Consulting Tips of the Trade

Consulting Tips of the Trade

Here are some incredibly easy tips to stay ahead of the pack that most consultants simply ignore or aren’t disciplined about.

1. Speed: “Right from the outset, we saw how quickly you responded and realized that was lacking with people in the past,” said a brand new client of mine a week ago, whose business was closed while I was in France, never having met. Proposals, meetings, reports, debriefings, promised items—get them there fast. Using Fedex is a cost of doing business. The Internet is free last time I looked.
2. Attention to detail: If you can’t learn to use grammar and punctuation correctly for some unfathomable reason, then find a good proofreader and/or editor. When there are mistakes in your communications with clients or your promotional material people wonder how much attention you’re paying. (There will ALWAYS be mistakes, we’re not perfect, but the idea is to minimize them.)
3. Independent expertise: When you constantly quote others as verification for your approaches (Oswald’s Decision Model, or Karponsky’s Supply Chain Theory), then why do I need you? Why don’t I simply go to the source? What’s your contribution to thought leadership?
4. Assertion of value: Many of you reading this are afraid to make follow-up calls, or instead use far lower profile (and far more ineffective) email to follow-up. What are you afraid of, bothering someone??? If you believe you have value, then pursue buyers. The worst they can tell you is “No,” but they won’t tell you anything if you sit by the phone and wish for it to ring.
5. Perspective on methodology: No client was ever improved by methodology. The client was improved by the RESULTS of the methodology, and ten times out of nine there are alternatives to create those results. Don’t default to how you do things. Find out what the client needs and work backwards, using the shortest and easiest methods, not necessarily a 24-step process you’re in love with.
6. Ask, don’t just tell: The very best people with whom I work are constantly asking. On Alansforums.com I remind some people that there is no “faculty,” so you can’t just sit back and offer opinions and advice. The consulting meetings we’ve all attended where a bunch of people sit around and tell each other how good they are and how things should be done according to them produce one thing: old, unsuccessful consultants.

© Alan Weiss 2011. All rights reserved.