3 Claude Skills Every Consultancy Should Build Today

SUMMARY

Vasilij Nevlev, founder of AiGentic Lab, explains Claude Skills as reusable AI workflows to solve portability issues in consultancies, demonstrating three: branded proposals, discovery summaries, and ICP-targeted YouTube scripts.

STATEMENTS

Claude Skills function as reusable instruction manuals that teach Claude to execute specific tasks with defined tools, standards, and formats, deployable anywhere needed.
Before Skills, generating consistent client proposals or discovery calls required pasting repeated instructions into chats or creating non-portable dedicated Projects, leading to inefficiency and inconsistency.
Skills solve the portability problem by extracting workflow instructions from Projects, packaging them for use across web apps, Claude, or APIs, enabling team-wide consistent deployment.
In the Claude ecosystem, Claude acts as the core intelligence, Skills provide reusable workflows, MCP offers external tool integrations like HubSpot or Notion, and Projects combine them for specific client work.
There are three types of Skills: Official (built-in by Anthropic), Custom (user-created for organizational standards), and Community (user-shared online, used cautiously).
To ensure Skills trigger reliably, add account-level custom instructions prompting Claude to consider relevant Skills.
Client proposal generation Skills allow uploading branded templates to standardize outputs, pulling from discovery notes for consistent, professional proposals across teams.
Discovery call summary Skills standardize sections, formats, and CRM logging, using MCP for tools like HubSpot to maintain consistency post-calls.
YouTube script generation Skills incorporate Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) definitions for aligned hooks, structures, and CTAs, portable for team use in content creation.
Create custom Skills if instructions repeat across chats three or more times, require human training, or demand quality/format consistency.

IDEAS

Claude Skills transform individual expertise into scalable team assets, preventing quality drops when top performers are absent, like during holidays.
Unlike Projects, Skills enable combining multiple workflows dynamically without duplication, avoiding siloed efforts in consultancies.
Official Skills should be selectively enabled to avoid confusing Claude, highlighting the need for precision in AI tool activation.
Custom Skills standardize branding and pricing in proposals, ensuring every output feels professional without manual template copying.
Integrating MCP tools in Skills allows seamless automation, such as logging discovery summaries directly into HubSpot, reducing manual data entry.
Skills compact conversations intelligently during complex tasks, like generating full proposals with slide decks, to manage context limits.
Turning ICP knowledge into a Skill democratizes content creation, letting non-experts produce aligned YouTube scripts with hooks and CTAs.
A three-question test for custom Skills—repetition, training need, consistency—streamlines decision-making for workflow standardization.
Pro plan users must ration Skills to high-repeat tasks to avoid token waste, emphasizing cost-aware AI implementation.
OpenAI's recent adoption of Skills in ChatGPT signals a broader industry shift toward portable AI workflows in consultancies.
Skills include backup plans for failing MCP calls, adding resilience to automated processes.
Generating PPTX from markdown via Skills maintains brand colors and styles, bridging AI output to editable formats.

INSIGHTS

Portability in AI workflows isn't just technical—it's about democratizing human expertise, turning tacit knowledge into shared, scalable intelligence that fosters team resilience.
The Claude ecosystem's modularity—brains, manuals, tools, workspaces—mirrors effective organizational design, allowing flexible assembly for diverse engagements without redundancy.
Selective Skill activation prevents cognitive overload in AI, akin to how humans focus on relevant skills; over-enabling dilutes precision in outputs.
Standardizing repetitive tasks via Skills elevates consultancies from artisanal to industrial, ensuring brand consistency amplifies client trust and win rates.
Custom Skills bridge the gap between AI potential and real-world integration, like MCP for CRMs, revealing how automation thrives on contextual relevance.
The three-question test for Skills creation abstracts workflow evaluation, promoting efficiency by prioritizing what truly scales human-AI collaboration.

QUOTES

"Your best work is strapped inside individual people and you can't clone them. You can't scale it."
"Think of them as a reusable instruction manuals. They teach Claude how to execute specific tasks, what tools to use, what standards to follow, what formats to deliver."
"You extract your workflow instructions out of the project, package them as skills and make them available everywhere on a web app, on a code or via API."
"If you repeat the same instructions across different chats three times or more? Would you need to train a real human on this process? Does quality or format consistency matter every time?"
"Brilliant workflows trapped in isolated projects. They can't reuse them, can't combine them. skills fix that your best workflow become portable, reusable and deployable across every single engagement."

HABITS

Selectively enable only relevant Official Skills in Claude settings to maintain focus and avoid workflow confusion.
Add account-level custom instructions to prompt Claude for relevant Skills, ensuring consistent triggering across sessions.
Upload branded templates and create Custom Skills for repeated tasks like proposals, standardizing outputs without manual intervention.
After discovery calls, paste transcripts into Claude chats using summary Skills for automated formatting and CRM logging.
Use ICP-targeted Skills for content generation, reviewing outputs for alignment before team deployment.
Test Custom Skills with the three-question framework before creation to prioritize high-impact workflows.

FACTS

Claude Skills became applicable to ChatGPT as of last week, with OpenAI announcing their introduction into the ecosystem.
Anthropic's Official Skills require enabling code execution and file creation in settings for access.
Custom Skills are created by uploading skill files containing workflow instructions, templates, and standards.
Community Skills are sourced online from other users but carry risks due to unknown contents.
Pro plan users on Claude must monitor token usage, creating Skills only for repeated workflows to optimize costs.
MCP provides integrations for external systems like HubSpot or Notion, used alongside Skills for automation.

REFERENCES

Claude ecosystem components: Claude (core intelligence), Skills (reusable workflows), MCP (tools for external integrations like HubSpot/Notion), Projects (dedicated workspaces).
Official Skills by Anthropic, accessed via Settings > Capabilities.
Custom Skills: User-uploaded files for branded proposals, discovery documentation, YouTube scripts with ICP.
Community Skills: Online user-created, accessed cautiously.
Tools mentioned: Notion database for call notes and script storage; HubSpot for CRM logging; PowerPoint generation via HTML/CSS conversion.
Resources: AI Maturity Assessment at insights.aigenticlab.com; Newsletter at newsletter.aigenticlab.com; Courses on AI MasterClass and AI Agents; Videos on switching from ChatGPT to Claude, ChatGPT features, AI moves.

HOW TO APPLY

Identify repetitive workflows in your consultancy, such as proposal generation, and check if they meet the three-question test: repeated instructions, human training need, consistency importance.
Enable relevant Official Skills in Claude settings under Capabilities, turning on code execution and file creation only for needed functions to avoid overload.
Create a Custom Skill by prompting Claude to generate a skill file: upload your branded template, specify triggers and guidelines, reference parent skills, then download and upload to capabilities.
For discovery calls, paste transcripts into a Claude chat, invoke the documentation Skill to generate summaries, format follow-ups, and use MCP to log into CRM like HubSpot.
Generate YouTube scripts by opening a new chat, providing topic details, and triggering the ICP Skill; review output for hooks, CTAs, and structure before adding to Notion via MCP.
Add backup plans to Skills for MCP tool failures by instructing Claude to include alternatives, ensuring resilience in automated processes.
Monitor Pro plan usage by limiting Skills to high-repeat tasks, testing outputs for consistency across team members before full deployment.

ONE-SENTENCE TAKEAWAY

Claude Skills make expert AI workflows portable and team-scalable, solving consultancy bottlenecks for consistent, high-quality delivery.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Prioritize Custom Skills for core consultancy processes like proposals to embed your brand DNA, ensuring outputs remain professional during staff absences.
Integrate MCP sparingly in Skills to avoid complexity, focusing on essential tools like CRMs for streamlined automation without reliability risks.
Use the three-question test rigorously to decide on Skill creation, avoiding over-engineering low-impact tasks and preserving AI efficiency.
Selectively activate Official Skills based on workflow needs, regularly auditing to prevent dilution of Claude's focus in executions.
Benchmark your AI adoption with assessments, then build Skills around identified gaps to accelerate scaling in AI-driven services.

MEMO

In the high-stakes world of consulting, where a single pitch can make or break a deal, the absence of a star performer often spells disaster. Vasilij Nevlev, founder of AiGentic Lab, confronts this "portability problem" head-on in his latest video, arguing that Claude Skills—reusable AI instruction sets from Anthropic—offer a lifeline. These aren't mere prompts; they're packaged workflows that embed expertise into the system, deployable across chats, apps, or APIs. Nevlev illustrates how Skills liberate brilliant processes from individual minds, allowing teams to maintain a three-week win rate even when vacations strike. By extracting instructions from isolated Projects, consultancies can standardize outputs, from branded proposals to discovery summaries, fostering scalability without the chaos of duplicated efforts.

Nevlev demystifies the Claude ecosystem with clarity: Claude itself is the intelligent core, Skills provide the how-to manuals, MCP enables external tool integrations like HubSpot for CRM logging, and Projects serve as customizable workspaces. He warns against clutter—don't enable every Official Skill, as it muddles Claude's focus—and advocates for Custom Skills tailored to organizational standards. In a live demo, he transforms raw discovery call notes into a polished proposal, complete with pricing tiers and a PowerPoint deck in brand colors. The AI searches Notion databases, applies ICP targeting, and even generates editable PPTX files via HTML conversion. This isn't futuristic hype; it's practical automation that compresses hours of manual work into minutes, ensuring every engagement feels seamless and professional.

For content creators within consultancies, Nevlev spotlights YouTube script generation as a game-changer. By converting Ideal Customer Profile knowledge into a Skill, teams produce scripts with consistent hooks, CTAs, and pain-point alignment—outputting not just text but B-roll lists, shorts ideas, and Notion entries via MCP. He shares a three-question litmus test for custom Skills: Does it repeat across chats? Would you train a human on it? Does consistency matter? Answering yes to two or more signals investment. Yet, cautions abound for Pro users: ration tokens for repeats only, build in MCP failure backups, and keep Skills lean to preserve reliability. As OpenAI rolls out similar features in ChatGPT, Nevlev positions Skills as the new standard for AI-augmented consultancies, urging firms to assess maturity and standardize now.

The broader implication? AI isn't just a tool; it's a force multiplier for human flourishing in business. Nevlev's approach—rooted in his work helping SMEs automate without coders—hints at a future where consultancies scale like software, not services. By making workflows portable, Skills don't just fix gaps; they redefine expertise as a shared asset, empowering teams to innovate beyond individual limits. For those embedding AI into offerings, this is the blueprint: mix modularity with caution, and watch operations thrive.