How to Create a Stakeholder Engagement Plan (+ Templates)
Did you know a consultation is rarely deemed successful without on-point communication? For many experts, professionals and consultants, a consulting report is a key tool that helps streamline communication with clients. They provide valuable insights and recommendations to clients, helping them make informed decisions, improve their operations and achieve their goals.
Creating engaging consulting reports that attract your client's attention can be challenging. But if you're looking for guidance on how to create a successful consulting report, you've come to the right place.
This guide will walk you through the steps for creating a well-written consulting report, including best practices and customizable report templates to get you started.
Here’s a short selection of 8 easy-to-edit consulting report templates you can edit, share and download with Visme. View more templates below:
A consulting report is a document that provides recommendations and insights to a business or organization based on research and analysis conducted by a consultant. The consulting report format is highly dependent on your business expertise or the type of problem your client is dealing with.
For example, business consulting reports may cover a wide range of topics, such as market trends, competitive landscape, organizational structure and operational efficiencies.
The consultant may use various methods to gather information, such as surveys, interviews and case studies and then use that data to identify problems and opportunities and offer solutions and recommendations for improvement.
These recommendations are captured in the report, which is typically presented in a clear and concise manner with key elements (discussed in the next section).
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Understanding how to write a consulting report is crucial for any consultant looking to present their findings in an easy-to-understand way.
Here’s what you should include in your consulting report:
A title page is the first page of a consulting report. It should include the following:
A well-organized table of contents is a must-have element to ensure the report is easy to navigate and all the important information is covered.
Here’s what you should capture in your table of contents:
Additionally, it's a good practice to review the table of contents and ensure that it accurately reflects the report's content and that all the sections are complete and consistent. The table of contents should be updated as necessary throughout the writing process to match the final report.
The executive summary is a condensed version of the consulting report, typically presented at the beginning of the report, that should not exceed one page. Be sure to include the following:
The Introduction is the first section of the consulting report and it provides an overview of the purpose and scope of the report. It should include the following:
It's important that the introduction sets the stage for the rest of the report and provides the reader with a clear understanding of what the report will cover and why it is important.
The background section provides additional context and information relevant to the consulting project. It should include the following:
It's important to keep in mind that the background section is closely related to the introduction. It may be useful to combine the two sections to make the report more concise, especially if there isn't much information to include in one of them.
This section should capture the information below:
This section could include:
This section takes a deeper dive into the research or study conducted. In this section, you’ll find:
The observations and analysis section is the most extensive section of the report. It identifies problems and opportunities and provides the reader with a clear understanding of the client's field and performance.
In the end, you want the client to be able to take actions based on your findings. Consider adding the following elements to your recommendations section:
While an appendix doesn’t necessarily need to be included in a well-written consulting report, it can be a helpful resource to back up your claims. Consider including the following:
Templates can be a very helpful tool in creating comprehensive consulting reports. We have a lot of them. Here are 11 of our favorites when it comes to consulting reports.
But the best thing is: there are even more! Search for consulting reports in Visme’s templates library and you’ll find just any report template you need. You can even make them interactive and modify them to your client’s needs!
This marketing report template is designed for ease of use. It comes with clear and organized sections for presenting data and analysis. And the best thing is that you can customize it to match your client’s brand.
Our intuitive has a sea of colors, fonts, icons and other design elements to make this your own.
This template is perfect for technical and complex projects but you can adapt it to any project of your choice. Use our animation features like pop ups or hover effects to create an immersive experience that attract readers' attention and engage them
This template offers a clear base structure for a consulting report. It has a table of contents, an introduction, objectives and everything else you need. It has the perfect framework that you can use to make your own right away!
Using dynamic fields, you can easily update critical information across projects.
When creating a professional and comprehensive marketing consulting report, one of the main issues you’ll come across is presenting all the data in an organized way. This template will help you do that! With its easy-to-customize tables and graphs, everyone in the room will understand your findings.
The market research report consulting template is a fantastic option for creating a professional and in-depth consultancy report. It’s easy to use and it has organized sections that allow you to present your findings in a visually appealing and concise manner.
The template comes with pre-designed tables and charts to help you convey key information in an easy-to-digest format. Visme makes it seamless for you to connect your table or charts to live data. Or you can import live data in your graphs and charts.
When conducting a survey, you’re left with lots of data. This template will help you make sense of it by offering graphs, tables and other visuals to help you analyze and understand your collected data. You can even easily customize it to match your client’s branding.
Company evaluations can be boring. But Visme's templates make it captivating and a lot more fun. It comes with a variety of pre-designed charts and graphs, making it easy to present findings and key information in a visually appealing and professional way.
Add the flipbook effect so your clients can interact with your document as if they were holding it in their hands.
Explaining what your agency will do for your clients usually comes with a lot of back and forth. This template makes it easy to grasp in just a few pages. Its unique layout and visual aids make it easy to convey important information and project details.
This financial company report consulting template' is the go-to choice for creating a professional and detailed financial report for a company. This template is designed to help you present financial data in a clear and organized manner, but it can be used for many other things.
In Visme editor, you’ll find tons of options for visualizing financial data, including pie chart, bar charts, maps, timelines and much more.
What is marketing without a good report of the findings and results? This template designed to be simple and minimalistic, allowing you to present your data in a clear and organized manner. With lots of empty space, you can unlock your creativity and bring your professional ideas to life.
This template is perfect for creating a meeting agenda. It features a modern design that makes it stand out from other presentation templates and it also includes pre-designed diagrams and charts that help to convey important information.
Now that you’ve successfully crafted your consulting report, the next step is to present the report. There is no one way to present your consultancy report. But there are a few simple tips you can follow to guarantee a successful consulting presentation.
Follow these practices to make sure your consulting clients leave the meeting energized and ready to take action.
A clear and concise presentation will allow the audience to understand the report's key points and be more likely to support the recommendations. A rambling or overly detailed presentation may cause the audience to lose interest or become confused, leading to a lack of buy-in for the report's recommendations.
Using visuals in the presentation of your consulting report can greatly enhance its effectiveness. Visual aids such as charts, graphs and tables can help to present data and information in a way that is easy to understand and remember. They can also make the report more engaging and help grab the client's attention.
Visuals can help to simplify complex information and make it more accessible. They can also be used to highlight key findings and recommendations, making them more prominent and memorable.
For example, a graph can be used to show trends over time. A pie chart can be used to show the distribution of data and a map can be used to display geographical data. The easiest way to create a visually appealing presentation is by customizing one of our templates.
Here's how to create charts and graphs with Visme.
Your report should be relevant to the client's specific needs and concerns and address their unique business challenges. This will helg client understand and nudge them to act on the information provided
During the presentation, tailor the language and delivery to the client's level of understanding. Also, be prepared to answer any questions the client may have about the report.
The easiest way to tailor your presentation to the client is by using Visme. Our consulting templates and design tool has some of the most amazing features you can think of. You can customize your template to match your client’s fonts, colors and brand identity.
Highlighting key findings in your consulting report presentation is crucial in ensuring that the client can understand and take action on your recommendations. It’s about emphasizing the most important and relevant information, making it prominent and memorable for the client.
Visual aids such as charts, graphs, and tables can be used to help present the data and make it more engaging. The easiest way to highlight key findings is by using a template that has lots of great visuals.
Here’s a stunning template to help you spotlight key findings in your report.
Consulting reports are a valuable tool for providing insights and recommendations to clients, but they can be challenging to create. You can use this guide as a tool to get started on your report.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to creating a good consulting report, as every case and client are unique. Therefore, the structure and approach must be tailored to the specific needs and goals of the consultation.
Visme will walk you through the entire process of creating stunning consultancy reports. You can customize the report, work on it alongside your team, and you will even get detailed analytics after you’ve shared and published it.
Consultancy reports are not the only thing you can create using Visme. You can create videos, presentations, plans, ebooks, infographics and any other type of professional document you can think of.
Now you know that Visme can be a great help in every step of the process of creating your own consultant report. Get started with Visme, or easily upgrade your content by switching to Visme.
The length of a report can vary depending on the nature of the project and the specific needs of the client. While a standard report can typically fall between 20 to 30 pages, many consulting report examples exceed or fall short of this number. It's important to remember that the most important thing is to effectively communicate the findings and recommendations.
It's true that shorter reports are generally easier to read and understand. Still, if the project is particularly complex or if the client has specific requirements, a longer report may be necessary. On the other hand, if the project is relatively simple or the client prefers a shorter report, it's important not to include unnecessary information.
A consulting summary is a brief overview of a consulting report. It provides a summary of the main findings and recommendations of the report in a concise and easy-to-understand format. It is usually placed at the beginning of the report and serves as a roadmap for the rest of the document.
The purpose of a consulting summary is to give the client a quick and clear understanding of the main points of the report without having to read through the entire document. It should be written in a way that is easy to understand and free of jargon.
A consulting report serves as a tool for effective communication between the consultant and the client, and its purpose is to help the client make informed decisions, improve their operations, and achieve their goals.
The report should be well-researched, well-organized and easy to understand. It should be tailored to the specific needs of the client, avoiding jargon and technical terms that the client may not be familiar with.
During a business consultation, it is important to ask questions that will help you gain a clear understanding of the client's needs and goals. This can include both open-ended and closed-ended questions.
But to be more specific, we distinguish between three types of questions: behavioral questions, probing questions and reflective questions.
A behavioral question is a type of question that focuses on specific actions or behaviors that a company or individual has exhibited in the past. These types of questions can help to identify patterns or underlying issues in a business.
Examples of behavioral questions include "Can you tell me about a time when you had to make a difficult decision?" or "Can you describe a project where you had to work with a difficult team member?"
Behavioral questions can help the consultant understand the company's culture, how they handle certain situations and their approach to problem-solving, which can provide valuable insights for the consultant to make recommendations and solutions.
Probing questions in a business consultation are used to gather more information or clarification on a specific topic. These types of questions can help the consultant understand the client's needs and goals in more depth. Probing questions can include follow-up questions such as "Can you give me an example?" or "Can you explain that in more detail?" or "What specifically do you mean by that?"
Probing questions allow the consultant to dive deeper into the client's concerns and objectives and to uncover any unclear or missing information that may be important in order to provide recommendations and solutions that align with the client's business objectives.
Reflective questions are used to help the client think deeper about their thoughts, feelings and experiences. These types of questions can encourage the client to reflect on their own business processes, decision-making and outcomes.
Reflective questions can include "How do you feel about that?" or "What does that mean to you?" or "What have you learned from that experience?"
Reflective questions allow the consultant to better understand the client's perspective and make sure that the recommendations and solutions in the consulting report align with the client's values and beliefs.
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