The consultant as an antenna: spotting commercial opportunities at the client

Your consultant spends four days a week at the client. He hears that another team is stuck, that the schedule keeps slipping, and that nobody knows who should set up a new process. At the end of the week, he tells you his own project is going well. The rest goes unmentioned.

For managers and owners of consultancy firms, this is a familiar situation. Consultants hear a lot, but they do not always discuss what falls outside their assignment. Sometimes they do not recognise the need. Sometimes they assume the client will bring it up themselves. Or they want to keep a good client conversation from turning into a sales pitch.

How do you help consultants recognise commercial opportunities without losing their role as an adviser?

Hearing more on the floor: expanding your range

A consultant picks up a lot of extra signals when they step outside their immediate project team. If you spend the whole day focused at one desk, you miss the wider context. Three simple habits make a big difference:

• Sit with another team occasionally: Work from a department that interfaces with your project for a morning. You will quickly hear where the friction is.
• Be present around meetings: Arrive five minutes early to a session, or linger for a moment while people pack up their laptops. That is when the most candid remarks are made.
• Ask an easy, open question: At the coffee machine, simply ask: "Where is most of your team's energy going right now?" Not as a sales angle, but out of ordinary collegial curiosity.

Which signals should a consultant pick up on the work floor?

A client rarely says: "Here is a follow-up assignment for you." Usually it sounds far more ordinary:

• "We will soon have the new system, but the people still need to learn how to work with it."
• "Finance is running into exactly the same thing."
• "We still produce that report by hand every month."
• "We actually do not know who will maintain this after the handover."

A remark like that can point to a need your firm could help with. But it can also just be a sigh, or something the client has already arranged help for. So a consultant first needs to understand what is going on.

That starts with a question: "How do you handle this today?" The answer says more than a quick assumption that there is work to be won here.

Two reasons consultants let these signals pass

They fix it themselves right away

A good consultant likes to help. The client asks a question about an adjacent area and the consultant thinks along. First ten minutes. Then an extra meeting. Then comes a document that is really outside the assignment.

That is how scope-creep starts. The client counts on help that was never agreed, while the consultant has less time left for his own work. On top of that, the client may be getting advice from someone who only partly masters the subject.

Answering a short question is part of working together. The line sits where a new responsibility appears. That is the moment to decide together what is needed, who can do it and what agreements come with it.

They do not want to become a salesperson

"Pay a bit more attention to commercial opportunities" is an unwelcome instruction for many consultants. Should they offer a colleague at every problem from now on? Will the client start doubting their advice?

That hesitation is understandable. As a manager you can be more concrete: ask your consultants to notice needs outside their assignment, check them out and discuss them with permission. An introduction follows only when it genuinely helps the client.

From one remark to a fitting next step

You can practise this with your team in three steps. The example sentences below show how such a conversation can go. Let consultants choose their own words.

1. Name what you hear and check it

A project manager mentions that the handover to operations is not arranged yet. Your consultant could say:

“

"You mentioned it is not yet clear who will maintain the system. Is anyone working on that already?"

The structure is simple: what the client says + a question about the current situation.

This keeps the consultant from making the problem bigger than it is. Maybe another firm is already involved. Maybe there is a plan he does not know about.

2. Ask about the consequences

If the client indeed has no solution yet, ask further:

“

"What does that mean for the go-live if it is still not arranged in three weeks?"

The structure: the open need + the concrete consequence for the work.

This makes clear whether the matter needs attention now. Also ask who decides and who should be involved. The person you are talking to may know the problem well without being able to commission a new assignment.

Keep the conversation small. You do not need a full analysis before you can conclude that someone else should take a look.

3. Suggest the right help, with permission

Sometimes the work fits the consultant himself. Sometimes a colleague, a trusted freelancer or someone from the sales team is a better fit.

“

"This calls for someone with experience in operations organisations. My colleague Noor does this more often. Would you like me to introduce you two?"

The structure: what is needed + why this person fits + permission for the introduction.

If the need is still broad, a conversation with an account manager can help find the right expertise. Name that person's role too. Do not present a sales conversation as optional, no-strings advice when it is really meant to discuss an assignment.

Agree in advance what the introduction involves and whether it costs anything. Share only the information the client has approved and that the introduction needs.

Do it yourself, do it together, or refer the client on?

A consultant does not have to pull every opportunity towards his own firm. The advice must fit the client's need.

Doing it yourself works when the question falls within his expertise and the existing assignment. If extra work comes with it, first discuss the scope, schedule and fee.

Doing it together is the obvious choice when additional knowledge is needed. Think of an IT consultant who brings in a colleague with training and adoption experience for a system rollout.

Referring the client on is wise when someone else can help better. That can be a colleague from your own firm, a consultant from the network, or another party. Say honestly why you are suggesting this person. Any commercial interest belongs on the table too.

And sometimes no follow-up is needed. The client has enough help, gives the topic no priority, or wants to pick it up themselves. Then leave it there.

What can you do as a manager this week?

Make this part of a regular project meeting. Do not only ask about hours, schedules and results, but also:

• What did you hear at the client that falls outside your assignment?
• Did you check what exactly is going on?
• What does the client need, and who could help with that?
• Was a next step agreed, or are we leaving it for now?

Discuss one situation together. Let the consultant first tell you which words the client used. That keeps a stray remark from turning into a promising assignment during the internal meeting.

Then practise the question he can ask next time. Also give credit for a fitting referral or for the decision not to make an offer. If only new revenue counts, consultants will sooner feel pressure to turn everything into an opportunity.

Want to practise this more broadly with your team? On the page about tailored coaching and training you will find the options to work with your own client situations.

How this connects to Conversations That Sell

In Conversations That Sell these conversations come back in the lessons on exploring the client question, understanding stakeholders, discussing project value and recognising follow-up work. Consultants also practise when they can help themselves and when a colleague, network partner or the sales team fits better.

Your consultants do not need to have an offer ready the moment a client runs into something. They can start with one good follow-up question. That makes clear whether something is needed and whether they can help arrange it.