I keep having the same conversation with consultants lately. Different industries, different experience levels, same story: "My network's not giving me deals anymore." These aren't struggling consultants. These are people who built successful practices over ten, fifteen, twenty years on referrals and relationships. The phone stopped ringing. The introductions dried up. And most of them don't understand why. In this episode, I'm breaking down what's actually happening in the market right now, why the conditions that made network-dependent consulting work have permanently changed, and what the consultants who are still growing have figured out that everyone else hasn't.
Show Notes
- The conversation I keep having: Why consultants who built successful practices on referrals are suddenly watching their pipeline go quiet, and what's actually driving it
- Two things happened at once: How constrained demand collided with a flood of new consultants to create the most competitive market I've ever seen
- The scrutiny shift buyers won't tell you about: The questions decision-makers are now asking that most network-dependent consultants have never had to answer
- Where AI actually hit consulting: It's not what you think. The real impact isn't replacement, it's raising the bar on what counts as work worth paying for
- What the consultants who are growing figured out: They stopped treating their network as the plan and started treating it as a bonus. The difference matters more than you'd expect
- Why your network isn't coming back: The conditions that made referral-based consulting work have changed. I don't see them changing back. What to build instead
