If you are just launching a consulting practice, thinking of doing so, or have been in business for a while but client projects are stagnant, it pays to evaluate your chosen approaches to practice management and consider less orthodox strategies so as to ramp things up. Even in slow times, there are many methods for insuring consulting success and keeping you profitable while your competition struggles to pay the bills. The way you answer four questions in particular could spell the difference between mediocre business flow and stunning success.
Question #1: What Business Are You In?
Defining your market niche and value proposition ("value prop") is essential for great consulting success. You must not look like everybody else; you must find a way to emphasize a value-added. As an actuarial, to simply proclaim that you offer "accuracy" may not be enough, as that benefit is likely the minimum expected from all our clients.
Focusing on the insurance industry, Maria Thomson FSA, MAAA (Thomson Management Solutions) provides guidance on streamlining and speeding up the underwriting process, an obviously potential competitive advantage for those insurers who make a commitment to learn how. Other value props might be such simple value-addeds as "fast service" or "personal service" or "deep experience with problems in YOUR industry."
Choosing the right value prop will affect your company image, making you more attractive than your competitors who merely offer "accuracy" or imply no special extra value at all. My plumber runs an ad in my local paper which states "I want to be your family's plumber!" That simple commitment held great appeal for me, declaring that my household would be taken care of whenever a toilet overflowed, not forgotten or told to "Wait until Monday."
The other piece about company image is how you project your value. Are you the usual charge-by-the-hour variety or are you, instead, worth something more? To attain the latter, consider a value-based system of billing. This may mean a retainer arrangement or perhaps payment by-the-project. The benefit to this could be reaping more profit overall as well as instilling client loyalty second to none. Of course, this approach also demands your clients indeed view your value as dwelling on a higher plane than your run-of-the-mill competitors. Achieving that of course brings back again to your selection of value-prop and value-added. Recommended reading: Million Dollar Consulting by Alan Weiss (McGraw-Hill).
Question #2: How Have You Organized Your Practice?
Getting organized in a way that prevents your getting distracted from what should be your priorities, i.e., client projects, prospecting, keeping up with trends and new professional knowledge. You should blend your work and family life in such a way that your practice is not your life! In this regard, consider these points:
Get and update technological tools:
Do you have a powerful desktop, laptop, needed software, cell phone, PDA, fax machine, DSL etc.? You will know best which tools are most useful for you, but be sire to invest in them as best you can and keep them up-to-date.
Arrange an office: Whether inside or outside your home, set up a specific office space so that you can be psychologically in tune with your work. If you plan to see clients in your office, an outside office makes sense but if you always travel to your clients' sites, it's OK to have your office in your home.
See time as an ally: Time management is the real killer but nonetheless a beast that can be contained. One strategy is to see time as an ally not an enemy. As Duke Ellington once said, "I don't need more time; I need a deadline!" See your looming #1 priorities, recognized typically by their due dates, as little voices designed to nudge you along toward completion of your most urgent projects. Can certain phone calls, emails, lunch meetings be postponed for a few hours or a few days? Usually the answer is yes, so do so and get on with those tasks that simply MUST be done.
Question #3: Do You Stand Out from the Crowd?
Once you have defined and honed your value prop, and organized your practice it's time to spread the good news about what you have to offer. Traditionally, a good brochure with a logo and company name are the first steps, as well as at least a modest website. Since consulting is such a people business, my personal bias is to forgo the bells and whistles of jazzy, dazzling websites and overblown four-color brochures in favor of materials more simplified.
A website with 8-10 pages that explain the essentials (company description and value prop, credentials of you and your team, client testimonials, how to contact you, etc.) should be sufficient to get you launched, and a one or two-page, two-color brochure of similar composition will complete the job.
Your company name can be a reflection of what you do ("Smith Actuarial Services") or simply state your own name ("John Smith & Associates"), and your logo (optional) can be any symbol or graphic you like. I don't think it matters much what you choose because these are merely anchors for people to remember you by. The real key to standing out from the crowd is found in how you position yourself with your target market.
Many consultants wonder if effective means for doing so might involve traditional awareness methods like advertising or cold calls. But as department store magnate John Wannamaker once remarked, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted. I just wish I could identify which half."
And cold calls, though when all is said and done DO work, they usually succeed only after an exceptionally high volume of calls, with the good leads requiring many follow-ups and harder selling jobs than most of us mere mortal consultants would care to endure.
So what marketing approach is truly worth your time, effort and expense? Here's a three-step approach:
Relationship Management - Spend 40% of your rainmaking efforts interacting with real people. Attend events of professional groups populated by your natural market, network with likely prospects you meet there, set up alliances with "influencers," i.e., professionals who would not actually employ you but regularly interact with those who would, remember that relationships mean ongoing contact, so don't forget to find ways to keep reminding your contacts that you're still around (and available for hire!). Recommended reading: Powerskills: Building Top-Minded Relationships for Bottom-Line Results by Jim Masciarelli (Nimbus Press).
Thoughtleading - To truly stand out from the crowd, become a leading thinker in your area. Publish articles or even a book, speak before professional groups (of all kinds), conduct a survey from time to time on a vexing issue in your target industry and publicize the results, develop provocative ideas. Business editors and meeting planners are eager to hear from all of us on topics relevant to their readership or event attendees, so pitch your article ideas and speaking topics on a regular basis and watch yourself emerge as an industry "thought leader." Since few (if any) of your competition will be doing the same, you will rise above the crowd almost by default.
Creative Use of the Internet - Promote your articles, speaking gigs, services, survey results, provocative ideas over the Internet. Send out news releases via such outlets as Business Wire, create an e-list of your contacts and regularly send an e-newsletter and/or short messages, linking all such e-promos to your website. This drives traffic there, increasing your odds for new business.
Question #4: How's Your Attitude?
It's been said many times that the Chinese have the same word/symbol for both "crisis" and "opportunity." With this in mind, such crises as losing clients, slow economic times, industry dilemmas should be viewed as opportunities-in-the-making. The various Enron ethics scandal of the last few years prompted Dan Cassidy FSA, an employee benefits consultant (his value prop), to publish articles in business journals on why Boards of Directors should get directly involved in evaluating the implications of their company's current pension plan, and proposing or monitoring changes (when they occur) to pension plan formulas.
A second point as regards attitude is the matter of cost-cutting, especially in tough times. Most companies cut back their marketing efforts first, or stop investing in knowledge growth. At times when new business needs to be found, promotion and thought leadership represent the most critical areas for you to be sure you keep going! Take care then in what you cut and what you continue to invest in.
Finally, your attitude about what you can achieve and how it will improve your life and personal well-being must remain sharp and brimming with health. Are you taking vacations? Are you spending fun time with your family? Do you still have any friends? Do you read not-financial books or articles, go see deliciously banal movies, get downright wacky every once in a while, letting go your professional cloak?
These sorts of actions are mandatory if you are to keep your perspective in balance, your mind sharp and your energy high. Burnout occurs when we begin feeling we have no control over our work, that each day is yet another endless stream of mind-numbing tasks that others are expecting you to fulfill. Burnout leads to failure, which leads to more burnout, a terrifying loop.
The secret to your consulting success will thus be found in getting away from it on a regular basis and experiencing that non-consulting you. By paying attention to this fifth "bonus" question, all the rest will fall into place and consulting success will be yours, today, tomorrow and throughout each year.
Building a Professional Service Firm
In January of 1998 I left my position as a high school math teacher for Fenton University High School and set out on my own to form a consulting firm, The Coughlin Company, Inc., that would specialize in enhancing the effectiveness of top performing executives. Over the past 38 months I have tried many ideas, failed often, always learned and along the way worked with corporations such as McDonald's Corporation, The Coca-Cola Company, Marriott International, Eli Lilly, IKON Office Solutions, Fenton Cardinals, SBC Communications, Gundaker Realtors and many, many others. What follows are some of the most important concepts I've learned for building a professional services firm from scratch.
STRENGTHEN YOUR INTERNAL FOUNDATION
This is critical to your success. Your internal foundation consists of your self-esteem (the value you see within yourself), self-confidence (your expectation for success), self-discipline (your ability to do what you say you will do), personal integrity (your ability to do what you say is the right thing to do) and personal initiative (your ability to move an idea into action.) These five components are the basis of your long-term success. You must see the value you have within you before you will ever be able to offer value to a customer.
MAXIMIZE CLARITY
Clarity is the ability to see and communicate things clearly. Why does your business exist? How do you deliver value? What value do you deliver? If you were ultimately successfully in your business, what would success look like for you, your customers and their customers? What are your 3 most important priorities? Without clarity, your efforts will go in ten directions and you will become less effective. With clarity, you can drive better results in your highest priorities.
PROVIDE VALUE
Value is anything that increases the chances that another person will achieve what they want to achieve. Your job is to add value. I don't think of myself as a consultant, professional speaker or executive coach. I think of myself as a value adder. All of my marketing is value-based marketing. By that, I mean that every time I interact with another person I want to add value in the form of clear and practical suggestions. This can be done in a conversation, in an e-mail, in an article, in a presentation, in facilitating a meeting, in a written recap and many other ways.
BUILD RELATIONSHIPS
I don't work with McDonald's, Coca-Cola or Marriott. I work with people who work at these organizations. That is important to keep in mind. The basis of your business is relationships. I'm not talking about someone who buys off your website or contacts you solely through e-mail. I'm talking about real-life relationships with people. And I'm also talking about relationships based on value where you are increasing their chances of achieving better results in their highest priorities. When you come across an idea that would be of value to that person, send it on to them. This could be in the form of an article or a story or an idea that popped into your head. Meet with them for lunch and offer more practical suggestions.
APPLY SYNERGY
Synergy happens when every part of your business supports and promotes every other part of your business. Say, for example, you have an idea that would be of value to your customers and prospects. You could write an article, provide a keynote or workshop or seminar on it, place the article on your website, give the article as a handout at a meeting, insert the idea into a conversation, and connect the idea to several other ideas to make it stronger. If you work in multiple industries, you could take what works well in one industry and apply it to another industry. If you have a testimonial from the vice-president of a major company, you can use that as a credibility builder for another industry. You could get into an organization by speaking on one topic, but then stay around by speaking about several other topics. You can offer value in multiple ways: as a presenter, facilitator, individual coach, telecoaching, coaching via e-mail or voicemail, author of books and videos and audio programs and several other ways. You might get into an organization coaching one person and end up presenting to huge groups of people.
DECIDE ON STRATEGY
Strategies are guidelines that channel all of your activities, decisions and meetings along the same path toward achieving your vision. So what guidelines do you want in place that will channel your efforts toward achieving your vision? The clearer your strategies are, the better your chances are of hitting the mark. For example, my strategies include: strengthen my internal foundation, expand intellectual breadth, build a brand based on a professional image and value-added marketing, hone my craft and master the proposal process. Everything I do fits within those five strategies. What are yours?
BASE FEES ON VALUE
In my opinion, the only consistently fair way to base your fees for both you and the buyer is value-based fees. In other words, the fees have to fit reasonably within the value of the outcomes for the buyer. "Reasonably" means that they are not so high that they are bigger than the value of the outcomes and that they are not so low that you feel the buyer is ripping you off.
IMPROVE EVERY SINGLE DAY
Every day try at least one new idea, one new wrinkle in your program, one new approach to a prospect, one new networking event, one new topic, one new book, one new magazine, and/or one new life experience. It will not take very long to double and triple and quadruple your effectiveness and your fee.
SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES
Essentially, we are in the business of gaining opportunities to deliver value, delivering the goods and charging appropriately. We never know which door will open for us or how big the room will be so we must constantly search for opportunities. Make a list of everyone who thinks well of you. Write four practical articles that would be of value to them on topics you know well and mail those articles to them with a personal note from you. Always add value and then take on the opportunities that you can. You never know who will introduce you to the right person for the opportunity to add value.
HAVE A LIFE
In the end, remember what Stephen King said in his book, On Writing, "Life isn't a support-system for art. It's the other way around." Take 3-4 vacations a year. Reserve your nights for your family and friends. Take time to play and have fun. Laugh a lot. When times seem toughest, go for a walk, get some fresh air and get away from your phone and desk. Always your renewed energy will have a positive impact on your business. Customers want us to be fresh and energized. They expect us to come with solutions, not problems.
Till we meet again, Be the solution to your world.
Basola A. Victor, Chief Imaginative Officer (CIO)
BASH CONCEPTS INTERNATIONAL,
Warri, Nigeria
+234-703-5121-346
