“Platform-based consulting” is a phrase that gets used a lot at the moment, and it tends to mean different things to different people. This session set out to pin it down. There are broadly two versions: always-on retainers that combine a platform, data, and advisory support, and internal platform teams built inside a firm. The focus here was on the first - the retainer-based, data-embedded, always-on advisory model - explored with two people who have run it for real.
Honeycomb’s Deri Hughes is joined by Tim Beattie, founder of Stellafai, and Adam Schaffer, who built a customer loyalty and analytics consultancy.
What’s covered:
The two competing definitions of platform-based consulting, and why the session focused on the always-on advisory model rather than internal platform teams.
The prerequisite most firms skip: standardising your proposition and your analysis before anything can be productised.
Why trust and a shared focus on outcomes, not one-off projects, are the foundation of any retained model.
Pricing principles - value-based pricing tied to the decisions a platform enables, subscription thinking borrowed from the product world, and how to avoid margin erosion.
The two genuinely defensible assets as the cost of analysis falls towards zero: proprietary data and human client relationships.
How much can be productised before it stops being consulting, and why a platform amplifies the expert rather than replacing them.
Questions from the audience included:
Where the tipping point sits between platform value and advisory value, and at what point an engagement stops being consulting.
How to keep a firm’s own fingerprints on AI-assisted output rather than letting it sound generic.
Whether platform-based models grow or shrink the consulting market overall - the panel’s view being that they grow it, provided real value is delivered.
One to watch if you lead or run a consulting firm and are weighing whether an always-on, platform-based model fits your proposition.
Thank you for reading The Skilled Consultant. If you haven’t yet subscribed, please do so to receive all our articles direct to your inbox.
There are several other ways you can interact with Honeycomb Consulting Skills Training….
Connect with Deri Hughes (Founder & MD) on LinkedIn
Connect with Colin Mann (MD) on LinkedIn
Book a 30 minute intro call with Deri Hughes
Stay informed about our free workshops and webinars - follow Honeycomb on LinkedIn or visit our website.
