I just completed my first week at The Data School, and I’ve already learned so much regarding clients and stakeholders. This included, but was not limited to, how to research and prepare for clients, how to ask the right questions, and how to translate a client’s intangible needs and create a tangible product.
To practice researching clients, we were split into groups of two, provided a company, and given 10 minutes to research and present. My partner and I were given Nutmeg, and I quickly began scouring the internet for information.
I found that Nutmeg was a UK-based company offering investment opportunities to those new to personal investing. It was acquired by JPMorgan in 2021 for $700 million and rebranded as JPMorgan Personal Investing in late 2025. Prior to the acquisition, they managed $3.5 billion for 140,000 clients. They are involved with investments, pensions, individual savings accounts, and financial planning.
When I presented my findings and was questioned, I realized that conducting “research” on a company isn’t merely about glossing over its history, field, and numbers; it also involves how you, as a consultant, can make an impact.
This includes, but is not limited to, research regarding:
- What do they do, what is their purpose (website)
- What is happening in their industry (news)
- How do they make/ raise money (website, googling)
- How good are they at it (annual reports, Companies House)
- Who is key within their organization (LinkedIn)
- Who are some of your key data stakeholders (LinkedIn)
- What tech do they use (job adverts)
Among these broad questions, you can dive deeper, for example, by looking at their LinkedIn job board relative to the company's size, which can provide insight into their turnover rate.
Further into the lesson, we learned how important context is when conversing with clients. I learned the key is to continue asking why. More specifically, I learned that asking someone five times gets to their true motivation, as long as it's phrased in a way that doesn't feel repetitive.
Lastly, to round off the day, we were walked through the book “Where's My Mom?” Written by Julia Donaldson. In this book, a monkey lost his mom, and upon hearing this, a butterfly volunteered his help. The monkey kept providing vague details about his mom’s appearance; however, the butterfly, lacking context, repeatedly led the monkey to the wrong animals. This was taught as a lesson that if the client (monkey) does not provide the correct context to the consultant (butterfly), it will cause not just delays but frustration for both parties.