The Visible Authority helps consultants grow their business

Former Deloitte consultant Luk Smeyers has launched his own consulting firm that helps management consultants grow their visibility, and ultimately business profitability. 

Operating as The Visible Authority, Smeyers aims to support consultants with increasing their profile in an increasingly crowded marketplace, with the goal of expanding business development opportunities. 

According to the Belgium-based founder, placing emphasis on business development and market visibility is more important than ever, against the backdrop of a disruptive market. Gone are the days when clients by nature approach a shortlist of established brands; instead, today they use the internet to shop for the best expertise, or those that offer the best price-quality combination. 

The rise of challenger consultancies, network models, communities of independent consultants and rapidly professionalising internal consulting groups has meant that competition is fiercer than ever. Meanwhile, research has shown that client perceptions are changing, with the value-added delivered by their external consultants coming under increasing scrutiny. 

“Nowadays, professional services buyers act like consumers – they can find an expert to solve their business problem in seconds. In this very competitive market, consulting firms and consultants need to stand out,” said Smeyers. 

This is where The Visible Authority comes into play. “We help consultants win more clients by transforming them into visible authorities.” Further down the business development funnel, The Visible Authority helps consultants with positioning, better targeting of relevant clients, marketing automation and trust building, all geared at helping them with onboarding more profitable clients. 

The boutique consultant to consultants does so through among others an accelerator program, an online course, mastermind retreats, and a range of best practices and tips. Meanwhile, later this month Smeyers is releasing a book which he says offers consultants a “blueprint to succeeding” in their segment.

The company founder brings over three decades of experience in human resources and management consulting to the table. Having worked as a HR leader for a number of corporates including Ahold, PepsiCo, Starbucks and Nielsen, he founded his own firm, iNostix, that offered both consulting and implementation services in the field of people analytics. In 2016, iNostix was acquired by Deloitte, where Smeyers continued his career as a senior leader and expert. 

Smeyers: “I have bundled all my experiences, expertise, know-how, research, reading, successes and struggles into my new business. It’s my ambition to become the unmatched go-to source of growth knowledge for consultants around the world and teach those consultants how to build, grow and scale their ideal client base.”