20 consulting prompts that start from the client's data

01. Break a vague client problem into a MECE issue tree

Week one, when the brief says "improve margins" and nothing more.

The client's problem as they described it: [paste the brief or your kickoff notes]
The decision they will make at the end: [decision, if you know it]
What is already ruled out: [options or topics off the table]

First, rewrite the problem as one key question that ends in a decision, and say which line of my notes it rests on. If my notes do not say what decision this feeds, ask me before going further.

Then build an issue tree three levels deep. Level 1 is three to five questions that together answer the key question with no overlaps and no gaps (mutually exclusive, collectively exhaustive). Under each leaf, name the analysis and the data it needs.

Last, check your own tree: name any two branches that overlap, any branch we cannot test with data the client is likely to have, and any branch that quietly assumes the answer.

02. List your hypotheses and the data that would kill each one

After the issue tree, before you ask the client for anything.

Here is the issue tree for [engagement in one line]: [paste it]
What the client and my team already believe: [early views, hunches, what the CEO said]

Write one testable hypothesis per leaf, phrased as a claim that could be wrong ("The margin drop is mostly freight cost, not price"). For each one, give:
1. The analysis that tests it.
2. The specific result that would kill it.
3. The data needed and who at the client probably owns it.
4. How long the test takes, in days or weeks.

Then rank them by how much the final answer changes if the hypothesis is wrong. Flag any hypothesis that is really the client's preferred answer dressed up, and any that no data I could get would ever disprove.

03. Write a day one data request the client can actually fill

The kickoff is done and you need data before the first interview.

Here are the hypotheses we need to test: [paste the list or the issue tree]
Client systems and teams I know about: [ERP, CRM, finance team, operations leads]
Time window we care about: [for example, the last 36 months]

Write a data request as a table: item number, what we need, the level of detail (by month, by product, by customer), the time period, the format we prefer, who at the client likely owns it, and which hypothesis it serves.

Split it into must have by [date] and nice to have. Keep the must have list under 15 items. Write each item so a finance analyst who was not at the kickoff could pull it without calling me.

Then list any item that is likely to be sensitive (salaries, customer names, personal data) and suggest an aggregated or anonymized version we could ask for instead.

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4. Write a stakeholder interview guide for each role you will meet
5. Synthesize stakeholder interviews into findings a client will accept
6. Check a client data extract before you build on it
7. Decide whether a 2 by 2 helps or just decorates
8. Write a recommendation with risks, owners and the first 90 days
9. Write an executive summary that gives the answer first
10. Build the final readout storyline from what you found
11. Write a steering committee update that ends in a decision
12. Plan a client workshop that ends with agreed actions
13. Respond when a client rejects your finding
14. Write a proposal executive summary from your discovery call notes
15. Write a statement of work scope with an explicit out of scope list
16. Write a change request when the scope starts to creep
17. Explain your fee as value to the client, not days of your time
18. Write the handover document the client team runs with
19. Write a case study from a finished engagement, with client sign off
20. Have a second model critique the first one's client deliverable