Most boutique consulting firms can describe their work well in a long conversation. The trouble starts with the one sentence they use when someone asks, "So what do you do?" Here is a test for that sentence. It takes two minutes.
The swap test
Write the sentence you use to describe your firm.
Replace your firm's name with the name of a competitor you respect.
Read it aloud.
If it is still true, the sentence is not positioning you. A line such as "We help mid-sized companies grow through strategic insight and practical execution" passes the swap test for almost any firm in the category. Words like experienced, tailored, practical and client-first feel like strengths to the people who write them. A prospect has heard every competitor say them too.
Rewrite it
Add at least one of these:
A specific client. The size, stage or situation of the firms you serve best.
A specific problem. The one you are known for, in the words your clients use for it.
A specific point of view. Something about how the work should be done that a competitor would disagree with.
Then run the swap test again. If a competitor cannot say it truthfully, you are getting closer.
The second test
Could a prospect repeat your sentence to a colleague a week later, without looking at it? If your work comes through introductions, this matters more than the wording of your website. A referrer can only be as precise as the sentence they remember.
I work through this with founders of small consulting firms, and the approach is set out on the positioning page.
What does your firm's one sentence say that a competitor could not say?
Sources: No external sources. This is a general test of positioning language.