Write a Consulting Recommendation Memo Clients Can Act On

Consultants are often asked to explain the analysis behind a recommendation. Clients usually need something more practical: what should we choose, why, and what happens next?

A recommendation memo gives the decision a clear home. It is shorter than a full report and more useful than a slide full of conclusions.

Open with the decision

Start with the decision the client needs to make. Do not make the reader hunt through background before learning why the memo exists.

Use one sentence: “The team should move from manual intake to a single structured request process this quarter.” If the decision cannot fit in one sentence, the recommendation may need to be split.

Show the evidence that matters

Include only the evidence that changes the decision. A memo is not a storage place for every interview note or data point.

For each important finding, answer:

• What did we observe?
• Why does it matter to the decision?
• What would change our interpretation?

This lets the client distinguish evidence from judgment. It also makes disagreement more productive because people can challenge a specific assumption instead of reacting to a conclusion in general.

Compare the real alternatives

A recommendation is stronger when the reader can see what it was compared against. Include two or three realistic options and use the same criteria for each.

Useful criteria include effort, risk, time to value, reversibility, and fit with the client’s current operating model. Avoid pretending there is a perfect option. Explain the tradeoff you recommend accepting.

Make the first action concrete

End with the first action, the owner, and the condition that completes it.

For example:

• Action: Draft the new intake form.
• Owner: Operations lead.
• By: Friday.
• Done when: Three pilot requests can be submitted and routed without manual sorting.

The first action should be small enough to start and meaningful enough to test the recommendation.

Put uncertainty in the memo

Do not hide open questions to make the recommendation sound stronger. Name the assumptions, the risks, and what you will learn next. A client can approve a recommendation with a known uncertainty. They cannot manage one that is invisible.

Use a short “watch” section with no more than three items. Give each item a signal to monitor and an action if the signal appears.

Ask for one response

Close with a single request: approve the recommendation, choose an alternative, or answer a specific blocking question. Do not ask the client to “share thoughts” when the project needs a decision.

Clear advice respects the client’s time. Make the next client decision easier