At this time of year, one word is bandied about with unusual frequency. It turns out that word can help your consulting firm win more business.
Each Friday I pause to consider everything I have to be grateful for.
Family, friends, an incredibly high-functioning team that is a blast to work with, whip-smart readers like you, my wife’s chocolate chip cookies that somehow have no sugar but taste amazing.
Some wise folks do this exercise every day.
Others limit their gratitude to a day here or there such as Thanksgiving (in the U.S. and Canada) or when they exchange gifts.
Gratitude is terrific. Warm and snuggly as a cashmere afghan.
But how does gratitude help your consulting firm?
Five Ways Gratitude Benefits Your Consulting Firm
Strengthens Your Relationships
We consultants are in a human business: people sharing ideas, experience, advice and insights with other people.
As a result, your consulting firm’s success rests in large measure on your facility with creating strong relationships.
Express gratitude to the people on your contact list by telling them some version of…
“You’ve made a positive difference in my life.”
That message is the ultimate cement between two people.
Mutual appreciation nourishes mutual trust, and trust is the bedrock on which client/consulting firm partnerships are built.
Transforms Your Relationships
Giving thanks makes you vulnerable. It conveys you are human and indebted and “inferior” enough to another person that you were able to gain from them.
That’s a boatload of vulnerability.
But when you drop your guard, you create space for the other person to open up too.
Why is that important?
Because reaching out to a consultant to ask for help is an extremely vulnerable act for a prospect. It’s an admission that they need help.
When you are vulnerable with your prospects and clients, you increase the likelihood that they will share their needs (and business) with you.
Makes Networking Painless
Reaching out to your contact list is a necessary, but sometimes daunting, aspect of your consulting firm’s business development approach.
If you don’t have anything to say, inviting a contact into a conversation feels scarier than holding back shoppers from the Black Friday door busters at a Best-Buy.
But connecting to offer a Thank You is easy and fun.
No one has ever complained about being appreciated.
Builds Your Confidence
Gratitude and positive outcomes are inextricably linked.
You’re thankful for a consulting project because it bolsters your firm’s coffers and reduces your financial stress.
You’re thankful for advice because it helps you succeed.
When you express thanks you are acknowledging something positive in your life.
Every Thank You to a colleague or client or mentor is quietly exclaiming, “My consulting business has benefited!”
Take a moment to soak up all those business benefits. What does that do for your confidence?
Plus, when you honor your consulting clients’ and colleagues’ contribution to your business well-being, they frequently will remind you of how you’ve helped them.
Ironically, offering thanks to others will put you in better touch with how you create value in the world.
Creates a Success Habit
Research shows that gratitude sparks happiness and happiness precedes success.
Every day you tap into your gratitude is a day that accelerates your progress.
As I update this annual gratitude article, I have much to be thankful for.
High on the list is the input, support and friendship of consultants around the world.
Many I’ve never met, many are new relationships and many have become clients.
All, including you, have added value in my life.
Thank you for reading my articles and books.
Thank you for making a difference to me, to my amazing team, and to so many others.
Text and images are © 2026 David A. Fields, all rights reserved.
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