In 2025, our clients want more than frameworks and playbooks. They require personalised insights, rapid delivery and measurable value. With ever more strain placed on finances and internal teams, the consultant’s role has changed. Personalisation is no longer optional. It’s what clients need.
What’s changed?
Several industry shifts are driving this:
Client maturity. The basics are already clear to most organisations. They do not need to be convinced why operational excellence is important. They want to understand how it relates to their structure, culture, and objectives.
Data availability. Today’s customers have data sets that are enormous but often lack the ability to make sense of them. That leaves the door open for consulting services based on customer-owned data, rather than abstracted benchmarks.
Pace of change. Whether it’s AI, ESG, or resilience planning, businesses are continually under pressure to change. Traditional ‘discovery → design → delivery’ sequences are often too long.
Across the industry, generic presentations and lengthy diagnostic reports are losing impact. Clients increasingly expect flexible toolkits, smart use of data and tailored insights that reflect their specific reality.
What does personalisation look like?
This doesn’t mean that you must start from scratch each time. It is about taking proven methods and making them work in a manner that respects the reality in which the client must function.
- Data-led insight: Build on the client’s existing KPI’s, systems data and historical trends. Don’t benchmark blindly. Consider what the numbers indicate about internal performance, risks and limitations.
- Agile delivery: Split engagement into increments or phases of delivery. Prioritise value early. Let the client mould the brief as insight emerges.
- Cultural fit: Customise interventions to the reality of how the client really works. The needs of a tightly regulated utility are different from those of a tech-led start-up. They need to shift their style, not just their templates.
- Co-creation, not handover: Working with client teams, not at them. The focus needs to be on transferring knowledge and embedding capability – not simply producing a final report.
What’s the impact?
In our experience, taking a customised approach results in faster delivery, stronger buy-in and outcomes that are more measurable and sustainable. It also builds trust. Clients return when they feel listened to.
For the consulting industry, this requires a change in mindset.. It’s not about selling hours. It’s all about solving specific problems with precision. That might mean making better use of AI to analyse client data faster, or by developing tools that come in parts and adjust by sector or function. Either way, the value lies in the fit, not the format.
Consulting in 2025 is not about having the smartest person in the room. It’s really about helping clients sift through the noise, focus on what matters and act with confidence. The more individualised the support, the better.
At MM, this personalised approach is how we work. We focus on context before content, use client-owned data wherever possible, and shape our methods around each organisation’s specific challenges. Whether it’s improving financial controls, embedding operational discipline or adapting to fast-moving risks, our teams bring structured thinking without rigid templates. The result is practical, targeted support that delivers impactful results.
