen of our website say?
Who you serve, what you do for them, and the quantified result from a real engagement, in three sentences. If a stranger cannot tell that from the first screen, every other marketing effort leaks. It is an afternoon of work and most firms never do it.
What makes a value proposition believable?
A number drawn from real delivery history. Not 'we deliver digital transformation' but 'we cut month end close from twelve days to three for mid market manufacturers'. The number is what a CIO repeats to the board.
How often should we publish thought leadership?
One genuinely useful piece a week, from a real client problem: what they thought the issue was, what it actually was, what changed. In the founder's voice first, the firm's voice over time. Volume without usefulness is noise.
The founder is the brand. Is that a problem?
It is the right starting point and the wrong end point. Begin with the founder because it is credible and fast, then bring senior people into the thinking so the position belongs to the firm by the time you want to step back.
What is a tentpole moment and do we need one?
An event, report or gathering in your market's calendar that your firm owns: an annual benchmark, a round table for CIOs in your niche, a user group you host. Owning one moment a year does more for visibility than a year of scattered posts.
How do we know if our market position is working?
Ask whether a prospect who has never met you can say what you do and for whom, whether inbound enquiries mention the problem you want to be known for, and whether the position would survive the founder stepping back for a year. Three yeses and this Key is working.

Is Growing Market your weakest Key?

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