Sales Won’t Come from Cloning the Founder: Why the ‘Trusted Advisor’ Approach Has Limited Success in Boutique Consultancies

How Boutique Consulting Has Changed

Founders of consulting firms often expect their senior consultants to replicate their own success as highly networked, trusted advisors. While this aspiration is understandable, it’s rarely realistic. The gap between expectation and reality is down to some structural shifts in how consulting careers are developed today, particularly in limited companies, compared to the traditional partnership models of the past.

Three specific trends are noticeable. First is the faster career path from junior to partner, second is the ‘build to sell’ model, third is the post-COVID skill-set:

First, concerning the career path, in the old partnership structures, the path to becoming a partner was a slow, nurturing process. David Maister identified the ‘grey haired’ partnership as the most common model in his day, but these days (do I sound old?) I’m often the oldest person in the boardroom – and I’m 51!

Second, the ‘build to sell’ model has become especially popular over the last fifteen years as large consultancies have sought to buy their way into innovation and private equity has realised that the ‘low asset / high profit’ model of professional services is actually a positive rather than a negative.

Third, there is a lot of evidence to suggest that COVID and the associated lockdowns not only damaged people’s social skills and confidence – especially younger people – but also damaged their confidence in face-to-face interaction and the size of their social networks. Whilst not universal, many younger consultants prefer to email and text rather than visit.

These trends have resulted in some challenges which mean the modern junior partner is less likely to have the skills, network and relationships that the founder often possesses.

1. Focus on Delivery Over Relationships

Utilisation rates at many boutiques are at 90% with consultants focusing more on delivery and less on client relationships. While crucial to their role, this focus doesn’t lend itself to cultivating the deep, trust-based relationships needed for a trusted advisor role.

2. Lack of Long-Term Mentoring

Mentorship plays a crucial role in shaping a trusted advisor. In the past, consultancy was an apprenticeship model, build over thirty or forty years, mentored by experienced partners. The focus was on the softer skills of client management, emotional intelligence, and trust-building.

However, this kind of deep mentoring has diminished in favour of following IP. Junior consultants may be great at delivering projects but are often left without the soft skills needed to form enduring client bonds.

3. Limited Time for Network Building

Building a strong network takes years, sometimes decades. Many founders today have spent 20-30 years building a wide network of contacts across industries. Expecting junior consultants—who may only have a few years of experience—to match this is unrealistic.

Additionally, the increasing use of digital tools in client interactions has limited the traditional, face-to-face methods of networking that were so vital to earlier generations of partners.

In Maister’s day, senior consultants were heavily mentored and given ample time to build deep client relationships and broad networks. By the time they became partners, they were fully equipped to take on the trusted advisor role.

This is, of course, still the ideal. And many founders / owners will tell me that the challenge is developing the mindset of F2F

How Digital Content and Marketing Can Help Junior Partners Succeed

The path to becoming a trusted advisor takes time, but junior partners don’t have to wait decades to start building their credibility and sales success.

Leveraging marketing and digital content can accelerate the process by establishing visible expertise and authority online, creating opportunities for junior consultants to position themselves as thought leaders while they build the networks and skills needed for deeper client relationships.

1. Positioning as a Visible Expert

Digital platforms allow junior partners to be visible where their clients are already engaging. Through blog posts, LinkedIn articles, podcasts, and webinars, they can position themselves as experts in their niche. The key here is to shift from focusing solely on delivery to making their expertise visible.

Consistent content marketing builds credibility over time. Even if a junior partner doesn’t have decades of experience, sharing insights, case studies, and best practices from the firm’s collective knowledge positions them as a problem solver.

2. Targeted Content for Nurturing Prospective Clients

Digital marketing allows junior partners to nurture client relationships over time which can supplement without requiring F2F involvement. Through well-crafted email newsletters, automated nurturing sequences, and insightful LinkedIn content, junior partners can stay top of mind with potential clients while they focus on delivery and building their networks.

This “always-on” approach means that by the time a junior partner meets a potential client, that person may already have a favourable impression based on the content they’ve consumed.

3. Building Trust Digitally While the Network Grows

While junior partners are developing their in-person networks, they can accelerate their credibility by establishing a digital presence. Participating in online industry forums, hosting webinars, and guest appearances on podcasts are all ways to increase visibility without the time and effort that face-to-face networking typically requires.

4. Adopting a “Teaching” Approach in Digital Spaces

Consultants who educate rather than sell will build trust faster and sell more (see the Challenger Sale research). A junior partner who consistently shares content that helps clients navigate industry challenges will be seen as a trusted resource.

This trusted advisor role doesn’t need 20 years of experience—it can begin with simply solving problems and clearly communicating those solutions.

Not Either, but Both

While the trusted advisor model is still a long-term goal (people buy from people), junior partners don’t need to wait decades to succeed in sales. By leveraging digital content, case studies, and a teaching approach, they can build visible expertise and trust while developing the deeper skills and networks required to fully inhabit the trusted advisor role in the future.