Research support for consulting firms that bills by the hour
When your billable rate is $200/hr or more, spending four hours building a competitive landscape in Crunchbase or pulling industry benchmarks from Statista is a hard cost to justify. Trusty Oak's research-trained assistants handle the sourcing, structuring, and synthesis work so your consultants can focus on analysis and client delivery. This is for firms that need research done right — not just Googled.
How Trusty Oak handles research for consultants
A Trusty Oak EA working with a consulting firm typically starts by receiving a research brief — a new prospect, a market entry question, or a benchmarking request — and takes it from raw question to structured deliverable. They'll pull company financials and funding history from Crunchbase, identify competitive positioning using LinkedIn Sales Navigator, source market size estimates and industry data from Statista, and supplement with peer-reviewed or government sources via Google Scholar when the engagement demands it. The output is usually a formatted summary, comparison matrix, or slide-ready data set that drops directly into your workflow. Your role is to define the question and approve the output — the EA handles the hours of sourcing in between.
Tools our team works with:
LinkedIn Sales Navigator · Crunchbase · Statista · Google Scholar
What your EA takes off your plate
The most common mistake consulting firms make when delegating research is handing off a vague question and expecting a polished answer. Before your first research request, write a one-paragraph brief that includes the business context, what decision the research will inform, the preferred output format, and any sources you already trust. The tighter the brief, the faster the turnaround — and the less back-and-forth you'll spend translating what you actually needed.
Competitive Landscape Analysis
EA maps key competitors using Crunchbase and LinkedIn Sales Navigator, documenting positioning, funding stage, headcount, and recent activity into a structured comparison matrix.
Market Sizing Research
EA sources TAM/SAM/SOM data from Statista, IBISWorld, and government databases, then organizes findings with citations into a format ready for client-facing decks.
Client Background Research
Before a discovery call or pitch, EA compiles a company profile covering leadership, financials, recent news, strategic initiatives, and org structure so your team walks in prepared.
Industry Benchmarking
EA pulls KPI benchmarks, compensation data, or operational metrics relevant to the client's sector using Statista, industry association reports, and Google Scholar sources.
Literature and Thought Leadership Review
EA conducts structured searches in Google Scholar and curated databases to surface relevant research, whitepapers, or case studies that support a consulting engagement or proposal.
Tools our team works with
We adapt to your existing stack — no forced migrations.
Apollo.io 
G2 
Statista 
LinkedIn Sales Navigator 
SimilarWeb 
SEMrush Trusted by consultants
Trusty Oak supports consultants including Brighter Strategies, Deborah Offner, High Flying Strategy, and 2 others — handling everything from research to broader operational support.
What research support costs for consultants
Drag the sliders to build a monthly plan that fits your workload.
Executive Assistants
~$35/hourSpecialists
~$50/hourFractional Executives
~$95/hourStarting at $1,000/month. One-time $300 onboarding fee includes your Strategic Delegation Plan.
Book a Discovery CallFrequently Asked Questions
Put your next research brief in better hands
Trusty Oak's onboarding includes a Strategic Delegation Plan built around your firm's actual workflow — so your first research request doesn't have to be a test of whether this works. Monthly budgets start at $1,000 with hours that roll over.