Consultancy: what it is and when it works

Consultancy is paid advice from outside your organisation. A consultant analyses a question, advises on the approach and in many cases helps with the execution too. We do that ourselves in digital, marketing, e-commerce, data and AI — and we supply consultants from our network as interim, freelance or through recruitment.

This page sets out which types of consultants exist, what they do and how to set up an engagement that actually changes something. Without the mystique, because that is exactly what gives consultancy a bad name sometimes.

What does a consultant actually do?

You hire a consultant for knowledge and experience you do not have in house, or for an outside view on something you are too close to. In practice you see three forms:

• Advice — research, analysis and a substantiated recommendation you take forward yourself. Short, sharp, with a decision as the outcome.
• Advice plus delivery — the consultant stays involved and helps execute, together with your team or with specialists.
• Filling a role — the consultant temporarily takes over a position. That is effectively interim: a mandate, joining meetings and carrying responsibility.

The form determines the duration and the risk. Advice that sits on a shelf is more expensive than it looks; a consultant who does everything alone without involving your team is too.

The types of consultants

Consultancy is a broad field. These are the roles we get asked for most, with one line on what they deliver:

• Management consultant — looks at organisation, processes and governance: where does it get stuck and which structure fits the stage you are in.
• Strategy consultant — helps with direction: markets, positioning, portfolio, growth choices and the translation into a plan with KPIs.
• Innovation consultant — turns new propositions, technology and ways of working into something executable, instead of stopping at a brainstorm.
• Business intelligence consultant — unlocks data from your systems and builds reporting you trust for decisions. See business intelligence consultancy.
• Compliance consultant — maps which requirements you must meet and how to organise that demonstrably.
• Privacy consultant and DPO — set up how you handle personal data; the Data Protection Officer role can also be filled externally, as DPO-as-a-Service. See compliance and privacy.
• Tender consultant — guides bids in public procurement: dissecting requirements, building the story, keeping the timeline.
• Grants consultant — finds schemes that fit your plans and guides the application and reporting.
• BIM consultancy — sets up working with building information models at construction and installation firms: agreements, standards and collaboration between parties.
• Business continuity advice — makes sure your organisation keeps running when something fails: outage, incident or supplier problem.

More detail per role on types of consultants.

Where we advise ourselves — and where we supply people

Being honest helps most here. We advise within our own field: online marketing, strategy, websites and shops, conversion, content, CRM, AI and data and business intelligence. We have a track record there since 2010 and we will voice our opinion even when you do not like it.

For roles outside that core — compliance, privacy, tender, grants, BIM or business continuity — we supply consultants from our network. People we know, whose work we have seen and who we are happy to put forward. In those engagements we do not give legal, tax or construction advice; the specialist you hire does.

Hiring consultancy: interim, freelance or permanent

"Which consultant do I need" is usually easier than "in which form". In short:

• Freelance fits a defined assignment with a clear result where you keep control. See hiring a freelance specialist.
• Interim fits when someone has to take over a role, mandate included. See hiring interim.
• Recruitment fits when the need is structural and you want the knowledge to stay in house.
• An agency fits when several disciplines are needed and you would rather not direct it yourself.

We do all four and we will say when the smallest option is enough. How to select and what to agree is on hiring a consultant.

What an engagement is worth

The value of an engagement depends on the decision behind it. So work it through in your own numbers: how much extra revenue, margin or saved time is on the table, and what tells you it is working? What that means in your situation is worth a conversation. Book a free strategy session.

What makes or breaks a consultancy engagement

Whoever you hire, it usually comes down to the same points:

• A sharp question — which decision should the advice support?
• A view of the starting situation — what is in place, what works, what costs money.
• Choices instead of a thick report — scenarios with consequences and a recommendation.
• An owner inside your own organisation — otherwise the advice sits on a shelf.
• Agreements on measuring and evaluating — on numbers set in advance.

Frequently asked questions about consultancy

What is the difference between a consultant and an advisor?

In practice nothing. Look at the assignment rather than the label: does someone only advise, or do they help with execution too?

What is the difference between consultancy and interim?

With consultancy you buy advice and expertise on a question. With interim someone temporarily takes over a role in your organisation, with mandate and responsibility. Consultants can work interim, and many interim professionals also advise.

In what form do you work?

From a single session that sharpens your question to advice plus delivery together with your team. Short sessions are a normal assignment for us: sometimes that is exactly enough and you take it from there. Which form fits we decide in the first conversation — not upfront.

How do I avoid a report nobody uses?

Agree up front which decision the advice supports, who owns it internally and which three things change after delivery. And ask for scenarios with consequences instead of one 'correct' route.

Do you also supply consultants outside marketing and digital?

Yes, from our network — compliance, privacy, tender, grants, BIM or business continuity, for example. We broker and stay your point of contact; the substantive advice comes from the specialist.

Do you only work in Eindhoven?

We are based in central Eindhoven and work a lot in the Brainport region, but our clients are spread across the Netherlands and sometimes beyond. See consultancy in Eindhoven.

Want to talk through your question?

Tell us what is going on — we will honestly say whether we take it on ourselves, propose someone from our network or advise you not to do it. A first conversation is free.

Get in touch or book a free strategy session.