At some point, your consultancy stopped sharpening its offer and started hoarding them.
What began as a clear value prop evolved into a cluttered shelf of “bespoke solutions”, “modular offerings” and “innovation sprints” — each one the product of good intentions and desperate sales meetings. Now you’re knee-deep in what we call Proposition Fog: that murky space where strategy gets blurry, your team gets confused, and your profits quietly wander off.
Here are 7 ways to know if you’re in it - and how to find the exit.
1. YoU’VE GoT A pRopoSITIoN FoR EVERY Mood
Somewhere along the line, you built the Netflix of offers: one for every possible client whim. There’s the leadership sprint you ran once for that healthcare startup. The diagnostic you built for a prospect who ghosted. The ‘hybrid agile change enablement roadmap’ (we don’t know what it means either).
And like most Netflix libraries, your catalogue is mostly unwatched.
Clarity Move: Sunset the “meh” stuff. Spotlight the offers with traction and teeth. If it doesn’t sell or scale, it’s clutter.
2. YoUR TEAM cAN'T EXpLAIN WHAT YoU AcTUALLY Do
Ask five people in your firm to describe your consultancy value proposition. If they start with a deep breath, buckle in.
When your team needs a diagram, an asterisk, and a TED Talk to explain your core offer, you’re not “versatile” - you’re vague.
Clarity Move: Build a one-liner your intern could say at a barbecue. (Bonus: test it on someone’s nan.)
3. YoU’VE CoNFUSEd ‘AdApTABLE’ WITH ‘UNFoCUSEd’
Yes, your clients are complex. Yes, you’re “client-led”. But if “we tailor everything” is your opening line, it sounds less like innovation - and more like insecurity.
Strategic adaptability is knowing which corners to flex. Foggy propositioning is saying yes to everything because deep down, you’re afraid to lose a lead.
Clarity Move: Define what’s negotiable and what’s not. Boundaries build brand.
4. YoUR MARgINS ARE WHISpERINg WHAT YoUR STRATEgY WoN'T AdMIT
Consultancy margins don’t lie. If your best months feel like hard-won marathons and your pricing dances on the edge of panic-discounting, it’s time to look at the root cause: your messy proposition stack.
Because when your value proposition is foggy, your pricing power vanishes. You’re just another line item on a procurement spreadsheet.
Clarity Move: Track margin by proposition. Then ask: are you making money, or just movement?
5. YoUR WEBSITE LooKS LIKE A BUFFET MENU
Strategy. Transformation. Culture. Digital. Change. Pricing. Coaching. Design. You’ve listed everything but the dessert trolley.
The problem isn’t variety - it’s that nothing shines. Prospects leave your site full… but unsatisfied.
Clarity Move: Kill the buffet. Pick a dish you’d stake your reputation on. Plate it beautifully.
6. YoU KEEp cREATINg “NEW oFFERS” To SoLVE SALES pRoBLEMS
Sales slow? Let’s spin up a new framework. Package another diagnostic. Rebrand the same thinking into a shiny new sprint.
Sound familiar?
You’re not building propositions. You’re building distractions. Because deep down, you don’t trust your core offer to close.
Clarity Move: Fix the sales conversation, not the service list. Simplicity sells.
7. YoU cAN'T NAME THE pRoPoSITIoN THAT'LL MAKE YoU £1M THIS YEAR
If every offer feels “sort of equal”, you’re equally lost.
Consultancies with momentum can name the exact offer, buyer and use case that’ll drive their next million. Everyone else is just hoping something lands.
Clarity Move: Pick your horse. Back it. Build around it. Scale isn’t democratic - it’s decisive.
REAdY To cLEAR THE Fog?
Clarity isn’t a branding exercise. It’s a growth engine.
A sharp, well-positioned consultancy value proposition wins better clients, better fees and better momentum. But left unchecked, Proposition Fog will quietly choke all three.
If you can’t see your next growth move, it’s time to clear the air.
👉 Book a Positioning Primer - and let’s find what really deserves to stay on your map.
