Originally published November 3, 2016 , updated on October 24, 2023

In the realm of management consultancy, strategic planning consultants focus (as is indicated by their title) on the strategic issues faced by businesses. They firmly tether their focus to issues relating to anything from supply chains and logistics to Internet presence. While many of these consultants operate under the umbrella of outside consulting companies, more often they are a part of a larger organization. The organization offers their consulting services to different units within the company.

The highest levels of an organization drive strategic planning. Therefore, a board of directors with input from expert third parties usually formulate it. The company’s executives officially implement the resulting “plans”.

The Role of the Strategic Planning Consultant

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Strategic planning consultants help business owners and their executive teams to develop an integrated strategic plan. It builds clarity and consensus on a critical game plan for future success.

A strategy consultant’s role is to provide companies with advice on their goals and future direction. That is to say, these consultants use expertise, industry experience and analysis to help their clients identify strategies that increase revenue and market share by improving their competitive advantage. Strategy consultants help companies grow faster and increase the value of their business.

A strategic planning consultant will endeavor to clarify an organization’s objectives and the outcomes required for all key stakeholders. It includes customers, shareholders, staff and community. The resulting strategic plan is formulated within a given framework of corporate policies and procedures. It is against economic and regulatory backdrops.

Moreover, a key role for strategy consultants is to help companies define what they do and to identify their capabilities, strengths, and weaknesses. Consultants examine the company’s product range, the skills of its employees, its customer base and its marketing communications to build a picture of its current capabilities.

Strategy consultants help management teams compare their current capabilities with market opportunities. They analyse a range of opportunities, compare market requirements with the company’s capabilities, and set out a range of viable options. So the options might include developing or sourcing new products, expanding into wider geographical territories or entering new market sectors. For each option, consultants highlight the associated risk and identify the changes required for success.

The Expertise and Experiences

Independent strategy consultants own the expertise and experience of solving strategy problems. So they can help small and large businesses across different industry sectors. This perspective and experience can help a management team focus on what the company should do to differentiate itself from the competition. As part of their role, strategic consultants help management teams identify priorities. Then, they can focus the team on the requirements for making the strategy a reality.

Strategic planning consultants will typically call on a range of individuals to bring supplementary expertise with depth of experience in particular areas. For example economic, financial, risk management, marketing, enterprise resource planning, supply chain management, information technology, and human resources.

The strategic planning consultant first analyzes an organization’s current business practices, both internally and with its customers and suppliers. From the assessments made, the business strategy consultant formulates the objectives, both tactically and strategically. Once they stabilize and baseline the plan, the consultant works with the executive team on an ongoing basis to implement the strategic plan and manage amendments, usually at specified intervals for example quarterly or annually.

Strategic Planning Consultant Skills

The skill requirements of a strategic consultant are extremely high. The complexity involved in formulating an effective long-term plan is immense. That is to say that the consultants need to find the right avenue that will enable an organization to achieve its stated goals and objectives.

In order to be able to operate credibly with the leadership teams of large organizations, whether in the public or private sector, a strategic planning consultant will be expected to possess some or all of the following experience depending on the client brief:

• Several years of direct business experience, preferably across several functional areas

• Significant tenure in a leadership role including executive accountability for business planning across a number of organizations and probably in different industries

• Experience as an external adviser or consultant to organizations

• Continuous training and an advanced degree, for example an MBA, to keep up with strategic advances and technological innovations

• A solid background as a senior business professional involved in technical activities within a given niche or profession, perhaps including consultancies, academic research, thought leadership and presenting white papers at conferences

Rewards for Consultants

Technically, there is no ceiling to the rewards available to the business strategy consultant. In other words, only their experience, knowledge and contacts limit them. A strategic planning consultant’s compensation can quite easily range up to millions of dollars over the life of an assignment. You can supplement these fees quite substantially if you hire other experienced, niche consultants to contribute specialist insights.

An experience independent strategic planning consultant can make $250K or more in a year without too much difficulty. It is all within their reach given the right experience, knowledge, and drive. Consequently, the total compensation will be determined by their background and skills.

There are also non-monetary rewards. They are kudos of being known as the expert in their chosen discipline and being in high demand among the world’s top corporations. Therefore, the potential in this field is great and very exciting.

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The demand for skilled consultants is likely to remain high. The competition will be fierce, although the absolute number of credible competitors will be relatively low. Since the formulation of business strategy planning is an ongoing and evolving process, consulting services are necessary for a long time to keep the plan current and the organization on track. The extract from Linkedin shows that the range of industries that are interested of services of strategic planning consultants is wide enough.

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