ABSTRACT
Successful consulting businesses require deep domain knowledge and talented consulting resources combined with both effective marketing and exceptional sales, all of which must be closely aligned and made consistent with timely delivery of professional services to expectant clients. The romanticized notion of consulting carries the legacy belief or assumption that good consultants should be able to produce revenues without ever asking for the business and certainly without such unseemly acts as advertising. Consulting is one of the most intangible of all professional services, depending on individuals or teams often engaged primarily in words, ideas, and strategies. To make the marketing and selling of consulting services even more difficult, the fundamental tool of pricing frequently remains outside the control of those directly engaged in marketing and selling. The marketing and sales functions in consulting firms have clearly become more diverse and complicated in their approaches.
