The consulting COO's guide to growth

Growth in consulting takes careful engineering - and it's often done quietly, behind the scenes, by a COO. As your consulting firm scales, your COO's choices can mean the difference between sustainable progress and unsustainable chaos.

When Beth Schurman co-founded Herspiegel, the firm was a three-person marketing agency. Today, it’s a 350-person global life sciences consultancy.

In a recent episode of The Consulting Pulse podcast, we spoke to Beth, COO of Herspiegel, which has expanded rapidly without losing its grip on culture or quality.

Here are Beth's steps to meaningful, manageable growth for COOs:

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1) Evolve your services to solve high-value client problems

Herspiegel didn’t start as a full-scale market access and HEOR consultancy. Initially, it was a marketing-focused agency, supporting pharmaceutical clients in tactical execution.

But Beth and her team recognized early that clients wanted more than marketing. They needed strategic guidance across product launches, patient services, medical affairs, and market access.

Actionable steps for COOs:

• Map your clients’ pain points across functional roles
• Identify services you can add to become a strategic partner rather than just an executor
• Anticipate future client challenges, such as global expansion or regulatory changes, and prepare solutions

"We shifted to be able to support launch planning, which gave us an opportunity to get a lot more exposure across the functional roles of the pharma clients, and that enabled us to be a better, broader partner for clients."

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2) Recognize and leverage inflection points for growth

Beth highlights three major inflection points in Herspiegel’s journey:

1. Shifting to launch support: moving beyond marketing into comprehensive commercialization
2. Expanding full commercialization offerings: medical affairs, market access, and patient services
3. Private equity backing in 2021: enabling faster growth through acquisitions and scaling operational capabilities

"[The move to private equity] allowed us to grow organically and inorganically. At that point, there was so much M&A going on in the industry that we couldn't grow fast enough independently."

Actionable steps for COOs:

• Identify strategic shifts that open new opportunities for your firm
• Use each inflection point to refine operations, talent, and culture
• Align resources so the firm can capitalize on new growth opportunities

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3) Build operational infrastructure before scaling

Growth will inevitably start to put your systems under strain. What might have worked for a boutique team of 20 will creak - then crack - at 50. The COO's first priority here is to see where friction is building, and then address it before it derails progress.

They decided to move away from scattered projects and make the switch to CMap, giving everyone in the business the same version of the truth.

Actionable steps for COOs:

• Implement finance and capacity planning systems early, even with small teams
• Track key metrics: billable utilization, project profitability, and pipeline accuracy
• Ensure infrastructure supports future acquisitions and integrations

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4) Empower leaders & cultivate a collaborative culture

As a “seller-doer,” Beth handled sales and delivery herself early on. Scaling required stepping back, building a leadership team, and fostering collaboration across offices and service lines.

"You can't hold on to everything. Leadership is about empowering the team as well."

Actionable steps for COOs:

• Invest in leadership development through coaching and assessments
• Encourage autonomy and decision-making within teams
• Maintain culture during growth via clear communication, team-building initiatives, and structured onboarding

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5) Balance profitability, retention, and client-centric innovation

Herspiegel’s growth didn’t come at the expense of people or client value. Beth emphasizes retention, training, and innovative solutions tailored to client needs.

"We have incredibly smart people who think ahead of our clients and are really valuable strategic partners and implementation partners."

Actionable steps for COOs:

• Develop retention strategies that prioritize culture and career growth
• Align sales incentives to encourage collaboration rather than internal competition
• Innovate your service delivery using technology, data, and new methodologies to stay ahead of client expectations

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Final thoughts

Scaling a consulting firm from a scrappy startup to a global player requires more than just talent. It demands foresight, operational rigor, and a culture that embraces collaboration and empowerment.

Key mantra for COOs: Over-communicate, invest early in infrastructure, empower your team, and stay ahead of client needs.