The Best Way to Market Consulting Work is to Avoid Relentless Non-Stop Value-Adding
Controversial, I know. But it is true.
Yes, consultants exist to add value. That is the nature of our business. And that is what we strive to do.
But.
It has nothing to do with the non-stop selling of products and services clients don’t need. I have sat through many pitches given by industry peers. Frankly speaking, it can get fatiguing.
Vendor A says value-add here, value-add there, and value-add everywhere.
He means buy this and that and more.
Vendor B says value-add here, value-add there, and value-add everywhere.
She means buy this and that and more.
The same goes for Vendor M to Z. The thing is… consultants don’t always have to project a sense of value-added’ness to justify our presence.
Start With Client Objectives and Bring Clarity to the Table
I like to start with clarity. Value-add is a maybe at this point of discussion.
There are reasons for the way I conduct my client meeting.
Firstly, clients may not always know what they want. They might start thinking Digital Transformation is the solution to their problem, and what they need is process efficiency.
Secondly, focusing on what they need today is dangerous to our consulting engagement. Our needs in the office change daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, half-yearly, and annually. Therefore, we must focus on our client’s Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) or objectives. These 2 don’t change dramatically over the year.
Lastly, the best form of value-add may be doing less, not more. Look. Not everyone is excited over new project implementation to help clients get better. Spending extra time working on projects eats into their knock-off time.
Although our intellect always longs for clarity and certainty, our nature often finds uncertainty fascinating.
Our clients get caught up in a maelstrom of work when there are many urgent tasks to complete and tight timelines to meet. In such circumstances, the best consultants avoid adding more work to their clients.
Yes, that is right. It is not always about selling new products or new services or securing subscriptions.
We can add value by injecting clarity.
Clarity Comes from Observations, Not Meetings.
This is what I do as a consultant on the side.
I seek clarity via site visits. Seeing things as they are is critical because I get to put my fingers on their pulse. Meetings and Zoom conferences can only go that far.
Consultants know how organizations work. We are trained to identify tell-tale signs using our eyes and ears.
The disconnect between management and operational level can be obvious to a 3rd party. There is nothing cynical about that. Senior executives focus on corporate strategy, next year’s progress, and the 5-year plan.
People on the shopfloor? They need to get work done today.
Therefore, I choose my focal point within the organization depending on the nature of the consulting engagement. It sounds complicated, but it is not.
This is what I mean.
I head to the assembly facility when the engagement is about workflow productivity.
I head to the production line when the engagement is about time-based efficiency.
I head to the corporate headquarters when it is about cross-domain collaboration.
Simply being in the right place gives me a sense of the situation. It also gives me an idea if the purpose of the consulting engagement is the right one.
I Endeavor to Speak to the Right People
The 1-Man consultant’s secret formula to success can be distilled into the following equation.
Consultant Engagement Super Success = Right Objectives + Right Observations + Right People
You will be surprised when I say this. Many consultants do not talk to the right people. The most common reason I hear is I have no time.
I always find this hilarious. There is no need to rush the engagement commencement. We may end up having to unwind our work effort because that is not what the client wants.
Sounds familiar? You bet.
All consultants seek clarity to achieve their objectives. We are paid to help our clients achieve their goals and solve their problems. To do that, we need to understand from the right people what the correct problems are.
It sounds easy, I know. In practice? Darn difficult.
Because most people who are cracking their heads, confronting the issues at hand, do not have the time to tell you what the problems are. They are working on it. They are in it.
Such was the case with one of my clients. The Chief Operating Officer hired me to modernize their plant assembly lines.
I accepted the assignment and made my way to the plant.
The plant has software, hardware, and an Internet-of-Things device ecosystem already set up by the Plant Supervisor-in-charge. The advanced state of technology applications shocked me.
When I asked the Plant Supervisor-in-charge about the issues he needed help with, he had this to say.
“I put in a proposal paper to set a 24/7/365 plant operations intelligence facility. Are you here to help me with that?”
I said no. And I wonder what I am doing there.
Parting Keynote
Many consultants think non-stop value-adding is the way to grow their business.
But their idea of value-adding is one-dimensional. They think of adding, therefore selling, more products and services to the client.
No. Truth be told, clients hate that.
Instead, we focus on injecting clarity into our work with clients. We score when they finally understand how they can do their work better, with less pressure and tools.
And that is how we can grow our consulting practice. We achieve that with clarity.
As a content contributor, I write my observations from daily life and my business exposure. Because our life experience is the bedrock of our unique perspectives.
