October 2026 · 12 min read · 39 skills, free

39 Claude Skills for Consultants, From the Client's Brief to the Signed Scope

Eight desks behind one consultant. They read the client's brief, prepare discovery, structure the problem, build options and a recommendation, shape fees and scope, write the proposal, prepare the room and follow through. You run the conversation and make the call.

01What these skills are

One client engagement, from the client's brief to the signed scope, as installable Claude skills

This pack is for independent consultants and partners in advisory practices who do the selling and the thinking themselves.

The skills follow one engagement in order, as eight desks, from reading the client's brief and deciding whether to bid to the signed scope, the follow-up and the review of how the pursuit went.

The red line: Claude structures, drafts and checks; it never invents a reference, a result, a number or a client quote, and you run the conversation, make the recommendation and send everything yourself.

A fact, figure or quote appears only if it traces to your notes, your files or the client's own pages. Anything else is a blank with the question that would fill it.

No desk is a person or plays a character. Every skill produces one artifact, names the skill to run next and closes with what a named person decides, and by when.

Download all 39 skills

One zip: ready-to-install skill zips, readable SKILL.md files, and the sources behind every method. Free, no signup. The same 39 skills live in our open repo, if you would rather read them before you install them.

Download the zip Browse on GitHub

Install in Claude Code

Two lines, and every skill in the pack loads at once.

/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills
/plugin install consultants-pack@polar-bear-skills

Using Claude on the web instead? Download the zip above and upload each skill from its install folder under Customize → Skills.

02The catalog

The 39 skills you get

The set follows one engagement in eight stages, each a desk: reading the brief and deciding to bid, preparing the call and keeping their words, structuring the problem, options and a recommendation, fees and scope, the proposal and the statement of work, presenting and answering, then following up, deciding and reviewing.

1 · Intake desk

AI-Written Brief Review

Use when: The brief looks finished, probably drafted with AI, and you still cannot scope or price from it
Output: Line-by-line reading, six constraint checks, client questions in priority order

MEDDIC Qualification

Use when: Prospects take the call and sound keen, and the proposals that follow still do not close
Output: Known and unknown per letter with sources, fit against your practice brief, call questions

Buying Committee Map

Use when: You pitched to one friendly contact and the person who signs has never seen you
Output: Six buying roles, stated needs with sources, unmet roles with one question each

Bid/No-Bid Decision

Use when: An RFP or an AI-compiled shortlist arrives and you suspect you are the comparison quote
Output: Criteria before facts, shortlist check, cost of pursuit, decision record, no-bid reply

2 · Discovery desk

Pre-Call Research Brief

Use when: The call is in twenty minutes and you want to walk in with a view, not a fact sheet
Output: Sourced public facts, likely trigger, two or three hypotheses with test and kill answers

Discovery Call Agenda

Use when: First calls wander, the wrong roles attend and nobody agreed how the call should end
Output: Agenda note to send ahead, attendees by role, plain consent line for recording

Discovery Call Questions

Use when: Your discovery calls gather facts and never reach what the problem costs or who decides
Output: One-page SPIN guide, open gaps first, decision process block, what to listen for

Cost of Inaction

Use when: The client enjoys the conversations and nothing makes the work urgent
Output: Consequences in the client's figures, arithmetic shown, timing pressure, questions for blanks

Discovery Call Notes

Use when: You took notes in a rush and the proposal will need the client's exact words
Output: Verbatim words, facts, figures, your inferences, contradictions, open questions, next step

Discovery Recap Email

Use when: You want the client to confirm you understood before you write any proposal
Output: "Here is what I heard" in their words, their priorities, open points, dated next step

3 · Problem desk

Problem Statement

Use when: Your proposals describe your practice instead of their problem, and nobody has said which decision the work serves
Output: Point of view in their words, the decision it serves, success measures, impact, rival test

Issue Tree

Use when: The client already holds an AI answer and needs someone to show which parts rest on evidence
Output: One stated cut, branches tested or untested, the client's AI answer placed on the tree

Hypothesis Test Plan

Use when: You already believe you know the answer and work without a colleague to argue the other side
Output: Hypotheses that can fail, a rival for each, the telling observation, checks with owners

Stakeholder Interview Plan

Use when: The room agreed as soon as the most senior person spoke, and you doubt you heard the facts
Output: Whom to hear by role, neutral brief, same core questions, synthesis of unique information

4 · Strategy desk

Strategic Options

Use when: The client sees two options and dislikes both, or you see one and it happens to be yours
Output: Three to five distinct ways to solve it, including doing nothing and doing it in house

Trade-Off Table

Use when: Someone wants the options compared and you will not make up a score to do it
Output: Criteria in the client's terms, consequences with sources, who bears each cost, no score

Outside View Check

Use when: Your timeline or result estimate is mostly a story about why this client is different
Output: Forecast stated precisely, comparable cases and their range, your revised estimate

Recommendation Pre-Mortem

Use when: You are about to commit to a recommendation and nobody has tried to break it
Output: Failure defined at a date, ways it fails, early signals, prevention, what stays exposed

Sensitivity Analysis

Use when: The client asks what would change your mind and you want a straight answer ready
Output: Load-bearing assumptions varied, the switching point, evidence worth getting, a verdict

Recommendation Memo

Use when: The analysis is done and the client needs your position on a single page, with your name on it
Output: Your position first, options rejected, costs accepted, what would change it, review date

5 · Pricing desk

Good-Better-Best Options

Use when: One price gets you a yes or a no, and too often it is a no
Output: Three priced ways to buy the work, what each leaves out, decoy test on every pair

Fee Structure Choice

Use when: The client asks why they should pay for your hours now that AI makes the work quicker
Output: Five fee models compared on four counts, protections needed, your answer on hours

MoSCoW Scope

Use when: The AI-drafted brief asked for everything and the fee can cover only part of it
Output: Every item on one line, won't list with reasons, effort split, what moves if budget changes

6 · Proposal desk

Consulting Proposal

Use when: The client needs something they can read in five minutes and pass to people who missed the call
Output: Answer-first proposal with the decision asked, their problem, three options, proof, AI use

Win Themes

Use when: The buyer compared advisers with AI and every one of you now sounds the same
Output: Two or three themes with proof, the AI-shortlist test, where each lands in the proposal

Case Study Paragraph

Use when: You need proof no model can generate, and only work you really did will count
Output: 120 to 180 word case, a 40-word version, permission status, results as approved

AI Use Statement

Use when: You are unsure whether to tell clients you use AI, and they have begun to ask
Output: Task-by-task AI use, who checks and signs, data handling, what you will not use AI for

Statement of Work

Use when: The client has agreed and the scope has to survive the new ideas that arrive next month
Output: Results, deliverables with acceptance criteria, dated timeline, won't list, change control

Proposal Red Team Review

Use when: You are about to press send and have no colleague to read it the way the buyer will
Output: Cold read as the absent signer, every claim traced or flagged, edit list by severity

7 · Client room

Proposal Walk-Through Deck

Use when: Proposals you email cold go quiet, so you want to take the client through this one live
Output: Six to ten slides, full-sentence headlines, options side by side, speaker notes, read version

Proposal Executive Summary

Use when: The person who signs has never met you and will read exactly one page
Output: Decision asked and date first, situation, complication, question, options in one line each

AI Objection Answer

Use when: A client says AI could do this in seconds, or asks what they pay you for now they have Claude
Output: The question behind the words, a three-column task split, what you say, a shared option

Like-for-Like Quote Comparison

Use when: The client slides a quote across the table at a fraction of your fee
Output: Both quotes on the same lines, risk per missing line, gaps in your own, neutral questions

Objection Handling Map

Use when: The same objections return on every engagement and you improvise the answer each time
Output: One row per objection, the real concern, an honest response, proof held, lines to avoid

Negotiation Plan

Use when: The client is haggling and you are tempted to cut the fee just to end the awkwardness
Output: Your alternative and walk-away, tradables with asks, concession order, the pre-discount question

8 · Follow-through desk

Proposal Follow-Up Emails

Use when: A proposal sits unanswered and every draft you start begins "just checking in"
Output: Two follow-ups each with one useful reason, then a short close-the-loop note

Client Decision Brief

Use when: Your contact backs the work and has to persuade people you will never meet
Output: Neutral page for your contact, every route including in house, what would make each right

Mutual Action Plan

Use when: The client says yes in the meeting and then nothing happens for six weeks
Output: Every step from yes to day one, owners by role, dates, questions for ownerless steps

Win/Loss Review

Use when: You lost a pitch, or won one you cannot explain, and want the next one to go better for it
Output: Plan against what happened, causes sorted, where it was decided, changes as concrete edits

03How to use it

Pick the workflow that matches your week

Start with the client's brief: the Intake desk reads it before anything is quoted. After that, bring the one thing in front of you.

Decide whether to bid

A polished brief or an RFP has landed and nothing is quoted yet.

AI-Written Brief Review
MEDDIC Qualification
Buying Committee Map
Bid/No-Bid Decision

Run the discovery call

A first call to prepare, capture and play back in the client's words.

Pre-Call Research Brief
Discovery Call Agenda
Discovery Call Questions
Cost of Inaction
Discovery Call Notes
Discovery Recap Email

Structure the problem

The client has confirmed the recap, or already holds an AI answer.

Problem Statement
Issue Tree
Hypothesis Test Plan
Stakeholder Interview Plan

Reach a recommendation

You need real options and a position you can defend.

Strategic Options
Trade-Off Table
Outside View Check
Recommendation Pre-Mortem
Sensitivity Analysis
Recommendation Memo

Price, scope and propose

The route is chosen and the fee, the scope and the proposal are still to write.

Good-Better-Best Options
Fee Structure Choice
MoSCoW Scope
Consulting Proposal
Statement of Work
Proposal Red Team Review

Present and answer

The proposal is ready and the AI question, a cheaper quote or haggling is coming.

Proposal Walk-Through Deck
Proposal Executive Summary
AI Objection Answer
Like-for-Like Quote Comparison
Objection Handling Map
Negotiation Plan

Follow through

The proposal is out and the client has gone quiet, or has said yes.

Proposal Follow-Up Emails
Client Decision Brief
Mutual Action Plan
Win/Loss Review

04Setup guide

Install it in five minutes

In Claude Code · two lines

/plugin marketplace add polar-bear-org/claude-skills
/plugin install consultants-pack@polar-bear-skills

In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop · seven clicks

Download the pack, then open Settings
Unzip the pack: its skills folder holds all 39 skills. In Claude, click your name at the bottom left, then Settings.
Download the zip
Open Skills and click Add
Under Customize, choose Skills. Click Add, then Upload a skill.
Drop in a skill file
Drag the skill's file into the box, or click to browse. You can add several at once.
Pick the skill from the pack
In the pack folder, open skills, then the skill you want, and select its SKILL.md — firm-ai-brief-review is a good first one.
Check the preview and upload
Claude shows the skill's name and what it does. Click Upload.
Make sure it is switched on
The skill opens on its own page. Its toggle should be on.
Try it in a new chat
Type / and the skill's name, then say what you need.

Then try one

Run firm-ai-brief-review on the client's brief, exactly as received: [paste it here]

Run firm-ai-objection-answer on what the client said and my scope: [paste them here]

Run firm-proposal-red-team on my draft proposal: [paste it here]

Paste recordings and transcripts only when everyone on the call has consented.

Lantern for consultants

Turn your client calls into a week of posts

Lantern drafts a week of posts from your notes and call transcripts, in your voice. You review them and publish the ones you like.

100 free credits, about ten posts. No card needed.

Try for free

05Quick reference

Where to start

Your situation	Skill to run
The brief looks finished and you still cannot scope or price from it?	AI-Written Brief Review
An RFP arrived and you suspect you are the comparison quote?	Bid/No-Bid Decision
The call is in twenty minutes and you want a point of view?	Pre-Call Research Brief
Your discovery calls never reach what the problem costs or who decides?	Discovery Call Questions
Want the client to confirm you understood, before any proposal?	Discovery Recap Email
The client already holds an AI answer and nobody has checked it?	Issue Tree
Need someone to argue with your first answer?	Hypothesis Test Plan
The client sees two options and dislikes both?	Strategic Options
Need your position on one page, with your name on it?	Recommendation Memo
One price gets you a yes or a no, and too often a no?	Good-Better-Best Options
The brief asked for everything and the fee covers only part of it?	MoSCoW Scope
Need a proposal people can read in five minutes?	Consulting Proposal
About to press send with no colleague to read it cold?	Proposal Red Team Review
A client says AI could do this in seconds?	AI Objection Answer
The client is haggling and you are tempted to cut the fee?	Negotiation Plan
The proposal went out and nobody has replied?	Proposal Follow-Up Emails

06Standards

The quality bar

Every skill in the pack holds the same standard:

Their words, with a source: a fact, figure or quote appears only if it traces to your notes, your files or the client's own pages. Anything else is a blank with the question that would fill it
Your numbers only: fees, rates, effort and results are yours or the client's. No benchmark, market rate or typical figure is supplied
Honest about AI: what AI does well is said first. Nothing sells against AI, and your own use of it is never hidden. Doing the work in house with the client's own AI is written as a real option
Roles, never ratings: maps and plans record roles and stated positions. Nothing grades, ranks, scores or profiles a person, and options are compared without a weighted score unless you ask for one and own the weights
A decision at the end: every output closes with what a named person decides, and by when
Advisers for legal points: contract, tax, data and recording questions are flagged “check with a qualified adviser”, never answered as advice. Recordings and transcripts are used only with everyone's consent
The red line: Claude structures, drafts and checks; it never invents a reference, a result, a number or a client quote, and you run the conversation, make the recommendation and send everything yourself

07FAQ

Questions people ask

What is in the Claude for Consultants · Team in Claude pack?

39 Claude skills arranged as eight desks that follow one engagement: Intake, Discovery, Problem, Strategy, Pricing, Proposal, the Client room and Follow-through. Each skill produces one artifact and names the skill to run next.

How do I install these Claude skills?

In Claude Code, two lines install all 39 at once. In Claude.ai or Claude Desktop, download the zip, open Settings, Skills, Add, and upload the skills you want. Either way it takes about five minutes.

Do I need Claude Code to use them?

No. The skills work in Claude.ai, Claude Desktop and Claude Code. In the app you upload them yourself; in Claude Code one command installs the whole pack.

Do the skills work with ChatGPT or other assistants?

They are built as Claude Skills, and installing them is a Claude feature. Each one is a plain Markdown file, so you can read it and reuse the method elsewhere, but it will not load and trigger by itself outside Claude.

Will Claude make the recommendation or send the proposal for me?

No. Claude structures, drafts and checks. It never invents a reference, a result, a number or a client quote, and you run the conversation, make the recommendation and send everything yourself.

Is the pack free?

Yes. It is free to use inside your company and in client work, and not for resale. There is no signup: the download and the install command are on this page.

08Who made this

Lantern, by Polar Bear

These skills were written by Polar Bear, a people ops consultancy that runs its own company on Claude. The pack is free, and the same skills are open on GitHub.

Lantern is Polar Bear's content workspace. It turns your notes, documents and call transcripts into drafts for LinkedIn and other networks. You review them and publish the ones you like.