Storm or Sun?

Storm or Sun?

Every time you pick up a newspaper or turn on the television you’re apt to read and hear bad news. That’s because the media thrive on misery. And that’s because everyone likes to point fingers at everyone else—from political parties to entire countries, from labor to management, from regulators to the regulated—rather than accept accountability and actually try to improve things.

As a consultant, you’re in the improvement business. So you might as well get good at it. And blaming people doesn’t help.

Here are some guidelines to improve your own morale and find new business during these rather fascinating times:

1. Never assume at the outset that the prospect (or anyone else) whom you meet is damaged. That is, never default to the belief that he or she is the problem. Look for evidence and assume the person to whom you’re speaking is as healthy as you are, unless proved otherwise by observed behavior.

2. You must spend money to make money. This is the time to invest in self-development, your brand, your web site and collateral, your outbound marketing, and so forth. You will not grow your business, nor even increase the likelihood of survival, by cutting expenses, selling your desk, or taking the bus. Would you hire someone who is obviously cutting back or someone who is clearly confident and investing in the business?

3. End co-dependency and commiseration. DO NOT GO to meetings wherein the participants have reached Ciceronian oratory about how bad things are and there’s nothing to be done about it, because it’s “their fault.” There is no “they.” YOU are “they.” Stay away from people who try to camouflage their own ineptitude with rants against the fates.

4. Seek out the best, most successful organizations you can find, even if they may not be in your basic market or strategy. They are the ones WITH MONEY. It’s easier to adjust and adapt your services to them, than it is to try to sell your services to struggling outfits. Results are results. Focus on their improvement, and not on your methodology.

5. Use the martial arts of language. When someone says, “You’ve never worked in our industry before,” or “What do you know about sheepherding?” (I’ve actually been asked that, stop smirking), don’t tap dance all over the room uttering banalities such as, “I’ve never worked in the computer business but I have owned them,” or “I wear wool.” Simply say something like this, “Why do you ask?” or “Why is that important at this juncture?” Because they don’t need another content expert, they are tripping over them in the rest rooms. They need your outside, objective, and process approach.

6. Use any excessive “down time” to begin or extend the long term projects you’ve been procrastinating about: write the book proposal, upgrade your web site, clean out your files, create a mass mailing to past contacts, design a new workshop or intervention. If you’re too busy to do them when things are hectic, and you don’t get around to them when things are slow, they will NEVER get done at all.

7. Contact everyone you know in some kind of priority: current clients; current prospects; past clients; past prospects; professional colleagues; friends; family; others. Tell every single one what kind of value you’re providing today, and ask every single one if you can be of help to them AND/OR if they know a few people to whom you may be of help. This is concurrently one of the best ways to generate leads and one of the most neglected by consultants. Why? Because of low self-esteem. Too many consultants think they are trying to sell something, take money, and inconvenience people, instead of providing value, improving conditions, and helping people.

8. Raise your visibility. In an electronic age, it’s a crime not to, and it’s easy to stand out since most blogs and newsletters are rend-your-garments-awful. It’s easy to stand out in this crowd IF you offer originality, free help, easy access, consistency, and boldness. (I have had a mathematics major at Brown University calculate that one posting on my blog is worth 7.8 million contacts on linkedin. Don’t forget, I’m the King of Social Media.) Make yourself so valuable that you’re irresistible.

9. Diversify your offerings. Turn your workshop into a speech, your speech into an booklet, your booklet into a consulting intervention, your consulting methodology into a workshop. Facilitate meetings. Audit operations. Create benchmarks and best practices. Consider teleconferences and podcasts.

I’m stopping here because top ten lists are too David Letterman. But I’ll tell you true: This is a great time to be a consultant, because talent and courage stand out now more than ever. And to paraphrase the inestimable impresario, Mike Todd, “Boldness is not about smoking cheaper cigars.”

© Alan Weiss 2009, at 40,000 feet. All rights reserved.