The Consultant's Way Podcast – Details, episodes & analysis

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About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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What if professional services is not just the cost of doing business, but the engine driving real outcomes?

Osama Atta joins Dean McMann and Anthony Paluska to talk about what he calls the PS 2.0 mindset. In his words, professional services is no longer just there to make the software work. It is the bridge between promise and proof. Osama unpacks how his team at Altrio productized their services, shortened time to value, and started speaking the language of the business: revenue, ROI, and strategic impact.

He shares how they reframed PS from a necessary evil to a strategic asset, and how that transformation started with better internal storytelling, stronger partnerships with sales, and clear data to back it all up.

If you are trying to build a more scalable, profitable, and visible PS team, this conversation is packed with takeaways. You will hear how they aligned with sales, priced and packaged their services, created internal boundaries to avoid burnout, and tracked value instead of hours. This one is practical, insightful, and refreshingly honest.

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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How do boutique consulting firms end up outpacing their embedded PS counterparts? Ben Edwards might have the answer, and the receipts.

In this episode, Ben shares what he is seeing across the consulting and embedded services landscape, from shifting team structures to exploding demand for thought leadership and commercial fluency. He talks about the rise of the diamond-shaped team, the erosion of traditional consulting pyramids, and what it means for training, quality, and long-term sustainability.

We also get into what is fueling the boom in boutique firms, how private equity is changing the game, and why go-to-market strategies are evolving fast. Ben outlines the shift from black book sales to scalable content machines, the rise of specialists with narrow niches and big reach, and how pure-play firms are out-marketing their embedded competition.

If you are running a services organization, embedded or independent, this is a reality check you need to hear.

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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AI is fundamentally reshaping how professional services teams deliver work, scale operations, and define value. In this episode, Dean and Anthony sit down with Sri Ganesan, Co-Founder and CEO of Rocketlane, to unpack what that means for PS teams today and where it is all headed.

Sri shares why many PS organizations are missing the bigger opportunity with AI. While teams are focused on automating admin tasks, the real efficiency gains come from rethinking how the work itself gets done. Forward-thinking teams are embedding AI into delivery, not just back-office processes, changing everything from project scope to skills to pricing models.

The conversation explores how the perception of value is shifting for both teams and customers. Deep technical knowledge is no longer the only currency. AI is taking on more of the heavy lifting, while human consultants will win by interpreting information, building relationships, and guiding customers to success in real time.

Sri also explains how this evolution will reshape team structures and customer expectations. Services will become more modular, timelines will shrink, and outcome-based pricing will replace traditional hours and materials models. He offers real examples of organizations already making this shift and the cultural mindset it takes to get there.

For PS leaders wondering where to start, Sri lays out how to experiment with AI without falling behind, how to build curiosity and adaptability into your team, and why clinging to outdated models may actually create more risk than change itself.

This is a must-listen for anyone building, leading, or evolving a professional services function in today’s market.

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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In this episode, Dean and Anthony sit down with Jeffrey Fidelman, CEO and founder of Fidelman & Co, a fundraising partner to early-stage startups and emerging fund managers. Jeffrey shares the gritty truth about transitioning from corporate leader to founder and what it really takes to build something from scratch. Spoiler: it’s not just about having a strong resume. 

He reflects on his own journey from investment banking to launching a boutique consulting firm—and how that evolved into a scalable business with a productized offering. Along the way, Jeffrey outlines the common traps executives fall into when they try to freelance their way into entrepreneurship, and what separates the consultants who burn out from those who build something lasting. 

If you’re exploring life beyond the corporate walls, wondering how to monetize your experience, or thinking about raising capital for a service business, Jeffrey doesn’t sugarcoat it. He offers insight into what investors actually want, why network reliance isn’t a strategy, and how to tell if you’re building a business or just temporarily unemployed with a logo. 

From building repeatable systems to thinking like a scientist in your go-to-market experiments, Jeffrey’s take is refreshingly practical. The advice hits even harder if you’re in the consulting world and debating whether to stay solo or build something bigger. 

It’s the kind of conversation that pulls back the curtain on fundraising myths, shines a light on the risks you don’t see coming, and reminds you that “doing it right” is still a winning strategy. 

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

 Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Canon’s print business isn’t what it used to be, and Kevin Roman is here to explain why that’s a good thing. As Director of Professional Services and Software Solutions, Kevin shares how his team at Canon USA is evolving from hardware-focused projects to outcome-driven partnerships. We dig into how they are blurring the lines between project delivery and customer success, building a model centered on long-term value and measurable impact.

Kevin talks about shifting from install-and-exit to value-for-life, how service contracts and software subscriptions are reshaping the business, and why training customers’ sales teams might be the secret to driving adoption. He also gives a candid look at the realities of aligning executives and delivery teams to make it happen. Spoiler alert: metrics matter, but customer advocacy might matter more.

If you’re trying to position professional services at the heart of long-term customer outcomes—and convince the rest of your organization to follow—Kevin’s story delivers real-world insights without sugar-coating the challenges.

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

 Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

 Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

 Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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Paul Milana joins The Consultant’s Way to talk about the evolution from implementer to trusted advisor. A self-proclaimed data geek turned professional services leader, Paul shares how curiosity, communication, and a little trial and error shaped his career and his team. He dives into the discovery process and why it’s more than a sales step. 

For Paul, it’s a moment to listen, decode client dialects, build trust, and surface the real problems no spreadsheet can reveal. He talks about designing discovery sessions that are as useful to the client as they are to the vendor and how a great discovery lays the foundation for a lasting partnership. 

Paul also shares how he turned a scrappy integrations team into a full-fledged professional services organization and what it takes to turn a doer into an advisor. If you've ever felt like you’re doing more than implementing—you’re interpreting, connecting, guiding—this one will resonate.

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

 Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

 Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

 Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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In this episode of The Consultant’s Way, we sit down with Justin Manduke, VP of Professional Services at AuditBoard, to explore what he calls the growth paradox. With experience leading post-sale teams at companies like Medallia, Blend, and Afresh, Justin brings a sharp perspective on why professional services teams often chase maturity too early—and how that can quietly derail growth.

Many PS leaders feel pressure to act like a fully mature organization long before they’ve earned it. They jump into optimizing for margins, building partner networks, and tracking detailed KPIs when they haven’t yet mastered the basics of delivering value consistently. Justin explains why those efforts, while well-intentioned, can become roadblocks rather than milestones.

We also talk about the difference between delivering well and scaling well, the risks of outsourcing before you’re ready, and the mistake of assuming that what worked at one growth stage will work at another. Justin lays out what PS leaders should focus on in each phase of growth and how to build credibility across the company by aligning your strategy with the real goals of the business.

This conversation is for any PS leader who’s been told to "get more efficient" without being given a map, or who feels stuck between short-term demands and long-term goals. Justin offers a way forward, with smart, practical guidance based on years in the trenches.

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

• Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by:

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more:  https://mcmannransford.com/

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more:  https://www.consultantsway.com/

Connect with us:

• LinkedIn:

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com

Interested in being a guest?

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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In this episode of The Consultant’s Way Podcast, we sit down with Kevin Keene, a veteran in professional services and technology leadership. With over 15 years of experience, Kevin shares hard-earned insights on the evolving role of professional services in SaaS organizations. He unpacks how PS can be more than just a delivery arm—becoming a strategic partner in customer success, upsells, and long-term value. 

We explore the importance of strong internal and external handoffs, cross-functional alignment, and building teams that can actually support the strategy leadership claims to want. Kevin breaks down the now-famous three-legged stool analogy, reminding us that sales, services, and support must be balanced to keep the customer relationship steady. He also offers practical advice for PS leaders trying to stay out of the silo, communicate impact to the C-suite, and make a compelling case for investing in team development. If you’ve ever felt like your PS team is doing too much with too little or you're struggling to convince leadership that services is more than just a line item, Kevin’s perspective is a must-hear. 

This conversation is smart, candid, and filled with real-world examples any leader can learn from—plus a few baseball takes that will hit home if you’ve ever rooted for a team that breaks your heart.

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

 • Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams 

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth 

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

 Brought to you by: 

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more: https://mcmannransford.com/ 

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more: https://www.consultantsway.com/ 

 Connect with us: 

• LinkedIn: 

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com 

 Interested in being a guest? 

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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In this episode, Blake Jensen, Senior Director of Professional Services at SOCi, joins us to unpack the tension between AI hype and real-world application in professional services.

While AI dominates headlines and boardroom agendas, Blake argues most teams are not behind—they are simply sorting signal from noise. He shares how his team approaches AI adoption with discipline, focusing on use cases that genuinely improve client delivery and internal workflows. From automating kickoff prep to evaluating tools with an eye on data integrity, Blake offers a grounded look at what’s working and what is not.

The conversation explores the limits of AI in consulting, where the true value still lies in emotional intelligence, strategic thinking, and human connection. Blake is optimistic about the future but clear that consultants will need to evolve. As information becomes more accessible, it will be how people think, connect, and lead that drives differentiation.

We also step back to look at broader shifts in SaaS and PS models. Blake, Dean, and Anthony discuss how evolving expectations, changing client relationships, and AI-fueled disruption are reshaping what it means to deliver value.

This episode offers honest insight, practical takeaways, and a few good laughs. Whether you are experimenting with AI or trying to define your PS team’s next chapter, there is something here for you. 

Send us a text

About The Consultant's Way Podcast

The Consultant's Way podcast is your go-to resource for navigating the complexities of the consulting and professional services world. We bring you insightful conversations with industry thought leaders and executives from top Professional Services organizations, sharing their expertise on how to:

 • Build high-performing consulting and professional services teams 

• Differentiate your offerings and increase organizational growth 

• Deliver exceptional client value and drive impactful outcomes

Brought to you by: 

• McMann & Ransford: A strategy consulting firm with over 30 years of experience helping leading B2B organizations escape commoditization and achieve sustainable growth. Learn more: https://mcmannransford.com/ 

• The Consultant's Way: Your one-stop shop for training and enabling consultants and professional services teams to deliver exceptional client value. Learn more: https://www.consultantsway.com/ 

Connect with us: 

• LinkedIn: 

○ Dean McMann - https://www.linkedin.com/in/deanmcmann/

○ Anthony Paluska - https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthony-paluska-5081804b

• Email: podcast@consultantsway.com 

 Interested in being a guest? 

We're always looking for insightful guests to share their expertise. Reach out to us via email or LinkedIn if you'd like to be considered for a future episode.

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In this episode of The Consultant’s Way, we sit down with Munish Khanna, VP of Professional Services at Tavant, who brings more than 20 years of experience building consulting and engineering teams that not only function but thrive. From leading a 5,000-person team at TCS to shaping engineering at Cisco, Munish shares practical insight on how to build team structures that scale, motivate, and deliver consistent value.

We dive into how to define roles that adapt over time, how to foster psychological safety across global teams, and how to balance business outcomes with real human needs. Munish also shares his take on how AI can enable better staffing decisions, resource development, and team performance—provided your organization has the right data foundation.

Culture comes up often, and for good reason. Munish explains why effective leadership starts with caring deeply about the growth and wellbeing of your team, and how that attitude can shape the success of an entire organization. He talks openly about what it takes to create a culture people want to be part of, and what happens when values get compromised for performance.

Whether you’re leading a team or trying to build one from scratch, this conversation offers real-world takeaways on how to build and grow teams that work.