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商务英语及学习   Be a Successful Consultant 出处：法律顾问网·涉外www.flguwen.com     时间：2011/1/3 21:07:00 Be a Successful Consultant: An Insider Guide to Setting up and Running a Consultancy Practice Susan Nash HOW TO BOOKS LTD Be a Successful Consultant Practical books that inspire Your Own Business The complete guide to succeeding with a small business Book-keeping & Accounting for the Small Business How to keep the books and maintain financial control over your business Starting Your Own Business How to plan, build and manage a successful enterprise The Ultimate Business Plan Secure financial backing and support for a successful business howtobooks Please send for a free copy of the latest catalogue: How To Books 3 Newtec Place, Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RE, United Kingdom email: info@howtobooks.co.uk http://www.howtobooks.co.uk Be a Successful Consultant An insider guide to setting up and running a consultancy practice Susan Nash howtobooks With thanks to Courtney Bolin for her interactive layout of the book. Published by How To Books Ltd, 3 Newtec Place, Magdalen Road, Oxford OX4 1RE. United Kingdom. Tel: (01865) 793806. Fax: (01865) 248780. email: info@howtobooks.co.uk http://www.howtobooks.co.uk All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for purposes of review) without the express permission of the publisher in writing. Copyright 2003 Susan Nash British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions Typeset by PDQ Typesetting, Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffs. Printed and bound by Bell & Bain, Glasgow NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good faith for general guidance and no liability can be accepted for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying in particular circumstances on statements made in the book. The laws and regulations are complex and liable to change, and readers should check the current position with the relevant authorities before making personal arrangements. Contents Preface viii Section One ^ Getting Started 1 Chapter 1 ^ Setting the scene 3 Game plan 3 The business environment in the new millennium 3 The Shamrock Organization 4 The new self-employed market 5 Defining consulting 6 Working for a consulting firm 9 Case studies 11 Checklist 13 Scorecard 13 Chapter 2 ^ Evaluating your ¢t 14 Game plan 14 Being realistic about consulting 14 Advantages and disadvantages of consulting 15 Characteristics of successful consultants 17 Consulting and the four temperaments 26 So do people enjoy being self-employed? 33 Checklist 34 Scorecard 35 Chapter 3 ^ What type of consulting business are you running? 36 Game plan 36 Why define your business before jumping in? 36 Defining your vision 37 Defining strengths and weaknesses 41 Identifying your unique selling proposition 44 SWOT analysis 46 Establishing key result areas 49 Checklist 57 Scorecard 57 Chapter 4 ^ Establishing your business direction 59 Game plan 59 Writing a business plan 59 Deciding your legal structure 66 Setting objectives 70 v Establishing milestones 75 Organizing systems 77 Checklist 78 Scorecard 78 SectionTwo ^ Getting clients 79 Chapter 5 ^ Marketing your business 81 Game plan 81 Creating your marketing plan 81 Conducting market research 83 Establishing marketing objectives 86 Segmenting the market 87 Defining your product or service: the first ‘P’ 89 Deciding your promotional plan: the second ‘P’ 94 Selecting distribution channels: the third ‘P’ 102 Pricing your product: the fourth ‘P’ 107 Creating a marketing schedule 107 Checklist 109 Scorecard 109 Chapter 6 ^ Selling your service 110 Game plan 110 Overcoming your fear of selling 110 Understanding the sales process 112 Establishing sales objectives 115 Evaluating sales communication channels 117 Preparing your 30-second commercial 119 Using the telephone in selling 121 Managing the sales meeting 129 Adjusting your style to maximize sales 134 Writing successful proposals 137 What if the client says no? 141 What if the client says yes? 141 Sample questions to ask 142 Checklist 145 Scorecard 145 Section 3 ^ Gettingmoney 147 Chapter 7 ^ Financing your business 149 Game plan 149 Estimating your start-up and ongoing costs 149 Funding your business in the start-up phase 152 vi / Be a Successful Consultant Contents / vii Establishing financial objectives 156 Creating revenue statements 157 Creating cash flow statements 159 Setting your billing rate 161 Using different fee arrangements 166 Collecting fees 172 Limit your exposure to bad debts 172 Charging for sub-contracting 173 Checklist 177 Scorecard 177 Section 4 ^ Getting organized 179 Chapter 8 ^ Organizing your business 181 Game plan 181 Setting up your office space 181 Selecting equipment and support tools 184 Identifying administrative resources 190 Prioritizing between multiple projects 192 Planning your activities 196 Organizing your office work space 201 Establishing organization/administration objectives 205 Checklist 206 Scorecard 206 Chapter 9 ^ Running your business: doing thework! 207 Game plan 207 Formalizing contracts 207 Structure of consulting assignments 209 Consulting project stages 213 Establishing project objectives 220 Checklist 221 Scorecard 221 Chapter 10 ^ Moving intoAction 222 So what will you do now? 222 The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) 229 Further reading 235 Index 237 This Page Intentionally Left Blank ix Preface How to use this book If one advances con¢dently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavours to live the lifewhich he has imagined, hewill meet with success unexpected in common hours. Henry DavidThoreau Why consulting? The business environment is changing drastically. No longer is there long-term employment and job security. Consulting has become a viable and growing working option for individuals since the 1990s. However consulting does not provide a miracle solution to work options. Be a Successful Consultant is designed as a workbook containing a wide variety of exercises that you can complete to help you make a consulting career for yourself a reality not just a possibility. Who can this book help? This book has been written for professionals, with specific functional knowledge, experience or expertise, who wish to evaluate whether they want to be consultants and consider an alternative lifestyle to full-time work. So this book is for:   Individuals who are debating leaving ‘corporate life’ and want to explore alternative career options.   Consultants who are running their own business who want to increase their market share and revenue.   People between jobs who wish to generate income.   Entrepreneurs in the making who wish to begin an independent life style.   Those who are looking for greater flexibility and more choices in the work they wish to do. What will you achieve by using this book? After reading this book, you will:   Have a clear understanding of consulting and the entire consulting process.   Understand the benefits and challenges of consulting as a career choice.   Learn how your own strengths and challenges fit with the consulting lifestyle.   Be able to define and establish the strategic direction for your consulting business.   Be able to create and implement a marketing strategy.   Learn skills and practical tools to find clients and close deals.   Understand how to raise finances and maintain financial control of your business.   Be able to balance on-going business while maintaining the marketing process to avoid the ‘feast or famine’ syndrome.   Know how to organize your consulting business.   Have paying clients! Exercise P.1 What do youwant to achieve using this book?To help you identify what you want to achieve from using this book, answer the following questions:   What are you doing currently? Are you just starting out? Have you been a consultant for a while?   What would you like to learn from reading this book?   What would you like to do as a result of using this book?   What would you like to achieve?   Which of the objectives above most appealed to you and why? Coaching point De¢ning your goals for reading this book will help focus your attention in the areas that are of the most interest to you. So now you have decided what you want to achieve, let ’s look at how you can use this book to make it happen. x / Be a Successful Consultant Preface / xi Through the rest of the book we will introduce the principal concepts, knowledge and information you require interspersed with exercises, within specific areas, to become a successful consultant. Then we will use checklists and discussion questions to help you implement the key ideas. In addition, we will follow four people as they evaluate whether they wish to be consultants, and as they make a start in the consulting profession. Extra examples will be provided where necessary to clarify points. The book is hands on, and throughout you will find the material organized into several categories designed to create a learning experience that is interactive, inspiring, informative, and clear. The information types include: Game plan An overview of what youwill achievewithin each chapter. Exercises Activities that can be used to tryoutmaterial and put concepts towork. Foul! To clear up a perception that may not be accurate. Coaching point A note or reminder about what to do or look for as you tryout the material. T|me out! A clari¢cation or side note. Scorecard A series of questions to help you review outcomes from each chapter. What’s in this book? This book comprises four main sections.   Section one: getting started. This section includes setting the scene on the consulting industry, evaluating your fit, deciding what type of consulting business you want to run and what you want success to look like. While the content could appear too high-level, time invested in this section will help secure a clear business direction.   Section two: getting clients. This section includes the part that most prospective consultants either miss or avoid: getting clients! This section includes practical tips to reduce the fear of selling and open up market opportunities in the most timee fficient way.   Section three: getting money. This section covers the content which most people gravitate towards – how much to charge and how to collect fees. Most of us want to make money as a consultant – this section will help you do that!   Section four: getting organized. This section describes techniques for organizing your business including getting your office set up, structuring consulting assignments and creating your consulting action plan. Unlike a ‘real job’ there is no company structure – you have to do all the organizing yourself! Where to start The following approach is recommended to optimize your use of this book. 1. Read Chapter 1: Setting the Scene. This chapter and its exercises will help to clarify what we mean by consulting. If you are an existing consultant, you can then choose which section of the book you think would help you most in your current business situation. If xii / Be a Successful Consultant you are a new consultant, we recommend completing Section One in its entirety before moving on to other sections. 2. Use the section most relevant to you. From this point the choice is yours, choose the section in which you have the most interest and jump in! 3. Complete the exercises. Many of the concepts described in this book are self-evident, but just because they are common sense does not mean that they are common practice. Spending time completing the exercises can help to surface issues and enable you to make behaviour changes. 4. Share the exercises with those who are close to you. As we discuss later in this book, having a support structure is a critical differentiator between making the grade and failing as a consultant. Working through these exercises with those who are part of your support structure can not only help you to surface other issues, but can increase the mutual understanding of what you are doing and why! If you can imagine it, you can achieve it. If you can dream it, you can become it. William ArthurWard What else? Feel free to make the book your own: write in the spaces provided, complete the exercises and make a note of your learning. Remember, any behaviour change needs constant reinforcement: use this book as one of the tools in your toolkit in achieving consulting excellence! As a result of reading this book you will be able to evaluate whether consulting is an option you wish to consider. If you decide yes, then this book will give you an understanding of the steps you need to take to create a successful consulting business. I made the decision in 1994 and would never go back. Good luck! Susan Nash Preface / xiii This Page Intentionally Left Blank SECTION ONE: Getting Started This Page Intentionally Left Blank 3 CHAPTER ONE Setting the Scene Game plan The purpose of this chapter is to:   Explain why the current business environment is conducive to becoming a consultant.   Describe the self-employed market.   Define, for the purpose of this book, what we mean by consulting.   Understand the advantages and disadvantages of working for a consulting firm.   Introduce the case studies that we will be following throughout the book. The business environment in the new millennium Business life is changing drastically and these changes are creating new opportunities in the world of work, which is moving from a stable business environment in earlier decades to radical, complex and increasing change. Thirty years ago companies saw the future as somewhat predictable and manageable with gradual incremental change. Change occurred in a linear fashion where one cause produced only one effect, with a simple additive property, i.e. 1 + 1 = 2. Change now is being driven from a variety of perspectives and is happening exponentially. There are non-linear relationships between causes and effects, where there can be multiple solutions to one problem and there is synergy with the interaction of the parts, i.e. 1 + 1 = 4! 4 / Be a Successful Consultant T|me Out! Did you know that...   On average, individuals nowhave eight careers in their working lives.   In 1990 automobiles took six years from concept to production. By 1997 the process only took two years.   In 1984 the average product development cycle lasted three years. In 1990 it dropped to 18 months. In 1997 it was six months and still falling.   Most of Hewlett Packard’s revenues come from products that did not exist 24 months ago.   It used to take 7^14 years for half of aworker’s skills to be outdated.Today, it only takes three years for 50% or our skills to be outdated. Some of the causes of change are:   global competition   technological advances   decreasing product life cycles   multiple communication channels   expectation of instant/24 hour availability   change from manual to cerebral skills (70% of all jobs in Europe and 80% of all jobs in the USA will require cerebral skills)   virtual elimination of ‘jobs for life’. The Shamrock Organization As these changes are taking place the 1980s and 1990s saw a drastic restructuring in the economic workplace. David Birch describes this phenomenon as ‘atomizing’, where more and smaller businesses are performing the work that fewer and larger organizations did before. This strategy provides organizations with greater flexibility, reduction in costs (ensuring full-time people are not employed in quiet times) and greater adaptability. This atomizing has brought many changes to the way people work. In the USA almost 33 million people - more than the population of Canada - were found to be working from FULL-TIME: knowledge workers CONTRACT: knowledge workers PART-TIME: hourly, temporary Fig. 1.1 Shamrock Organization. home in the Link Resources 1990 National Work-at-Home Survey. Charles Handy, in his book The Age of Unreason, talked about the Shamrock Organization of the future (see Figure 1.1) which comprises three key components:   Full-time knowledge workers with specialized expertise.   Part-time, hourly or temporary workers who are flexible and provide less complex skills.   Contract workers who also possess specialized expertise but who provide this on a consulting or contract basis. The new self-employed market No bird soars too high if he soars with his ownwings. William Blake With the recession of the 90s, and collapse of the perceived employment contract between employers and employees, there has been an enormous jump in the number of people classified as self-employed. Setting the Scene / 5 T|me out! Did you know that:   In the UK the self-employed workforce comprises approximately 3.3 million people,13% of theworkforce contributing an estimated 65 billion pounds to the country’s economy, and over 1.5 million newjobs, according to the Barclay’s Bank Research Review, Starting Up in Business, July 1999.   The businesseswhich do best in the self-employedmarket are service businesses which historically require lower start up costs and less capital overhead, according to Godfrey Golzen in the DailyTelegraph,Working forYourself Book. The role of consulting is part of the self-employed service industry. Consulting remains a lucrative growth industry for those who are able to innovate for their clients’ benefit and it continues to be a productive outlet for thousands of solo practitioners who choose this profession over a 9-to-5 job working for someone else. De¢ning consulting Building up small businesses is the toughest job in the world. T|mWaterstone, Founder of theWaterstone’s bookshop chain Before we begin discussing consulting in more depth, spend a few moments to answer the questions below and then compare your answers with the later sections in this chapter and the next. Exercise 1-1 What does consulting mean to you? What do you understand by the term consulting? 6 / Be a Successful Consultant What is attracting you to the possibility of consulting at this time? What do you perceive to be the benefits of consulting over a full-time position? Coaching point Individuals are attracted to consulting for di¡erent reasons. Understanding why you are considering consulting, and the bene¢ts you expect, can enable you to assess objectively whether the realityof consulting is going tomatch your ideal. Consulting is a service business, which means that:   The deliverable is somewhat intangible (there may be tangible components such as products).   It is harder to standardize.   The person providing the service plays a considerable role in the success of the service.   It requires less start-up costs and often lower overheads – it can be you and an office! T|me out! Consulting can be de¢ned as providing independent services to meet a varietyof clients’needs in exchange for money. The critical factor is money. Foul! There will always be lots of opportunities for helping clients, but ensuring these clients are willing to pay is critical.While some individuals believe that giving away services is away to establish a client base and get started, you are devaluing your services by not charging for them. Free consulting generates lots of demand for . . . more free consulting!! Setting the Scene / 7 8 / Be a Successful Consultant Deciding to charge a lower rate to clients in the beginning stage of your business is a strategy we will discuss and evaluate in Chapter 7. The types of services that consultants provide will vary from industry to industry and individual to individual, and will include such support as problem-solving, assessing needs, making recommendations, providing additional resources and implementing ideas. Consulting can be viewed as a state of mind: a common approach to a situation whether you are internal or external to an organization. Consultants can range from, to name but a few:   Strategic planning consultants who help organizations define their vision and direction.   Process reengineering consultants who provide support evaluating and recommending process improvements.   Training consultants who provide services such as training programmes and curriculum development.   Computer consultants who may assess current systems effectiveness, and recommend or implement systems improvements.   Marketing consultants who help design new product improvements and design product launch strategies. T|me out! Consulting is de¢ned as di¡erent from contracting because, among other things, consultants:   have more than one client   are not told how, just what   have their own place of work   are responsible for their own output. Consulting is growing as organizations focus on their areas of speciality and use consultants to provide additional services. Many consulting companies originate when organizations lay off individuals and then use their services on a contract basis. Oracle has its own consulting division, and yet many consulting companies have sprung up to supplement its services. Because of the many changes in the business industry, there are many more consultants today than ever before. T|me out! The consulting industryis diverse, unregulated and broken into several categories:   Large national and multinational ¢rms employing more than 50 consultants, e.g. strategic consulting ¢rms such asMcKinsey and Company, and Bain and Company, the large accounting ¢rms such as KPMG, Ernst andYoung, etc.   Medium-sized ¢rms employing between ten and 50 consultants.   Individual practitioners. Venturemagazine (a US publication for small business startups) estimates that more than half of all consulting ¢rms are one-person operations.   Internal consultants.These consultants work with onlyone company’s divisions, subsidiaries and newacquisitions.The money they receive is their salary.   Public Agency consultants such as the General Accounting O⁄ce and the Service Core of Retired Executives provide consulting both to private and public businesses and to Government agencies.   Individuals between jobs. In fact, the following statement is often heard, ‘If you can’t do the work, you teach. If you can’t teach, you consult!’ Working for a consulting ¢rm To ¢nd out what one is ¢tted to do, and to secure an opportunity to do it is the key to happiness. John Dewey If you are not familiar with the consulting industry, working for a consulting firm can be a good way to get started. Below are listed the advantages and disadvantages of working for a consulting firm. Setting the Scene / 9 Advantages of working for a consulting firm   Clients are given to you.   Billing and collection of payment is done for you.   There is regular, dependable money.   This can provide an opportunity to learn the business.   Other resources are available such as copying, stationery, office space and equipment, etc.   You do not have to worry about taxes, as most consulting firms will pay you and deduct taxes at source.   Marketing is done for you. Disadvantages of working for a consulting firm   Many of the perceived disadvantages of ordinary full-time work are present.   There will be the same amount of politics as any other organization.   It is just another job.   The pay will not be as high.   You will have no opportunity to select clients. For the purposes of this book, we will be looking at the consulting market comprised of one-person consulting firms. Exercise 1.2 Would you bene¢t from working for a Consulting ¢rm? Answer the following questions to give you some insight as to whether working for a consulting firm would be a useful strategy to consider as you begin your consulting career. Yes No & & Have you ever worked for a consulting company? & & Have you ever worked for a small business? & & Have you had direct contact with paying customers? & & Have you had budgetary responsibility for costs and expenses? & & Have you been involved in generating revenue from customers? & & Have you worked in a department where you had little logistical support? & & Have you had to do your own invoicing and collection at any time? & & Have you had to work with no structure? & & Have you ever worked in an environment where you decided your own workload? 10 / Be a Successful Consultant   If you answered no to more than six questions, you may want to carefully assess whether you would benefit from working with a consulting company to ‘learn the ropes’.   If you answered yes to more than six questions, this could indicate that you have experienced a similar environment to the one in which you may be consulting and therefore you would not necessarily benefit from working for a consulting company.   Based on this assessment, make a note below of what appeals to you in working for a consulting firm.   What concerns you about working for a consulting firm?   What will you do as you get started? Coaching point Even if you answered no to many of the questions, this is no reason not to try independent consulting: you may be at the right point in your life to face the challenge. In the same way, you may choose to work for a consulting ¢rm even if you answered ‘yes’ more frequently as a di¡erent way to get started and build a network of contacts and some credibility with successful client engagements.There is no de¢nitive correct or incorrect approach! Case studies As we previewed in the introductory section, we will be following the paths of four individuals as they begin their consulting careers. The purpose of these case studies is to bring to life some of the challenges that individuals faced, and to make real the ideas and concepts introduced in each chapter. Setting the Scene / 11 Joe Joe has worked in high-tech marketing helping organizations launch products in a timely manner. He enjoys the challenge of product marketing, but feels that the environment of working in an organization, moves far too slowly for him. He is thinking of consulting to see if he can get more reward for what he does and create more time off for himself. Frank Frank is a hardware engineer who has been working for a high-tech company for several years. As the technical support business began to be more challenging, with shorter product life cycles and more push to generate revenue as well as ensuring customer satisfaction, he decided to begin to evaluate different working options. He has begun to run classes for the local college on how to reengineer support centres. He now has what appears to be a demand for his services on a contract basis and he wants to decide whether to start his own consulting business or to pass on the work to other colleagues who are currently independent. Julia Julia has spent over 20 years in the human resources field, covering all the basic HR functions: benefits, compensation, employee relations and legal compliance. She has worked in both large and small companies and therefore understands the complexities and needs inherent in both types of corporate environment. Most recently, she has worked for a start up that has gone public and she now has a reserve of shares which means that she does not have to work full time for a while. She is considering consulting as a more flexible working alternative. Marie Marie is 39 and has been in the training business for over 15 years. She spent seven years with a training company, which grew from three people to 100, during which time she was in the sales and marketing section. When she left the training company she worked for another company on the implementation side running training programmes and designing curricula. She then joined a retail company as Director of Training but is wondering whether running her own training consulting firm would be a more lucrative and rewarding option. 12 / Be a Successful Consultant Checklist 1. Did you define consulting and identify why you are interested in it? 2. Did you consider working for a full-time consulting firm? Scorecard Before moving on to Chapter 2, think about the following questions:   When you de¢ned consulting, what attracted you to consulting at this point and how objectivewere you in that assessment? Towhat extentwere you imagining an unrealistic upside to consulting as a career? How could you be more realistic in your assessment of consulting as an option?   When you evaluated working for a consulting ¢rm, what insights did you gain from that exercise? What could working for a consulting ¢rm provide to you as a career choice? What were the disadvantages youwere most aware of? How can you get the best of both worlds: independent consulting and working for a company? Setting the Scene / 13 CHAPTER TWO EvaluatingYour Fit Game plan The purpose of this chapter is to:   Identify the strengths and possible challenges inherent in pursuing an independent consulting career.   Present the characteristics of successful consultants.   Enable you to assess your strengths and possible challenges as a consultant.   Decide a plan of attack for the rest of this book. Being realistic about consulting Hard work spotlights the character of people: some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses, and some don’t turn up at all. Sam Ewig Often when professionals consider consulting as a profession, they see only the money that other consultants charge and focus on the advantages of consulting as an alternative to corporate employment. In reality, running your own consulting business has certain advantages and disadvantages. It is important to understand and consider both to ensure you capitalize on the advantages and manage the disadvantages. Being honest with yourself and keeping your eyes open will increase your chances of building a successful consulting business. 14 Evaluating Your Fit / 15 Exercise 2.1 Consulting advantages and disadvantages Let’s see how you perceived the advantages of consulting as a possible career choice. Go back to Exercise 1.2, the second and third questions. What do you perceive to be the benefits of working as an independent consultant? What do you perceive to be the possible disadvantages of working as an independent consultant? You may want to involve significant others in your life in this discussion! Coaching point > It can be very tempting to view consulting as the solution to all evils, the ‘miracle cure’ ^ particularly if you have just experienced a di⁄cult redundancy situation. However, in reality there are many disadvantages to a career as a full time consultant. Being aware of these can help you avoid them. Advantages and disadvantages of consulting On page 16 are listed some of the advantages and disadvantages that need to be evaluated when considering consulting as a full-time career. Foul! One of the most common false assumptions is that youwill earn more moneyand have greater £exibility in hours ^ time o¡ when you feel like it. Unfortunately that doesn’t factor the client into the equationwho alwayshas a critical project they want you towork on as soon as you try to take a holidayor dayo¡! Advantages of consulting   flexibility in hours and clothes   creativity in projects   diversity in work   higher pay (when working)   able to work own hours to match body clock   focus on work you like to do   no performance reviews   can choose work associates and environment   fewer politics   see the result of the work you do   get paid for the work you do not your political savvy   higher challenges   less constrained by a job description   greater impact   can hide money for retirement   in control of your own destiny   project orientation with a beginning, a middle and an end   wider opportunities   there is an opportunity for continuous learning   more time off. Disadvantages of consulting   uncertain and variable income – feast or famine   hard to find clients   always looking for work – constant marketing   must perform all tasks: marketing, finance, etc   no work, no pay   taxes can be a problem – time consuming and detail oriented   hard to get accurate feedback   very vulnerable to business cycles   many bosses   must be self-motivated   no holiday pay   must be healthy   must handle rejection   lonely/isolated   you have to self-train and pay for any training you do   it can be like starting a new job every day   may be difficult getting clients to pay on time   pay your own benefits   no support services   it ’s hard to leave work behind   the need to constantly shift between projects and other tasks. 16 / Be a Successful Consultant Evaluating Your Fit / 17 Exercise 2.2 Consulting advantages and disadvantages to you   Take a moment and review the previous list. Pick out the advantages that most appeal to you and list them below. Are these realistic in your current situation?   Now think about the disadvantages with which you most identified. How could you minimize these disadvantages so that they don’t trip you up? Advantages Disadvantages __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ Case study:Marie Maria has evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of consulting for her and believes that the benefits of reduced politics, greater challenge, control of the end product and variety of projects will overcome the potential disadvantages of needing a consistent revenue stream due to both children being at college. Coaching point > Make sure you include those who are important to you in these discussions.You may perceive lots of travel to be a bene¢t; those who are left at home to ‘man the fort’may not necessarily agreewith you! Not only does a consulting career involve certain advantages and disadvantages but there are certain key characteristics that contribute to successful consultants. Characteristics of successful consultants The entrepreneur is essentially a visualizer and an actualizer. He can visualize something, and when he visualizes it he sees exactly how to make it happen. Robert L. Schwartz Lifestyle Network Knowledge Ethics Credibility Personality Skills Consulting awareness Fig. 2.1. Categories for successful consultants. Consulting is a demanding profession and the requirements for success are therefore also demanding. T|me out! A study by the Association of Management Consultants entitled Personal Quali¢cations of Management Consultants found the following attributes essential for successful consultants:   understanding of people   integrity   courage   objectivity   ambition   problem-solving ability   judgment   ability to communicate   psychological maturity   good physical and mental health   professional etiquette and courtesy   stabilityof behaviour and action   self-con¢dence   intellectual competence   creative imagination. Robert E. Kelley, in his book Consulting, has summarized eight categories for successful consultants. 18 / Be a Successful Consultant Logistics Conducting projects Administration Financials Marketing Prospecting Selling and negotiating Fig. 2.2 Consulting process activities. Evaluating Your Fit / 19 To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream: not only plan, but also believe. Anatole France 1. Consulting process awareness Simplistically, as a consultant, you need to be able to:   market your service   deliver your service   organize your administration   be an accountant. However, in reality it is important to understand that consulting is a process with a series of stages. Each stage has a series of tasks that must be performed. At any one time, you need to be marketing, meeting with prospects, writing proposals, ‘doing the real work’, billing, collecting revenue, keeping your office organized and ensuring your services are smoothly delivered. Foul! The number one reason that consultants experience feast or famine is because they forget to continue marketing when they are working on one or multiple client projects. No matter how busy you arewith clients, all the other activities need to take place!! When you work for an organization, you often only have to work in a couple of areas. Your understanding of, and your ability to work simultaneously in, all steps of the process are critical to your overall business success. Most consultants fail because they fail to ‘multiplex’ adequately, and then neglect critical aspects of their business. Case study:Marie Marie has worked for a training-consulting firm as it grew from four people to over 150 employees. She has spent some time being an independent consultant, has worked as Director of Training for a retail company, and is now considering starting up her own consulting business again. During her employment she has continued providing limited consulting services for other clients, negotiating time off without pay from her employer. Because of her work with the training company, she has an excellent knowledge of the consulting process and possesses excellent sales and marketing skills. 2. Knowledge needed In order to consult, you must have specific expertise usually resulting from an in-depth knowledge of a particular industry, function or technique. You also need a broad business knowledge such as accounting, market and competitor knowledge, and company knowledge. Individuals who have worked for larger organizations often lack this broader business knowledge. Case study: Frank Frank has worked for a major computer hardware and software manufacturer for over 20 years. During this time he has been able to attend lots of training programmes, work in many different departments and been able to practise leading edge process reengineering. He has never done any consulting, so he believes the advantages to him are more control over his own destiny, greater potential income and diversity of projects. He knows he has limited knowledge of the consulting process and marketing strategies, but he believes with his network of contacts and his experience he has enough basis to explore consulting as a career choice. Skills required Most consultants have a specialized skill set. Successful consultants have all four of the skills in the following major categories: 20 / Be a Successful Consultant Evaluating Your Fit / 21   Technical/functional skills. You must have something of particular value to offer the client. This is an area of functional speciality such as marketing, product management, training, computer training, human resources, etc. These are the skills most individuals consider when considering consulting as a career option.   Communication/interpersonal skills. This is the ability to convey important information, both in verbal and written form. Ninety per cent of a consultant’s day is spent communicating. Without effective communication skills you will have no work. Specific communication skills include presentation skills, listening skills, and negotiating and writing skills. You also need interpersonal skills in order to effectively manage the behaviour of both the client and yourself during the engagement. Many consultants fail because they can do the work, but cannot communicate this ability to different clients.   Business management skills. This is the ability to understand the critical elements of running a business, including administration, cash flow, marketing, etc.   Administrative/organizational skills. These are the skills necessary for managing projects and paperwork.With no organization structure around you, you will not be successful, e.g. remembering to send a bill is critical! Case study: Julia Julia has in-depth human resources (functional) skills originating from her work in employee relations, benefits and compensation, and as a generalist. In addition, Julia is an excellent communicator. She excels at defining the outcome and defining the steps to achieve it in a logical way. Her work at small companies has provided her with a strong business background: as part of the executive team in three start-ups, she was no stranger to financial figures. Finally Julia is very organized – doesn’t go anywhere without her Palm Pilot! 3. Credibility Clients want to use someone they can trust and therefore need proof of your trustworthiness. You can build credibility both by referring to your background, and from your behaviour when you interact with the client. You can use accomplishments in previous jobs and referrals to build credibility when you are getting started. In addition, companies you have worked for in the past, and job titles you have held, can build your credibility. T|me out! Did you know that the number one way to build credibility with clients is Do WhatYou SayYou Will Do (DWYSYWD for short)? Your curriculum vitae (CV) can provide information on proven knowledge skills or experience. In some consulting areas specific qualifications can be used to establish credibility e.g. certification in a certain methodology. You also build credibility by doing what you say you will do: if you say you will send information, do it. If you can’t, call and explain why and try to negotiate a new deadline. 4. Personality Consultants tend to be self-starters, with high-energy levels, a high degree of selfcon fidence and a high tolerance for ambiguity. They need to be curious and creative in order to help clients solve problems. Other personality traits we have heard described by clients are self-discipline, perseverance, empathy, tenacity and detail orientation. Consultants must also be independent, assertive and tenacious. With no set pattern of work, and no formal performance evaluation process, a consultant has to be strongly selfdirected. A sense of humour is also a big help. T|me out! Did you know that, according to the Barclay’s Bank Small Business Characteristics, the following personality attributes were the top three for success?   90% were able to get onwith customers and sta¡   88% were highly motivated   84% were resilient ^ able to bounce back after problems. 5. Networking Consulting is a relationship sell. To survive as a consultant, you need to create personal and professional networks. These provide both a marketing base as well as a source of 22 / Be a Successful Consultant Evaluating Your Fit / 23 support and are critical for building an on-going practice. You also need a network of fellow consultants to provide help with specific large projects or fill in for you when necessary. As your network is such a key business development tool, more detail about networking is included in Chapter Five. Case study: Joe Joe’s number one strength is his network. He tends to be gregarious, social and energetic, with a fantastic sense of fun. Customers, team members and friends gravitate towards him because of his positive outlook and are always looking out for opportunities to work with him. 6. Acode of ethics Word travels fast. You are only as successful as your reputation is clear. A code of ethics can help you in guiding your decisions on what work to take or not take, and normally reflects things such as customer focus, regular examination of the consulting practice and open attitudes towards a variety of people. Foul! Remember even if you are desperate for money starting out, don’t take work for which you are not really quali¢ed. If you cannot deliver to a su⁄cient standard it will be damaging to your credibility. Better by far to ¢nd someone else who can do the work. Ultimately you get more work because what goes around comes around! 7. Lifestyles A consultant’s lifestyle may involve travel, long hours and pressure. The benefits balancing this are a high degree of autonomy, the chance to help and influence others, and the possibility of high earnings, status and respect. Too many consultants are not prepared, nor do they have the support structure for this lifestyle. It is important that your significant others understand the complexity of the process, realizing that a day working at home is not a day off, and that working at home is still working! Building a support structure of other consultants in the business will give you someone to lean on when the occasional proposal is rejected. Don’t kid yourself thinking you’ll have lots of time off. You won’t! Category Consulting process awareness Knowledge Skills Personality Credibility Ethics Network Lifestyle Your self-assessment Thorough knowledge of all steps from working for Bain and Company. Functional knowledge in business process reengineering. Good general business knowledge. Excellent written communication skills. May have to work on interpersonal skills with clients – can tend to be too abrupt. Excellent organization and follow-through skills. Resourceful and independent minded. Persistent. Over ten years’ consulting experience with major multinational organizations. Haven’t thought about it – will need to consider prior to taking first assignment. Strong network but for the organization not for me. Have to investigate non-compete clauses. Not married so plenty of freedom. Know several other independent consultants for advice and insight if needed. Case studies Frank Frank is recently divorced and has no additional financial responsibilities, so he thinks that this is the best time to try out being a consultant. Joe Joe’s partner works full time and is supportive of this opportunity for Joe to try out consulting. Based on these characteristics, it is often helpful to assess the extent to which you possess these qualities. Here is an example of a typical self-assessment: 24 / Be a Successful Consultant Category Consulting process awareness Knowledge Skills Personality Credibility Ethics Network Lifestyle Your self-assessment Evaluating Your Fit / 25 Exercise 2.3 Assessing your ability as a consultant   Take a moment and review the previous categories.   For each category, objectively assess your ability.   What are your strengths – how can you capitalize on them?   What about the areas in which you appeared weaker? How could you supplement your knowledge in each area?   Complete the table below.   Share this table with some business and personal friends and see what else they would add. 26 / Be a Successful Consultant Coaching point You don’t have to be pro¢cient in all areas, you just need to be able to work on your strengths and balance any potentialweaknesses. Of all the categories, probably consulting process awarenessdoes represent the most important factor to consider because this in£uences the overall activities of your consulting business. Consulting, and the four temperaments The unexamined life is not worth living. Socrates Individuals often use a detailed self-assessment process, such as taking the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI1) to more fully understand and work with their innate preferences see Appendix. As a consultant, you are what you sell, so self-knowledge is critical to running a successful business in order to capitalize on your strengths and overcome your weaknesses. David Keirsey’s is the synthesizer of modern temperament theory. Using his concepts of temperament will also enable you to more fully understand your innate needs and values. Each of us views the world through our own set of lenses and perceptions, distorting reality to match our own mental picture. We are all unique individuals with our own complexities and idiosyncrasies, but for the 25 centuries since Socrates four basic patterns have been consistently and cross-culturally recognized in the human personality. T|meout! Temperament theoryis based on four sets of themes.These sets serve as fractals of personality. A fractal is ‘a pattern underlying seemingly random phenomena.’ The human personality is complex and varying, but temperament reveals the underlying inborn foundation on which it is built. In temperament theory, we start with an understanding of the core themes and then examine our basic psychological needs, our core values, our favourite talents, our common approaches and habitual worldview. People with the same temperament share the same core needs and values.This does not mean that these people are all the same! There arewide Animal Notes Fox Beaver Owl Dolphin Adapted from Linda Berens, The Facilitator’s Guide varieties, but with strong shared needs. For example, string instruments are a family of musical instruments, but there are huge di¡erences between a guitar and a double bass. Temperament characteristics David Keirsey, in Please Understand Me and Please Understand Me II, selected an animal as a metaphor for each temperament. He believed the innate patterns of behaviour and preferences demonstrated by each animal were somewhat reflective of the characteristics associated with each human temperament. Exercise 2.4 Animal characteristics In the space below list four or five things you know about, or associations you have, regarding each of the following animals: Evaluating Your Fit / 27 Animal Fox Beaver Owl Dolphin Characteristics   appear as fast reacting, quick and resourceful animals   excellent sensory perception: can hear a mouse squeak from up to 100 feet!   leave a scent mark because they want others to know they have been there   alert to the environment – notice any change of movement in the landscape   animals frequently play together   take advantage of opportunities – eat any animal they find and can catch   adaptable – change location easily based on environmental changes or alterations in the food supply   beautiful, well-groomed fur   appear as busy, industrious, hard working animals   multi-generational family structure: mate for life, are protective of their family and live in family groups   build strong dams to protect their lodges—specific manner of building keeps water entrances from freezing over in winter   build in a consistent manner and continually enlarge and repair dam and lodge as needed   use large flat tails for packing down materials and slapping the water to warn others of danger   conserving: use all parts of the tree they cut down and stockpile food for winter use   cooperate and rarely fight with other beavers   will change location, but with ample consideration of adequate water, forest and seclusion   appear as wise and knowledgeable animals   expansive vision: see 100 times better than humans and head rotates almost 360 degrees   big watchful eyes and solemn stance give the appearance of wisdom and composure   scan everything from a high perch then silently swoop down to precisely pick out prey   from their high perch, see things coming in the forest before other animals   anticipate food supply and stagger young accordingly   acute hearing works in a three-dimensional sense – can precisely locate prey in the dark or underneath groundcover   one of the few universal animals: complex varieties are present in every region of the world   independent: will make sure their offspring leave the nest at a young age after receiving the critical teachings   appear as sociable, fun and playful animals   seek interaction with other dolphins and other species   stay with their group – some dolphin species die if separated   advanced communication using complex sounds (phonations) and echolocation   each dolphin and family group has a ‘name’ which is specific and unique to them   aid the pregnant and injured of their own species and have a ‘healing’ quality for those who swim with them   use consensus decision-making to change direction   practise hunting skills as play and aid each other against predators   use nose to nudge and guide, but can use it to kill a shark if attacked In the following chart you’ll find an expansion of the list you just started on the general characteristics of the four animals. Explore each set, paying special attention to the major patterns, and keep your own behaviours, needs and values in mind as a point of comparison. Animals and characteristics 28 / Be a Successful Consultant Fox & Beaver & Owl & Dolphin & Fox: the Artisan temperament Driven by the need to respond in the moment; free-thinking and adaptable, Artisans like to live one day at a time, seizing the day and all the freedom they can get. They are the natural crisis managers and performers. Words to describe Artisans’ roles as consultants have included tacticians, troubleshooters, fire-fighters and negotiators. Owl: the Rational temperament Driven by the need for knowledge and competence; big picture focused and independent, Rationals seek to understand the operating principles of all around them and create their own destiny. Words to describe Rationals’ roles in consulting have included strategists, marketing, design and systems analysts. Evaluating Your Fit / 29 Exercise 2.5 Choosing a mascot Which animal do you most identify with?What were the characteristics that most appealed to you and why? Write your answers in the appropriate box. Coaching point Every personwill have elements ofall four temperaments.What is useful to identify is the most important driving forces for you as an individual. This will tend to in£uence what you enjoy about consulting and your ultimate success at it. These animal ‘mascots’ correspond to the four temperament names we will be using in the following ways: Beaver: the Guardian temperament Driven by the need to be responsible, build results and be part of a team, Guardians wish to serve and protect those close to them. Words to describe Guardians’ roles in consulting have included process improvement, statistical process control, reengineering and quality management. Dolphin: the Idealist temperament Driven by the need to have a purpose; relationship-focused and empathetic, Idealists are soul-searchers who constantly quest for meaning and significance in their lives. Words to describe Idealists’ roles in consulting have included coaches, catalysts, advocates and facilitators. Artisan Guardian Rational Idealist As we take a closer look at the characteristics of each temperament, the symbolic meaning of each mascot will become increasingly clear. Once we understand our own basic patterns, it becomes much easier to make more effective choices and communicate with those who are different from us. Let’s look at these temperaments in more detail. (see page 31) Now that you have reviewed the characteristics of each temperament, use the following exercise to explore yourself to see which temperament you most gravitate towards. Exercise 2.6 Exploring temperaments In the space below, within each box:   Write your name in what you perceive to be your ‘best-fit’ temperament box with the characteristics of that temperament with which you most associate.   You may also be gravitating towards a second temperament: write your name in that box, also with the characteristics of that temperament with which you associate.   Read the case studies for further clarification. You can also read more about temperament at keirsey.com. 30 / Be a Successful Consultant Characteristics of each temperament Characteristics Estimated percentage of world population Driving forces/core needs Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) letters Work approach Time preference/focus Communication style Language Favourite Words/ Expressions What appeals as a consultant Examples Quote Gift to the world Artisan Approximately 40% Be noticed or make an impact Get a result Act swiftly and practically in the moment SP Seek to make an impact with their style and skills Tactical trouble-shooters and fire-fighters The present: here and now Net it out/get to the point Concise communication – less is more Informal/casual with occasional slang Creatively and humorously economical Fun Excitement Challenge Flexibility Solve tactical problems See tangible results Challenge Excitement and stimulation Winston Churchill, JFK, Larry Ellison, Michael Jordan, Barbara Streisand The right man is the one who seizes the moment Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe Making the best of the present moment Guardian Approximately 40% Act responsibly and dutifully Be part of a group or team Contribute to a concrete goal or accomplishment SJ Get the right thing to the right place, in the right quantity at the right price at the right time Put in repeatable processes The past: what was done before Linear and sequential: 1,1a, 1b, 2, 2a, 2a.1 etc. Structured: beginning, middle, end Respectful and appropriate to the group Conventional ‘Do you remember when?’ ‘What’s your experience?’ Comparisons, better than/worse than Make a contribution See tangible results Structure Improve a process Security/stability Queen Elizabeth, Colin Powell, John Rockefeller, Mother Theresa, Barbara Walters The buck stops here Harry Truman Bringing the best of the past to the future Rational Approximately 10% Demonstrate knowledge and competence Be an expert Retain autonomy and control in activities NT Logical, independent, strategic thinkers Driven to improve systems and redesign processes The future: infinite time orientation Abstract around models Uses critical questioning Precise and articulate Avoids redundancy Why? Conditionals: ‘If X, then Y.’ Relevant facts and data Intellectual stimulation Improve a system Leading edge Opportunity for independent thought Challenge Margaret Thatcher, Thomas Jefferson, Bill Gates, Ayn Rand, Cybill Shepherd I do not think much of a man who is not wiser today than he was yesterday Abraham Lincoln Designing a better future Idealist Approximately 10% Have a greater purpose and meaning for actions Develop their own and others’ potential Seek unique identity NF Build bridges between groups Provide connection and enthusiasm The future: life’s a journey forward Empathetic Flowing and effusive Generalizations and impressionistic Employ hyperbole Integrate Connection Meaning Contribute to the overall goal Make a difference Genuine relationships Theories that can be related to people Being special Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Walt Disney, Ann Morrow Lindbergh, Jane Fonda Happiness is when what you think and what you say and what you do are in harmony Mahatma Gandhi Bringing hope for a better future Evaluating Your Fit / 31   Based on what you have chosen: what would be your strengths as a consultant? What do you need in order to succeed? What might be your potential weaknesses? Strengths Potential challenges __ _ __ _ __ _ __ _ Coaching points   Whether you see yourself in one of these temperament patterns or not, you are in the right place. If you see yourself clearly in one temperament ^ great! Keep learning about it and others. Think about what that means in terms of your actions and interactions.   If you see yourself in more than one temperament, don’t feel lost.Most of us see a bit of ourselves in all four groupings. Don’t feel that temperament is a box you are being stu¡ed into.We are complex beings and these categories are a simpli¢ed set of similarities. These are patterns to identify with and in noway will be able to completely de¢ne you. Case studies: temperament as consultants Joe is anArtisan. He enjoys hands-on, fast-paced work that produces concrete results. One of his greatest highs is in seeing a new product successfully launched. He enjoys multiplexing between different tasks and his greatest challenge at work is getting bored because the work is tending to get repetitive. He is great at picking up opportunities in the moment, and this has contributed to him being very successful at product launches. (His MBTI1 type is ESFP – one of the four versions of Artisans.) Frankis aGuardian. He enjoys working in a team, and contributing to concrete results. He naturally establishes structure, organization and processes and uses his sequential thinking innately in his process reengineering work. He enjoys managing projects because there is a beginning, middle and end, and will pride himself on living up to his responsibilities. (His MBTI type is ESTJ – one of the four versions of Guardians.) 32 / Be a Successful Consultant Evaluating Your Fit / 33 Julia is a Rational. She enjoys starting with the big picture and using logical thinking to achieve a long-term goal. She enjoys the independence and autonomy that her role in HR provides and particularly enjoys working with the executive team on strategic analysis and direction. She enjoys creating a model for human resource practices but tends to want to move on when the work becomes more routine. (Her MBTI1 type is INTJ – one of the four versions of Rationals.) Marieis an Idealist. She enjoys working in the training and development field because this innately focuses on developing people’s abilities and potential. She enjoys meeting and interacting with a variety of people, and can normally find connections with others. Her empathy allows people to open up to her and enables her to assess clients’ needs. (Her MBTI1 type is ENFJ – one of the four versions of Idealists.) So do people enjoy being self-employed? Going towork for a large company is like getting on a train: are you going 60 miles per hour or is the train going 60 miles an hour and you’re just sitting still? J. Paul Getty After considering all the previous factors, disadvantages, the knowledge, skills and personality you need to become a successful consultant, by this point you might be thinking ‘Is this worth it?!’ Interestingly enough, research conducted in 2000 by MORI (a major market research agency) into Britain’s self-employed, documented in IWant To BeMy Own Boss – Inside the New Self-Employed Revolution, came up with the following results. T|me Out!   86% said self-employment was more enjoyable than having a permanent job   85% would take the same decision again towork for themselves   78% feel they nowhave a much better qualityof life   65% claim to have more time to do the things they enjoy. Source: Alodis/MORI poll 2000 So, in order to assess whether consulting is for you, investigate the area in which you wish to consult and consider another few key pointers:   do something you really enjoy   build a network; talk to as many people as you can in the business   set realistic goals   be patient. Exercise 2.7 Is consulting for you? Checklist Spend a few moments reviewing the information and the characteristics described on the previous pages and evaluate how closely you meet those criteria.   Do you fully understand the consulting process?   What are your functional skills or specialized content knowledge?   How do you rate your skills?   How credible are you as a consultant?   Does your personality fit?   Did you have a clearly defined code of ethics?   What is the size of your network?   Does consulting fit your lifestyle?   Can you deliver the work?   Can you market the work?   Can you organize the work?   Can you budget to manage the ups and downs?   Is this work something you really enjoy? 34 / Be a Successful Consultant Evaluating Your Fit / 35 Scorecard Before moving on to Chapter 3, think about the following questions:   In terms of considering the advantages and disadvantages of consulting as a profession, have you created an objective list of pros and cons of this profession to you? Have you discussed this list with thosewho are close to you? Have you discussed the list with peoplewho are consultants in your chosen area of practice?   In terms of the qualities of successful consultants, have you evaluated yourself against the critical categories outlined by Kelley? What are your critical competencies? Where do you rate yourself as lacking skills, knowledge or expertise? How can you capitalize on your competencies? How could you build capabilities where you perceive you may be exposed?   Have you completed the exercises on temperament? Have you reviewed the other temperament descriptions so that you are familiar with the di¡erences and complexities of each temperament? What e¡ect do you think your temperamentmight have on your ability as a consultant? CHAPTER THREE WhatType of Consulting Business Are You Running? Game plan The first critical stage in starting your own practice is to be specific about your business direction by defining your vision for the future of your consulting business, identifying your unique selling proposition, and categorizing the main responsibilities for your consulting business. The purpose of this chapter therefore is to help you:   Create a vision for your consulting business to keep you focused on ‘bad days’.   More clearly articulate your possible strengths and weaknesses as a consultant.   Clearly define what you can uniquely contribute to the client.   Analyse your business using SWOT analysis.   Build an overview of your business activities so that you can focus on what is important. Why de¢ne your business before jumping in? Often when individuals consider becoming a consultant, they think of the logistical steps in getting started such as getting business cards, setting up the office, buying a computer, etc. But the first critical stage in starting your own practice is to define what you want your business to ‘be’. Most people begin with a vague notion they want to be a consultant but it is very important to become specific. 36 Vision Unique selling proposition SWOT analysis Key result areas Objectives Fig. 3.1. Steps in setting business direction. What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 37 Foul! When people describewhat they want to do theymake two main mistakes:   First, they explain what they want to do in vague, long sentences.   Second, they try to be a‘jack-of-all-trades’and not be tied to one area.Trying to be all things to all people can result in not being anything to anyone! De¢ning your vision What is a vision statement? True vision is always twofold. It involves emotional comprehension aswell as physical perception. Ross Parmenter A vision is defined as a picture of future greatness, a definition of core values, and a lighthouse towards the frontier. Your vision must make sense to others, stretch your imagination, give an ‘aha’ effect, but at the same time be within the bounds of possibility. Your vision statement describes the grand idea of what you are about, the future as you want it to be: ‘I am in the business of. . .’ The vision statement must be reasonably precise yet still provide a general direction to your consulting business. Coaching point While some of these exercises in this section may appear time consuming and not directly linked to deliverables, investing in this areawill produce long term bene¢ts for you and your consulting business through greater focus and raised motivation. The vision statement tends to be abstract, high level, without much concrete detail. It has also been compared to the North Star: high above, constantly present, universally known, guiding direction. The purpose of your vision statement is to guide your decision-making, provide a yardstick to keep you on track and provide inspiration in achieving your goals. Examples of vision statements Examples of Vision statements from organizations are: Oracle: To enable the Information Age through network computing. Kepner Tregoe: We focus on the human side of change through providing skills development programs and consulting services. Raychem: Towin the respect of our Customers around the world by being a leader in delivering innovative solutions. Case study: Frank’s vision Frank defined his vision as ‘To help call centres optimize their productivity’. He believed this provided a good overall direction, but that it did not limit him to only process reengineering. Key words in his vision statement were ‘call centres’ (this could include technical support and customer service centres), ‘optimize’, ‘productivity’. He wanted to ensure that any work he conducted would have a tangible bottom line effect on the company. ‘If it did not make a difference at 9 on a Monday morning, he would not have succeeded.’ Differentiating between vision andmission statements A mission statement communicates the vision by considering several critical variables:   What is it that the organization wants to do?   Who is the organization’s customer? 38 / Be a Successful Consultant What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 39   What are our values?   What profit do we need to make? When you are getting started in your consulting business, using a vision statement alone, with key result areas is probably adequate. Adding another level of detail may make the process too complex. Creating your vision statement T|me out! A man was passing a work site and saw three bricklayers. He approached the ¢rst bricklayer and asked ‘What are you doing?’ The man answered,‘Making a living.’ He asked the second man the same question and he answered,‘Laying bricks.’He asked the third worker the same question and the man responded,‘Building a Cathedral.’A strong vision statement enables you to feel as though you are building a cathedral, not just laying bricks ormaking a living. Exercise 3.1 De¢ning your vision statement   Take a moment and think about the following questions: – Why do you want to be a consultant? – What is it that you primarily want to achieve? – What do you want your customers to achieve using your services? – What is your ultimate theme? – What is the reason your consulting business was created? – What would success look like for you? – Think of an ideal day: what would you do? Who would you work with? Where would you work? What would be the result? – Think of some times you felt really motivated: what were you doing? With whom? – What made it motivational for you?   Now try to write your vision statement in the space below: My vision statement is: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________   Now check your vision statement using the following questions. Yes No & & Does your vision statement energize you? & & Does your vision statement reflect all the services you could provide? & & Can you remember your vision statement without referring to a written version?   Share your answers with friends and consultants to get feedback.   Now integrate these ideas to create a more focused vision statement. Make sure it answers the earlier questions and that it consists of less than nine words to ensure that it is easy to remember. My vision statement is: _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ Coaching point Creating a vision statement will take you some time to complete. Often the ¢rst ideas you come up with tend to be more detail oriented. If this is the case you will need to continue re¢ning the statement by talking to friends, professional acquaintances and prospective customers.T|me invested in this areawill reap rewards for your business in the long term. 40 / Be a Successful Consultant What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 41 Case study:Marie Marie defined her vision as ‘To provide consulting services to allow individuals and teams to maximize results’. Although the statement is a little long, she believes the vision encompasses the critical direction of her business: the key words are ‘consulting’, and ‘individuals’, ‘teams’, and ‘results’. She would have preferred to say ‘develop their potential ’ but she thinks that these words might not be acceptable in the business community. Common challenges that arise in trying to define a vision include being too specific, too ‘pie in the sky’; not able to share with customers, or appearing as if they are not related to business objectives. De¢ning strengths and weaknesses Now that we have identified our vision, we need to define what we ‘bring to the table’ to aid our clients; our unique selling proposition. The first step in this process is to be able to objectively define our strengths and competencies. Many are natural to us and therefore we do not think about them, but in order to capitalize on our strengths we need to be aware of them. This above all; to thine own self be true. William Shakespeare When we raised the topic of self-knowledge while working with a 50-year-old client from IBM, he questioned ‘Do you honestly think people reach the age of 50 without knowing themselves?’ Our answer: ‘Absolutely!’ Understanding what is important to us and how we operate is not necessarily as obvious as you might think. Looking inside and trying to sort out the collage of abilities, skills, strengths and weaknesses that make up our personality can be quite a challenge. Consider the complexity of developing an accurate perception of your own strengths and weaknesses. In the strengths and weaknesses window below, there are four quadrants. 2 1 3 Some Weaknesses 4 Some Strengths + Conscious – Unconscious + Competence – Incompetence Strengths and weaknesses window Fig. 3.2. Conscious and unconscious competence.   Quadrant 1: Conscious competence: We are aware of certain talents, skills and abilities.   Quadrant 2: Conscious incompetence. We are also painfully aware of some of our weaknesses, blind spots, and shortcomings. However, there are also two other quadrants that others may see, but that we are not tuned into.   Quadrant 3: Unconscious incompetence. These include our most plaguing weaknesses. We don’t know, but we don’t know that we don’t know!   Quadrant 4: Unconscious competence: These are some of our key strengths, although we take them for granted because they are natural to us. We know, but we don’t know that we know! How you see yourself can very significantly different from how others see you. The implications of this possible lack of self-knowledge on your business performance are considerable. You might think you were communicating clearly, but the client could have no idea what you were talking about! 42 / Be a Successful Consultant What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 43 I have had more troublewith myself thanwith anyother man I have met. Dwight L.Moody Exercise 3-2: Looking at your strengths andweaknesses Use the blank strengths and weaknesses window that follows to self-assess your innate abilities, skills and aptitudes by quadrant.   Quadrant 1: Conscious Competence. Think about a significant work achievement. What was that achievement? What made this an important success for you? What did you uniquely say or do that contributed to this achievement? What did you do here that was different from what others might have done? What was it that you were able to uniquely contribute to the success of this project? What strengths might have enabled your accomplishment? Try to list at least three specific strengths in quadrant 1.   Quadrant 2: Conscious incompetence. Think about a work task that was not as successful as you wished it to be. Why was it a disappointment? What did you specifically say or do that might have contributed to this occurrence? What possible weaknesses can you infer from your analysis? List them in quadrant 2.   Quadrant 3: Unconscious incompetence. Talk to three people whom you like and respect. Ask them for their honest feedback on what they perceive to be your greatest weakness or challenge. List at least one challenge in quadrant 3 that they mention, but that you did not note in quadrant 2.   Quadrant 4: Unconscious competence. Ask the same individuals what attributes, characteristics or competencies they value most about you. List at least three strengths in quadrant 4 that they observe, but that you did not note in quadrant 1 2 1 3 4 + Conscious – Unconscious + Competence – Incompetence Stengths and weaknesses window Fig. 3.3. Your strengths and weaknesses. Coaching point Think about this exercise using these questions:   What did you learn about your possible strengths fromthis exercise?   What did you learn about your possible challenges fromthis exercise?   What implications could this learning have for understanding your abilities as a consultant? Identifying your unique selling proposition Your unique selling proposition is how you define your specific contribution within your chosen area of expertise. It identifies why someone should buy your services and not someone else’s. It is a statement reflecting your competitive advantage. 44 / Be a Successful Consultant What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 45 Exercise 3.3. De¢ning your unique selling proposition Now that you have identified both your areas of conscious competence (known strengths) and unconscious competence (innate strengths), think about what this means to your clients in terms of what you can bring to the table that others can’t. Example: Adirectorof training at a retail company had rolled out a sales training programme to over 200 retail stores, resulting in a 16% comparative store sales increase. The company had tried to roll out a sales training programme two years previouslyand it had not worked.When he asked the question‘What did he do that the previous director of training had not done?’ he identi¢ed the following factors that had uniquely contributed to the programme’s success.   He had obtained senior management commitment.   He had involved the retail team in the development of the programme.   He had simpli¢ed the design of the content.   He had ensured therewere follow-up strategies in place to ensure continuityof change. From this he deduced that part of his unique selling proposition was his ability to accurately identify customer needs, tailor an appropriate solution to customer needs and thereby to ensure solutions were commercially viable. Please spend a few moments and identify critical components in your unique selling proposition. Coaching point Asking friends, previous employers and professional peers for their insight can provide other useful data in documenting your unique selling proposition. Often it is hard for us to identify our positive characteristics. Your unique selling proposition has both an internal and an external focus. For instance a trainer might claim her unique selling proposition (with an internal focus to her business) is that she has excellent facilitation skills. The unique selling proposition from the customer’s perspective (the external focus) is that she has the ability to motivate small and large groups. Case Study: Julia Julia’s unique selling proposition is that she is a business-focused, strategic human resources partner. She specializes in integrating human resources policies with business requirements to minimize risk and legal liability. She refined this understanding by talking to previous employers and colleagues and asking them to explain what they valued about her insights. They told her that unlike many HR professionals who tend to talk about rules and structure, she linked this knowledge to business issues and needs. Your vision and unique selling proposition are valuable, in terms of the direction they provide to your business, but also in terms of their use in marketing your services. While the process of defining them is difficult, they are a critical step in your journey to create your own successful consulting business. Make sure you continue working on your vision and unique selling proposition until they are accurate. SWOTanalysis What is success? I think it is a mixture of having a £air for the thing that you are doing; knowing that it is not enough, that you have got to have hard work and a certain sense of purpose. MargaretThatcher SWOT analysis means taking a probing look at the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that face your consulting business. The analysis is a process of investigating and brainstorming the factors working for and against your practice that could affect overall performance. 46 / Be a Successful Consultant Strengths 20 years’ experience Excellent network of contacts Great background in successfully launching products Great marketing skills Package of services available to sell Action oriented Opportunities Thriving market Companies are downsizing so there is more demand for outsourcing services Product marketing has proven business results Many business publications talk about the speed of product release being critical to business success Weaknesses Lack of administrative support Lack of procedures Limited financial resources Too broad a focus Dislike of doing the mundane part of project management Threats Many one-person and larger consulting firms Future financial market stability Difficulty in raising market awareness Difficulty in clearly identifying the advantage in his services What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 47 T|me out! Strengthsand weaknessesrefer to your business’s internal advantages and potential disadvantages. These factors are in your direct control. Opportunitiesand threatsallude to aspects outside of your direct control that might open up potential (opportunities) or result in negative consequences (threats). Opportunities and threats can both originate in the market at large or from other consulting organizations. The purpose of SWOT analysis is to view the world in which you are performing from a macro perspective. This vantage point ensures that the planned strategy and direction are possible, given your inherent strengths and weaknesses. It also assures that the strategy is geared towards capitalizing on opportunities and minimizing threats. Case study: Joe’s SWOTanalysis Joe’s SWOT analysis included the following data: Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats Exercise 3.4 Conducting SWOTanalysis for your business   Spend some time individually brainstorming what you perceive to be the strengths and possible weaknesses of your consulting business. Use the ideas listed in the conscious and unconscious competence grid to further supplement your ideas.   Then consider the market you are targeting for your services. Spend a few moments listing opportunities and threats of which you are aware. Take the opportunity to talk to other people in the same market segment, friends, colleagues, other consultants, etc. (See Chapter 5 for more detail on market research strategies.) List the associated opportunities and threats in the grid below.   Thinking about your strengths and weaknesses, what would you have to do to capitalize on your strengths and minimize your weaknesses to optimize your consulting business results?   Considering the current business climate, what can you do to take advantage of opportunities and minimize the risks associated with the threats? 48 / Be a Successful Consultant What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 49 Coaching point Conducting a SWOTanalysis is great when you start your business, but is also useful once a year to keep a pulse on your business opportunities. Case study: Frank Frank believed that working for large organizations was where he could add the most value. He thought his unique selling proposition is ‘A technically competent engineer who can accurately improve call centre operations’. He believed many engineers, while they possessed the technical skills to undertake process reengineering, lacked the interpersonal skills required to build relationships, and be a successful consultant. In his SWOT analysis he identified as opportunities the huge growth in call centres, but highlighted as a possible weakness/threat the challenges of being a small player in such a huge unregulated market. He realized he would have to use creative marketing channels to be able to successfully launch his business. Establishing key result areas Now that you have established your overall direction, it is important to define your essential business responsibilities. If a man knows not what harbour he seeks, any wind is the right wind. Seneca Linkingwhat towhen While many consultants set objectives for their business often there is no direct link between the business’s vision/unique selling proposition and the tasks that have to be completed on a day-to-day basis. In fact, often you have what appears to be a never-ending list of projects, while what you do day-to-day is not represented at all. As a result you appear as though you are not performing and become overloaded and stressed. T|me out! Key result areasre£ect the most important areas of your consulting business responsibilities, the areas inwhich results have to be achieved.You need to concentrate your time and resources in these sectors in order to accomplish your goals. Establishing key result areas is a valuable technique that links the overall direction of your consulting practice with project goals and milestones. This grouping procedure is a valuable tool in managing workload as the process complements the way the human brain naturally works. Guidelines for defining key result areas Key result areas do not describe the type of results to be achieved, but rather categorize work into headings. This grouping procedure is a valuable tool for consultants as the process complements the way the human brain naturally works. T|me out! Overviewand the brain: Did you know that. . .?   The subconscious brainworks 24 hours a day and has, as far as we know, unlimited capacity.   We also have a conscious brain, whichworks only whenwe are awake and can concentrate on one thought at a time. As a result, whenwe have a multitude of tasks to completewe may feel overloaded.   The preconscious brainreduces this perceived overload because it can keep an outline or overview of seven +/- two, i.e., ¢ve to nine categories. We now need to group all the tasks we need to complete fewer than seven to nine headings in order to be able to build an overview of overall workload: the key result areas. This process also gives a feeling of control and can reduce stress. 50 / Be a Successful Consultant Be brief Use a maximum of one to four words for your key result area titles. Example: financial management. Headings Key result areas should be headings that describe areas within which team results are to be achieved. They should not state specific aims or performance standards. Example: ‘customer satisfaction’ would be a key result area not ‘increase customer satisfaction scores by. . . %’. Complete Key result areas should cover all aspects of your business – all you do and ought to do needs to be included somewhere in a key result area. Clear Key result areas should be immediately understandable to yourself and others. Example: ‘problem identification’ might be too vague: what problems? Avoid overlapping When two key result areas are just different aspects of the same subject, they should be combined into one topic. Example: ‘marketing communications’ and ‘advertising’ could be combined under ‘marketing management.’ Scope Your key result areas should not extend beyond your sphere of responsibility. Key result area Target companies/clients Explanation This section will include specific companies that are targeted as specific clients. When the first client is closed and paid for (see section two), this key result area will become current clients. What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 51 Guidelines for defining key result areas Case study: Joe’s key result areas Business development Marketing activities Product development Organization/planning Financial management Networking Professional development This section includes activities such as his sales phone calls, e-mails, proposals, sales appointments and contracts. It involves everything from the time the lead surfaces as a prospect to the time he begins the actual work. See Chapter 6 for more specifics. This section includes activities such as conducting market research, advertising, PR, creating flyers, distributing newsletters, etc. This reflects the more indirect building of market awareness and client interest. See Chapter 5 for more specifics. This section includes defining and developing the range of products and services. Joe needs to more clearly define his product offering in terms of the benefits to customers and the specific features that are provided. See Chapter 5 for more specifics. Joe is very aware that planning is not his strong suit. This section includes a month by month action plan – see Chapter 10 for more information This area includes invoicing, cash management, credit collection and forward budgeting. See Chapter 7 for more specifics. Joe believes at this early stage that his network is so important that he wants to keep it as a separate key result area to remind him to invest time and energy in this area every week. See Chapter 5. Joe wants to ensure he does not neglect his own development so he has established a key result area to highlight this aspect of his time management. 52 / Be a Successful Consultant What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 53 Key result areas Hewhowants to do everythingwill never do anything. Andre¤ Maurois Productivity means accomplishing goals and achieving results. If you are to achieve your overall goals, you need to clearly visualize them and spend your time on the right things, your key result areas. Highly productive consultants carefully focus their planning and management of activities around key result areas. They choose to make these a constant priority and manage other responsibilities after these key areas are taken care of. Examples of key results areas:   finance   projects   sales   quality   marketing   research and development   team development   manufacturing   customer service   vendor management   operations   purchasing   communication   process improvement   reporting   project management   problem identification. Establishing your key result areas Now that we have reviewed the principles inherent in defining key result areas and provided an example, it is time to define your key result areas. Exercise 3.5 De¢ning your key result areas   Individually list the projects/tasks and activities you have on your to-do list onto Post-It notes.   Write one specific task or activity on each Post-It1 note.   In addition, you can ask yourself the following questions: – Where do I need to pay attention in order to keep an edge on my business? – What results am I expected to achieve? – What activities bring the best return? – How do I spend my time? – In which areas can I work to create specific results for my company and/or myself? – What will create the future for my consulting business?   When you cannot think of any more tasks or activities, start moving the Post-It1 notes together if they seem to relate to similar things until you have no more than nine categories, but you could include as few as five. For instance, generating invoices and collecting receivables would be placed next to each other.   Think about a heading that would describe each group; this heading will be the name of the key result area. Example For instance you might have ideas like:   brainstormlist of contacts   write business plan   do market research   de¢ne product/service   talk to people who said they would help me out   do a budget   get a computer   get software These tasks could be grouped under di¡erent headings: Marketing   do market research   de¢ne product/service Networking   brainstormlist of contacts   talk to people who said they would help me out 54 / Be a Successful Consultant Key result area Description What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 55 Administration/set up   get a computer   get software Financial Control   write business plan   do a budget   Transfer your key result areas list to the form below. Blank key result area form MY KEY RESULT AREAS 1 Financial control 2 Clients A. B. 3 Business development 4 Database management/marketing 5 Product development 6 Operational effectiveness/administration 7 Team development 8 Professional development Sample key result areas Below are the key result areas for most consulting businesses. 56 / Be a Successful Consultant What Type of Consulting Business Are You Running? / 57 Coaching point It is important that the words in the key result areas are yours ^ so that you know where you would ‘¢le’ information. Checklist 1. Have you created an initial vision statement? 2. Did you identify your strengths, both your areas of unconscious and conscious competence? 3. Have you identified your unique selling proposition? 4. Have you listed three people who could give you advice on your vision and unique selling proposition? 5. Have you conducted an initial SWOT analysis for your business? 6. Have you defined the key result areas for your business? Scorecard Before moving on to Chapter 4, think about the following questions:   As you de¢ne yo,ur vision and unique selling proposition, who else can you talk to in order to obtain feedback? What other resources could you use to give you examples and ideas? Bywhat date do youwish to¢nalize your vision and unique selling proposition? To what extent is there a business focus in your vision and unique selling proposition?   As you conducted your SWOTanalysis, what speci¢c threats or weaknesses did you ¢nd which might inhibit the future performance of your consulting business? What speci¢c strengths and opportunities did you identify that would help you to build your consulting business? What plans have you put in place to ensure you follow throughwith your initial ideas?   As you de¢ne your key result areas, are they representative of your entire workload? Do the headingsmake sense and provide youwith an accurate overview of your workload? Are they in alignment with your vision and unique selling proposition? 58 / Be a Successful Consultant CHAPTER FOUR EstablishingYour Business Direction Game plan Once you have established your vision, unique selling proposition, conducted your SWOT analysis and defined the key result areas for your consulting business, it is critical to write in more detail what you specifically wish to accomplish. The purpose of this chapter therefore is to help you:   Build a business plan.   Decide the optimal legal structure with which to begin your consulting business.   Set objectives for your practice.   Establish preliminary milestones. Writing a business plan If you don’t know where you are going, youwill probably end up somewhere else LaurenceJ. Peter T|me out! The business plan performs severalmajor functions:   It forces you to think through each aspect of your business while keeping you focused and structured. It also helps set limits.   It provides a yardstick by which you can measure output and success.   It allows a dry run before you actually performyour ¢rst consulting assignment, i.e. it exposes you to potential sales, pro¢ts and problems.   The business plan becomes a sales tool for both you and your potential investors. 59 Vision statement Unique selling proposition SWOT analysis As you defined in Chapter 3: your ultimate purpose or theme. As you defined in Chapter 3: what you can uniquely contribute to a client. A seasoned businessperson realizes that every venture entails risks. What are the possibilities of competitive responses to your actions? Are there unfavourable trends in the industry? Use the SWOT analysis to help you calculate your risks (also described in Chapter 3).   strengths for your business (internal)   weaknesses for your business (internal)   opportunity in the marketplace (external)   threats in the marketplace (external) Cover Page Introductory summary Table of contents Name of company, address, phone, date, period covered, name of person who created the plan. This is a summary of the important information included in your business plan. Write the summary after you have written the entire plan. Investors often read the introductory summary and decide, based on this section alone, whether to read the rest of the business plan, when deciding whether to contribute funds to the venture. This lets the reader know what is included in your business plan. Business plans vary in length and nature and basically comprise of several main sections. For in-depth discussion of business plans, New Venture Creation and Up Your Own Organization provide excellent details. Generally, a business plan should be from two to four pages. It should be a good guide, but not so complex that you don’t want to change it, because it will change. Writing a business plan Sections of a typical business plan will include: General information Your company overview 60 / Be a Successful Consultant Financial plan Financial funding Your financial plan identifies the sources and uses of your money in your business. It shows your financial standing through two basic documents: the profit and loss forecasts and the cash flow statements. After determining how much money you need through your profit and loss and cash flow, your business plan needs to indicate where the money will come from. Market research Market analysis Marketing plan This is a crucial section in the business plan. Many consultants enamoured of their own good idea fail to investigate whether there is a market for it. In your market analysis you identify your expected major clients, estimate your potential annual sales to each and assess your potential market share. While this market assessment may be to a large extent theoretical in the early stages, it none the less serves to focus and direct your energies. The marketing plan gives a picture of the market, your marketing goals, promotional strategies, the definition of your products and services, who the competition is, what you will charge for your services and how to obtain customers. Target clients To reach your estimated sales projections you must develop a strategy that targets specific clients with specific sales approaches and determine which aspects of your firm’s services you will stress in your marketing efforts. Establishing Your Business Direction / 61 Key result area: finance (See Chapter 7 for more information.) Key result area: marketing (See Chapter 5 for more information) Key result area: business development Management team Professional assistance Other resources The management team is responsible for making your business successful. If you are a solo practitioner, then you are the management team and perform all the major tasks for planning, marketing, accounting, financing, organizing and consulting. The business plan needs to include an overview of your credentials including major accomplishments, degrees, and any other information that will position you as an expert in your field. You should quickly establish relationships with necessary professionals such as a lawyer, an accountant, a banker and an insurance agent. Capable professionals provide significant parttime assistance when you are a sole practitioner. You should develop a team of other consultants, e.g. technical writers, editors, trainers, etc to have on hand when you need help with projects. You may also get work from them when they need help. Research and development Research and development appears in many forms and has costs associated with it. It can include such things as researching training materials, implementing process improvements, attending conferences to gather current data or developing new services to meet clients’ needs. Plan Your schedule pinpoints the timing and interrelationships of all the major events important to starting and developing your business. Some people use flow charts to visualize the process of starting, operating and planning for a growing business. It should also include your tasks and milestones. Key result area: organization structure Key result area: professional development Overall schedule 62 / Be a Successful Consultant Cover page Introductory summary Table of contents What will be the name of your company, address, phone, fax, e-mail information etc? When do you want this business plan to be completed? Will you obtain any help in writing the business plan? Remember – complete this last! When you look at your business, what is the key data that you want to share with clients? Investors? What captures the essence of the business? This lets the reader know what is included in your business plan. Vision statement Unique selling proposition SWOT analysis Have you defined your vision statement? If not, refer to Exercise 3.1 in Chapter 3. Have you completed Exercise 3.3? If so complete the answer here. Have you completed Exercise 3.4? What are the key strengths you wish to capitalize on? What opportunities do you wish to exploit with your business? What key risks do you wish to avoid? Establishing Your Business Direction / 63 Of over 1,000 small¢rmsin1996, those that had strategic plans had 50%more revenue and pro¢t growth than companies that didn’t have one. Source: www.businessplans.co.uk Exercise 4.1 Writing your business plan   Take a moment and think about the sections in the business plan and complete the answers, as far as possible, to the questions below. General information Your company overview Financial plan Financial funding What are your estimated incomings (see Exercise 7.3)? What do you see to be your initial set-up costs (see Exercise 7.1)? What do you perceive to be your ongoing expenses (see Exercise 7.1)? Include a simple cash flow statement (see Exercise 7.3). How much cash do you have behind you? What are your other resources to deal with financial demands? Credit cards, etc (see Exercise 7.2)? Market research Market analysis Marketing plan What market research have you completed (see Exercise 5.1)? What is it that makes you think there is a market for your product? Who else is doing business in the market place? What are your marketing goals (see Exercise 5.2)? What is your product definition (see Exercise 5.4)? How are you going to price your product (see Exercise 7.5)? How are you going to distribute your product by the use of your network (see Exercise 5.6)? How are you going to promote your product to the market place (see Exercise 5.5)? Target clients Name three clients who could benefit from your services. Management team Professional assistance Other resources Have you completed a CV that captures your key talents? Why would investors/customers think you were qualified to help them? Who will be your accountant? Who will be your lawyer? Who else might you need? Who else do you know who you could involve on certain projects if you needed it? Key result area: finance (See Chapter 7 for more information.) Key result area: marketing Key result area: business development Key result area: organization structure 64 / Be a Successful Consultant Research and development How do you plan to stay current in your field? What are the best ways to stay abreast of business developments in your market segment? Plan Have you created a high-level three month plan? A six-month outline? Yearly targets? Establishing Your Business Direction / 65 Key result area: professional development Overall schedule   Now share your business plan with some others for feedback. What changes would they recommend?   Now check your business plan using the following questions: Yes No && Does your business plan succinctly explain your business? && Is your business plan comprehensible to others? && Does your business plan include all the relevant data to explain your overall business direction? Coaching point Writing a business plan can seem time consuming and irrelevant. Many consultants want to ‘get out there and make it happen’ instead of ¢ddling around with this intangible activity. However, time invested in this arena can help preventmistakes such as loss of focus, unclear allocation of resources, and can actually improve the message when in front of clients. Case study: Frank Frank began the process of creating a structured business plan, but he wishes to invest more time in this area to ensure that he is clear on his overall direction. So his top short-term objective is:   Ensure a cohesive strategy by finalizing a business plan by 31 December 200X that will be eight pages in length, including finalized vision and unique selling proposition, SWOT analysis and key result areas with critical objectives and tactics outlined. Meanwhile, he has begun to create a simple marketing presentation on PowerPoint that covers some of the information in his business plan to make sure that he is coherent and consistent when positioning his business to prospective clients. Making time to complete the business plan will ensure that you are taking the right steps to build your consulting business and will not get side tracked in other areas. Deciding your legal structure This one step ^ choosing a goal and sticking to it ^ changes everything. Scott Reed The most common legal structures for a consulting business are the sole proprietorship/ trader, the partnership and the limited company. The structure you choose will be related to your overall business objectives. Sole proprietorships/traders Most consulting businesses are sole traders. Under this arrangement you and your business are one and the same. Mostly, if you use your name as the business name, you do not have to file under the assumed business name status. Your firm’s net income is taxable as your personal income. You have an unlimited liability for the debts of your firm. This type of business organization is simple yet effective as you are starting your consulting business. Even if you want to work with another person, it is often better to begin the cooperation as two sole traders. This gives you an opportunity to try out the working relationship, before formalizing a partnership. Unfortunately, there are a lot more broken partnerships than successful ones! Partnerships There are two types of partners, general and limited. General partners control the day-today operations of the firm and usually have unlimited liability for the firm’s debts. Limited partners, also known as silent partners, exercise no control over daily operations. They typically invest money in return for a share of the firm’s profits. 66 / Be a Successful Consultant Establishing Your Business Direction / 67 Foul! Many individuals, who have worked together very successfully in a corporation, failwhen they try towork together as partners.There are a varietyof reasons for this 1. When working in an organization, the payment is not dependent on the working relationship. Often partners divide because there is not enough business for both partners: one can generate business, but can’t do the work.The other can do thework, but cannot generate business.This creates ill-feeling between them. 2. Working in a formal organization structure, there are de¢ned standards and procedures. Working in a partnership, individuals have to de¢ne their own structure and theymay approach this process di¡erently. 3. If the partners are not clear when de¢ning roles and responsibilities, it can result in frustration and disappointment between partners because others are not ‘doing their job’. 4. Working together,‘on top of each other’, is di¡erent from working in an organization where there are other individuals present. So think carefully before you make this large commitment. Lawyers may tend to make more money from partnerships than individuals do! Limited companies These are generally legal entities separate and distinct from you as an individual. Most larger businesses are limited companies. This brings several advantages including permanence, continuing despite the death of individual shareholders, and your personal liability is limited to the amount invested in stock. However, limited companies have several disadvantages in that they are typically subject to higher taxes and fees, and the procedures, reports and statements required by the government may become cumbersome. See the later section for more information on the tax advantages and disadvantages of a limited company. Sole trader Advantages Disadvantages   You can claim direct expenses related to the business such as telephone, heat, light, car, meals, etc. Check with your financial adviser for specific deductions allowed currently.   You can use personal pension schemes to reduce tax liability.   Often, if you work from home, you reduce travel time and expenses. When you do travel for the client you get these costs reimbursed.   This is the simplest structure when working independently.   Lower administrative overheads.   Taxes can be self-assessed.   Less taxes.   If you are making losses initially you can deduct these against any taxes you are paying on full-time employment.   You are responsible for tracking costs and revenue and filing tax returns biannually.   You pay National Insurance Contribution but you are not eligible to claim unemployment benefits.   If you are sick, or have illness in the family, your business may be exposed and you may have inadequate financial resources.   Less credibility as a sole trader (may be perceived that way).   May have to guarantee personal loans because of less ‘business presence’.   As a business owner you may be liable for losses and debts. Partnership Advantages Disadvantages   You have someone else to ask difficult questions.   You have someone else who shares tax liability.   Apart from the complexity of deciding separate tax bills there are no disadvantages. Limited company Advantages Disadvantages   There is a limit to corporation tax on profits up to £200,000.   Company pension schemes for ‘owner directors’ are more generous in terms of tax relief than for an individual.   Advantage can be made of additional business deductions such as company cars, although these are less present now than previously.   Greater credibility associated with being a limited company (possibly).   Banks may be willing to provide a loan without a personal guarantee.   Directors are not personally liable for company losses.   There are more stringent reporting requirements than a sole trader.   Higher taxes.   Taxes cannot be self-assessed – need accounting support. Financial and tax implications for different structures 68 / Be a Successful Consultant Establishing Your Business Direction / 69 Case study:Marie Marie has decided to get started as quickly as possible. She has decided that she is going to stay as a sole trader, in the same way as she did last time that she was independent. She believes this will give her the flexibility in the short term, and then she can decide at a later date if she wishes to become a limited company. She has written a simple business plan following the outline in the materials for her own use only, as she does not want to use external funding to start the business. Exercise 4.2 Choosing your consulting business structure   Take a moment and think about the different ways of structuring your business: sole trader partnership limited company.   Review the advantages and possible disadvantages of each structure.   Think about your business, which structure will you select?   What are the advantages of this structure and how will you make sure you benefit from them?   What could be the possible risks associated with that structure and how could you overcome these? Coaching point If you are just getting started and are not surewhich structure youwant to use, beginwith sole trader. It requires very little set-up time or administrative overhead, it is legal and you can evaluate this decision later. Case study: Julia Even though Julia is just starting up, she has decided to set her business up as a limited liability company because of the area she focuses on: human resources. She wants more legal protection in case she provides advice which then results in a client suing her. Particularly with the sensitivity and possible liability associated with sexual harassment, she feels the increased costs involved will pay for themselves with the additional protection she will possess as a limited liability company. Setting objectives If you cry ‘Forward,’ you must make plain in what direction to go. Anton Chekhov Once you have established your key result areas and written your business plan, it is critical to write objectives for your business, and create a list of milestones to ensure you make progress. What is an objective? Objectives are concrete, tangible, measurable results or outcomes from your efforts that you can see, not just roles or activities. T|me out! Well-clari¢ed objectives, according to Alan Lakein in Your T|me is Your Life, need to meet certain speci¢c SMARTcriteria. S: speci¢c: so that you know when you have achieved it M: measurable: by two or more of the following: ^ quantity ^ quality speci¢cations (e⁄cient? e¡ective? other?) ^ cost A: aligned: with your overall vision and business direction R: results-focused: is a tangible result expected of me to produce/accomplish? T: time-based: has a speci¢c due date. 70 / Be a Successful Consultant Establishing Your Business Direction / 71 Too often, we confuse tasks with objectives. A task is the action we must take in order to reach the objective. To differentiate between tasks and objectives, we must ask ourselves:   What are we trying to achieve by completing this task?   What is the benefit of achieving this task? Example: Incorrect: to contact five prospects by 31 January 200X. This is a task, and it does not answer what is the result, or why are we doing this? Correct: to obtain one client for training services with revenue of . . .by 31 January 200X. You can see that this is an effective objective because it is:   Specific: one client.   Measurable: size of revenue.   Aligned: one would assume the vision of a consulting firm is to generate revenue!   Results-focused: to obtain the client (result), rather than just contact five prospects (task).   Time-based: by 31 January 200X. It is critical to define and write down objectives for every aspect of our business within each key result area. Did you know that . . . Research conducted at Harvard into graduates 20 years after they had graduated showed the following: 5% were earning more money than the other 95% combined. The only di¡erentiator was that the 5% had written down their objectives.There is something about writing down objectives that a⁄rms our commitment to them, and keeps them‘in sight and in mind’. The characteristic that gets missed the most is the T: most people state vague terms such as ‘within three months’. This is not specific enough – an actual date needs to be set. If the worst happens, and you do not succeed within the time frame, you can simply move the date! Key result areas and objectives Overall goal: To operate a thriving consulting business. Key result area Objective(s) Finance To achieve £200,000 in sales with gross margin of 50% in 200X. Clients To maintain an active client list of five clients in 200X with no more than 50% income from one client. Client is defined as over £10,000 a year. An active client uses services at least once a quarter. Business development To ensure five new clients in 200X with a pipeline of ten prospects and 20 suspects as categorized on the database. Current clients are . . . Oracle, etc. Database management To establish and maintain a database of 500 contacts on ACT, all personally known, by 31 December 200X. To categorize the database by general, suspect and prospect. To maintain contact with the database by distributing three eight-page newsletters and holiday greeting cards. Product development To develop and roll out a mini ‘call centre assessment’ by 1 August 200X. Operational effectiveness To maximize operational effectiveness by updating filing system, and implementing new equipment (scanner) by 30 June 200X. Team development To establish an ongoing team by December 200X. Team comprises: accountant office manager 2 call centre auditors Professional development To become certified in . . . methodology by attending three workshops in 200X. Below are examples of one objective for each key result area for a consulting business. Remember, there may be multiple objectives within each key result area, and we will be showing examples of these different objectives in later chapters. 72 / Be a Successful Consultant My key result areas and objectives Overall goal Key result area Objective(s) 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Establishing Your Business Direction / 73 Exercise 4.3 Writing your objectives   Review the key result areas you identified for your business in Chapter 3. Put these in the key result area form below.   Now write a SMART objective for each key result area below. Date:_ Are your objectives SMART: specific, measurable, aligned, results-focused, time-based?   Now ask yourself the following questions: – Are your objectives definitely outcomes and not tasks? – Do they answer the questions: what ’s the result or what ’s the benefit? – How specific is each objective? How will you know when you’ve achieved it? – How will you measure your objective? – Is the objective realistic? – Is the objective challenging? – Does the objective contain a specific due date?   Make any changes required to make the objectives more SMART. Coaching point   Some key result areas are easier to measure (e.g. ¢nance) than others (marketing). In these situations, you often have to use the tasks andmilestones to provide measurement criteria.   Writing e¡ective objectives is a very complex skill.   Therewill often be multiple objectives within each key result area.   You may choose to revisit this sectionwhen you have completed the more detailed work in the rest of the book on marketing, sales, organizational and ¢nancial objectives. Case study: Joe Joe has defined some key short-term objectives for himself (short-term objectives are usually less than three months in duration, and can often be part of another larger objective): Under client management To achieve one client, for a product launch assessment of no less than £5,000, within three months of today’s date by contacting 20 key prospects. Under marketing To decide on an appropriate fee rate by researching five other independent marketing consultants to establish market rates by 1 January 200X. Within office organization To ensure a productive office by purchasing a new computer by 31 December, 200X, with ACT and the Microsoft Office Suite. 74 / Be a Successful Consultant Key result area Objective Database management To establish and maintain a database of 500 contacts on ACT, all personally known, by 31 December 200X. To categorize the database by general, suspect and prospect. To maintain contact with the database by distributing three eight-page newsletters and holiday greeting cards. Number What Who When Completed 1 Brainstorm a list of contacts:   friends   family   employers   vendors SN 30/4/0X 2 Research database sales tracking system. DN 14/5/0X 3 Select sales tracking system. DN 30/6/0X 4 Install sales tracking system. DN 14/7/0X 5 Input all names on new software. DN 31/8/0X 6 Categorize database into general, suspect and prospect. SN 30/9/0X Establishing Your Business Direction / 75 Establishing milestones Plans are only good intentions unless they immediately degenerate into hard work. Peter F. Drucker When you have established and prioritized your objectives, it is important to decide the key tasks (the things you need to do) and milestones (delivery/completion dates) required to achieve the objectives. Without these tasks and milestones, there is a gap between what you want to do (the objective), and when you are going to do it (the plan). Lack of establishing milestones is the key reason we fail to achieve our objectives. We have to create a list of milestones for every objective that we have. Tasks andmilestones necessary to complete the objective Key result area Objective(s) Number What Who When Completed 1 2 3 4 5 6 Key result area Objective(s) Number What Who When Completed 1 2 3 4 5 6 Exercise 4.4 Writing your tasks and milestones For two of your current key result areas and two objective(s), write down the critical tasks and milestones. 76 / Be a Successful Consultant Establishing Your Business Direction / 77   How will you build up the complete list of tasks associated with each key result area and objective?   What system will you use to track these tasks and milestones? Coaching point It can be tempting to not write downall these tasks ^ ‘It takes longer towrite them downthan to do them!’Bywriting themdown, however,we reduce the pressure on our brains andwe help to ensure the ideas do not go out of sight and out ofmind! Organizing systems Consultants vary on the tools they use to track their activities. Some still use a paper-based system such as Filofax or Time Manager. Others use software programs such as Microsoft Project. Others will create a whiteboard and list all the projects and milestones so that they are in sight and in mind. (It’s just a little heavy to carry to meetings that’s all!) Coaching point The system you use is not important: the thought process and the organization of the data is key. If the milestones are not written down, ¢rst they are easier to forget, and second, you underestimate howmany tasks there are at anyone time. Case studies:Marie andJulia Marie uses her Time Manager system to list her objectives and milestones. Because she worked for this company for five years and is familiar with the system, she believes this is the best way to get started. She has defined her critical milestones and is ready to get out and market her business. Julia, on the other hand, loves her Palm Pilot to keep her organized. She has put all her phone numbers in the database and is entering her critical action items to track. She enjoys being able to download the contact names and numbers from Outlook and the fact that this can be linked with the Microsoft suite of Office products. Checklist 1. Have you created your business plan? 2. Have you reviewed the different organization structures and decided which one you will use? 3. Have you consulted with a tax adviser to ensure you understand the implications of this structure? 4. Have you defined objectives for at least three of your key result areas? 5. Have you defined milestones for at least three of these objectives? 6. Have you chosen which system you will use to organize your projects and milestones? Scorecard Before leaving this chapter, ask yourself the following questions:   What software or books do you intend to purchase in helping you towrite your business plan? Howlong do you believe your plan needs to be in order to provide youwith enough direction, and yet not be too complex? Who else could provide advice in drawing up this plan?Will you use the plan as a tool to help you raise capital?   In terms of your organization structure, what structurewill be the most suitable for your needs in the short term? What other resources do you need to support you in this endeavour? How will you ensure you are organizedwell enough to avoid tax penalties?   When you review your objectives, how clear are they as to the result that they will achieve? Who could look at them and provide youwith feedback to ensure they meet the SMARTcriteria? Are there clear bene¢ts from the goals?   What systemwill you use to track yourmilestones and tasks? Whenwill you set up this system? How will you ensure that you keep this system current? 78 / Be a Successful Consultant SECTION TWO: Getting Clients This Page Intentionally Left Blank 81 CHAPTER FIVE MarketingYour Business Game plan One of the greatest challenges that consultants face is getting paying clients. You can demonstrate all the skills in the world, have the best business cards and an articulate business plan, but without clients you have no business! The purpose of this chapter is to help you to:   Begin the process of acquiring clients by creating and implementing a cohesive marketing strategy.   Establish marketing objectives.   Segment the market for your services.   Clearly articulate your range of service offerings and the benefits that they can contribute to the customer.   Decide appropriate promotional strategies.   Build your network. Creating your marketing plan I don’t design clothes, I design dreams. Ralph Lauren Element Explanation Market research Researching potential customers and suppliers to verify that a market for your product exists. Marketing objectives Deliverables and outputs that you expect from your marketing activities: how you will know you have succeeded. Market segmentation Dividing the market into segments to more easily address customers’ needs. The four ‘P’s Product: Defining your product in terms of features and benefits. Promotion: Deciding strategies to raise market awareness. Place: Deciding appropriate distribution channels. Price: Determining fee structures. Time line/schedule A tactical outline of actions and milestones. T|me out! The purposeof your marketing plan is to provide your consulting business with an organized step-by-step approach for raising market awareness. It represents a high-level statement of your business’s overall direction, including information on the four P’s: product, promotion, place, and price. The key elements of your marketing plan are as follows: Foul! Most people associate marketing with promotional activities. Promotion plays a part in marketing as you can see from the components of the marketing plan above, but there are also many more strategic positioning elements which are necessary to ensure the promotional activities are targeted e¡ectively. 82 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 83 Conducting market research Researching your audience is vital. A technique that impresses one client with our creativity could be a mere gimmick to another. T|na Brown, Outside the Box It is important to conduct market research, not only into the type of consulting you wish to do, but also into the other companies that exist in that marketplace. Market research can be conducted before you leave your current position and provides an ideal way of testing the water. However the extent to which quantitative market research is possible depends on the focus of your consulting business. Much of the consulting market is comprised of individual consultants and therefore it is relatively hard to quantify and document. T|me out! Objectives formarket research are as follows:   To identify whether there is a market for your product or service, and the possible size of your target market.   To assess the existence, size and location of other competitors in yourmarket.   To discover the current pricing structure in your market.   To identify corporate needs.   To evaluate the best way to package your product or service for the market.   To be used as a beginning for the business development process.Many consultants ¢nd their ¢rst client this way! Depending on the focus of your business, both formal and informal approaches can be used in the market research process. Formal processes are designed to measure the size and potential market penetration of your service. Informal approaches are designed to obtain a subjective assessment of market potential. Techniques you can use are:   Hire a consultant who specializes in market research to conduct the research for you. You can pay him or her, or organize some type of barter system in exchange for his or her services.   Buy a mailing list for your potential market and distribute a questionnaire to the names on the list about your product or service. Remember the return rate on such a survey is very small – less than 2%. The questionnaire can also be followed up by a phone call, and this will increase the response rate as well as the success of the market assessment.   Create a mailing list of people you know in the industry and send them a questionnaire. You can either ask that the questionnaire be returned, or you can ask to meet directly with them to obtain their feedback.   Call contacts whose opinions you respect, and conduct a short phone interview with them. In this telephone interview, you could ask such questions as: ‘If you were in my shoes, what would you do?’ ‘Who do you think would be interested in the services?’ ‘What else might they be interested in?’   Research trade associations in your field and either attend meetings for networking reasons or use their list of members to target for research.   Attend cocktail parties and other social functions to network.   Use the Internet and conduct a search looking for companies providing similar services.   Use the want ads in the newspaper and industry magazines: these are a great source of information about small companies.   Read current trade publications.   A combination of the above. Case study:Marie Marie has spent some time in marketing in a previous job, and so has already completed much of her marketing planning. Because her industry is highly dispersed, she has decided to conduct informal market research by talking to people she knows who are both consultants and possible clients. She has created a list of 30 people, who she plans to talk to in the next three weeks. Her main purpose in these calls is to determine market interest for her product and service, and to understand current market rates. 84 / Be a Successful Consultant Number What Who When Completed 1 2 3 Marketing Your Business / 85 Exercise 5.1 Deciding yourmarket research approach Thinking about the type of consulting you wish to undertake and the market for your services, answer the following questions:   How easy is it for you to measure the market for your service quantitatively?   How much research do you think you could undertake on the Internet?   How many people do you know who might be able to provide you with insight into the market?   What upcoming events do you know of that you could attend/participate in, in order to find out more about the market for your service?   Based on these questions, list below three specific market research activities you will undertake with specific deadlines. Tasks andmilestones necessary to conductmarket research: Coaching point While conducting market research could appear to be ‘avoiding asking for business’, the increased knowledge and con¢dence that it can provide to you will be invaluable in getting your business started on a sound footing. Establishing marketing objectives Based on your unique selling proposition and your vision, you need to create marketing objectives for your business. More detail on the criteria for effective objectives are included in Chapter 4. Remember these objectives need to meet SMART criteria outlined earlier. They need to be: S – specific M – measurable A – aligned R – results oriented T – time-based There is normally a variety of marketing goals for a consulting business under several categories:   share of the market   market penetration   market visibility   target market   promotional activities   pricing   size of database   number of newsletters. Make sure you set specific objectives for your marketing plan – what is not measured does not get done! If you don’t reach that objective, it is easier to change it than to have not created it at all. Case study: Julia Julia has defined two short-term objectives for her marketing activities:   To raise market visibility with start up organizations by distributing via e-mail a human resources newsletter providing tips and techniques on common small company issues to over 100 organizations (from a mailing list she purchased), to generate a minimum of two follow-up enquiries by 31 August 200X. 86 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing key Objective(s) result areas Is it SMART? Marketing Your Business / 87   To create two strategic partnerships with venture capital firms in order to obtain at least one referral by 30 September 200X. Exercise 5.2 Deciding one marketing objective Thinking about the type of consulting you wish to undertake and the market for your services, define one specific marketing objective for your business below:   Make sure the objective has a specific deadline and you are clear about the outcome you are expecting. Coaching point Asyou continue towork through thismarketing chapter, make sure you set objectives forother key activities. Segmenting the market Segmenting the market involves breaking down the market into smaller sub-sections. The benefit of segmenting the market is that you can then target marketing efforts more effectively. The segmentation can be made by:   industry, such as retail, software, hardware, wholesale, telecommunications, nonpro fit   geographical area, such as England, UK, Europe, USA   company size such as small (under 100 people), medium, large   maturity of company: start-up, mature   type of company culture   functional category such as human resources, web page design, training, marketing   functional speciality within functional category: e.g. within human resources there are the functional specialities of payroll, compensation, benefits and recruiting. Case study: Joe Joe decided that he wanted to offer project management services in launching new products to mid-sized high-tech companies along the M4 corridor. Exercise 5.3 Deciding your market segment Thinking about the type of consulting you wish to undertake and the market for your services, answer the questions below to help you segment your market:   To what extent do you wish to travel? Is there a natural geographic focus to the type of consulting you will be undertaking?   What specific market expertise do you possess, e.g. retail, software, etc? Is there a specific market segment that you wish to focus on?   What specific functional expertise do you possess? (e.g. product marketing, finance, HR, etc).   Is there a specific size of company that would benefit from your services?   In what market segment (whether as an employee or a consultant) have you had your greatest success?   Now list your ideas for market segments you want to focus on below: Coaching point Don’t be worried that by trying to segment the market you might miss opportunities. These segments are guidelines only. Initially there is a tendency to take any work that is o¡ered! As your business matures, it is often more bene¢cial and less risky to segment your market in more detail. 88 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 89 De¢ning your product or service: the ¢rst ‘p’ A sweet, brown, ¢zzy beverage . . . Coca Cola is one of the world’s truly non-essential products brilliantly marketed. Wall StreetJournal This stage in the marketing process involves defining the services you offer in terms of:   Features: The features of a product or service include facts, function information, its characteristics, its design or its construction. Customers usually buy features only when they relate to benefits.   Benefits: A benefit is anything that contributes to an improvement in condition, produces an advantage, or aids in accomplishing a task. It is the positive result or bonus achieved as a result of using your product or service. It shows how a company will gain from using these services as well as what the services can do. It answers the questions ‘What ’s in it for me?’ or ‘What’s in it for the company?’ It is important to define your product or service in user-friendly terms through the use of features and benefits, specifically in relation to how they meet business needs. Customers are interested in benefits, but we are often most comfortable talking about features. T|me out! A bene¢t answers the questions:   Who cares?   Sowhat? Atransition statement to link the feature to the bene¢t is:   Which means that... Benefits can also be tangible (the benefit can be measured objectively) or they can be intangible. Benefits combined create the ultimate benefit: this represents the overall benefit of the product or service to the user. Feature Which means that Who cares? So what? Benefit Ultimate benefit Four legs Which means that The table is stable (tangible) Efficient working space Brown Which means that The table is aesthetically pleasing (intangible) 14-square feet of surface area Which means that It is spacious and holds a lot of material (tangible) } Features and benefits of a table Below are examples of the features and benefits of a table: a tangible product to illustrate how this process works. Features and benefits of services It is harder to think about a service in terms of features and benefits because a service itself is intangible, and varies from one moment to another and according to the customer’s mood at any one time. T|me out! Describing a service such as consulting di¡ers considerably from describing a product like an automobile. A car is manufactured in one location and then delivered for sale to the customer in another. A service is often created and delivered simultaneously. As a result of conducting a consulting project, you concurrently deliver it. Goods are produced, services are performed. These di¡erences pose a special challenge to consultants. How do you make relatively invisible services seem real and useful to prospective clients? This is achieved by making sure the services are understood, and by somehow making them more tangible, using features and benefits. It is also harder to think about a service without a specific customer in mind 90 / Be a Successful Consultant Feature Which means that Who cares? So what? Benefit Ultimate benefit One day programme Which means that Time effective (tangible) Successful consulting business Learn marketing strategies Which means that Increase exposure (intangible) and get clients (tangible) Participant materials are supplied as a reference tool Interactive with exercises and discussion Which means that Which means that Greater retention (intangible) Greater learning (tangible) } Marketing Your Business / 91 because most services will be designed and delivered to meet a specific customer need. However the mental exercise of differentiating between your consulting service’s features and benefits will help you in the sales interaction and as you are creating marketing collateral for yourself (as described later in this chapter). Features and benefits: consulting andmakingmoney at it Let’s look at one example of features and benefits for a service: an eight-hour training programme on Consulting and Making Money At It. Case study: Frank Frank offers a range of services, but he is particularly focusing on the Support Centre Review of Operational Processes he performs. As you can see from the list below, this one service provides comprehensive tangible and intangible benefits to a potential customer and can be linked easily to business results. Customer satisfaction normally links to greater loyalty and customer retention. Feature Which means that Who cares? So what? Benefit Ultimate benefit Call flow and handling analysis Which means that Improve productivity in call flow Higher customer satisfaction Problem handling and resolution Which means that Quicker problem resolution time Internal and external customer service level agreements Which means that Increased efficiency Complete process flow analysis Which means that Improved process flow Complete measurement and reporting Which ,means that Enables continuous improvement and proactive service People: staff skill analysis and recommendations Which means that Greater employee retention Tools and technologies assessment and improvement recommendations Which means that Reduced cost of solving problems Increased contribution margin } Frank’s services: review of operational e¡ectiveness Exercise 5.4 De¢ning your service, features and bene¢ts Thinking about the type of consulting you wish to undertake and the market for your services, answer the questions below to help you define your service offerings:   What are the key services you have been planning to offer to your clients?   What are the specific components of these service offerings (see Frank’s case study for more examples)?   What business results could these services contribute to? 92 / Be a Successful Consultant Feature Which means that Who cares? So what?’ Benefit Ultimate benefit Which means that Which means that Which means that Which means that Marketing Your Business / 93   How did you measure success when you were offering these services within an organization?   Now try to complete the table below. Features and benefits: your services Coaching point Writing features and bene¢ts is not easy for several reasons. 1. As you are getting started, you may not be clear about the speci¢c services that you are o¡ering. Still, if you are not clear, probably the customer isn’t either! 2. Often it is easier to de¢ne features and bene¢ts whenwe have a speci¢c customer in mind ^ this can help to crystallize how they will bene¢t from the services. 3. The process of di¡erentiating between features and bene¢ts itself is not easy. Despite these challenges, try to do your best with the exercise: it will help you clarify your thought processes and it will prevent you fromhaving your ¢rst piece ofmarketing material focus onlyon features! Foul! One of the biggestmistakes you can make as a consultant is to deluge the client in information about your service features without mentioning their bene¢ts. If you talk about features for too long, you will be able to see their facial expression show ‘Who cares? Sowhat?’, but they are probably too polite to say this out loud! Sometimes you need to talk only about bene¢ts. Deciding your promotional plan: the second ‘P’ You are every bit as much of a brand as Nike, Coke, Pepsi andThe Body Shop. Tom Peters Once you have identified your potential clients and clarified your marketing plan, you need to determine the most appropriate promotional strategies for building your brand and acquiring clients. All too often, consultants randomly select marketing tools. They might hand out brochures, give speeches and make personal calls. However these consultants often can’t explain why they selected these tools over others. They have not targeted their clients nor defined their message adequately. T|me out! Your promotional plan should include some or all of the following:   advertising   public relations   marketing communications   giving speeches   trade shows and exhibitions   web page   newsletters andmailings. The purpose of the promotional strategies is to create leads for, and awareness of, your consulting business. As you can see in the funnel shown in Chapter 6, promotional activity helps to raise awareness and create interest, but does not confirm a need. Only when your business is established will promotional activities directly produce revenue. Remember not to use undertaking promotional strategies as an excuse for not calling or meeting with clients! Promotion is necessary therefore to:   begin the process of obtaining new clients   raise interest in your product or service   increase awareness of your business   establish or modify your image 94 / Be a Successful Consultant Web pages Newsletters and mailings Trade shows and exhibitions Advertising Speeches Public relations Marketing c ommunications Promotional Activities Fig. 5.1 Promotional activities. Marketing Your Business / 95   educate the public through your efforts   attract new employees   provide a public service. Once you identify your potential clients and clarify your marketing plan, you need to determine the most appropriate promotional strategies for raising awareness and interest from potential clients. Let’s review ideas and strategies within each of the key categories. Advertising Advertising is used to raise awareness and promote interest in a product or service. Advertising results are hard to quantify, and the advertising needs to be repeated at set intervals to obtain any benefits. When starting your consulting business, if advertising is used at all, it needs to be extremely selective and focused on the particular market or industry segment where your consulting provides value. Depending on your functional expertise, you may want to consider the following possibilities:   Yellow Pages   local newspapers   trade directory   conference publications   exhibition catalogues   local association newsletters. Advertising Advantages Disadvantages   begins to build a market awareness   can be expensive   can often stimulate interest   for a service, is unlikely to create a need to buy Foul! Remember, one advertisement in a publication is not going to succeed in raising awareness. Instead consider placing multiple advertisements (for instance in a trade journal every month for three months) or in a publication that has a long shelf life so that it may be referred to on more than one occasion. Public relations Public relations are often viewed as unpaid advertising: it means that your business gains exposure in trade publications without a monetary payment from you, and as a result carries more credibility. T|me out! Public relations includes publishing articles and books, submitting articles, being quoted in the business press, undertaking a formal public relations campaign such as issuing press releases, targeting speci¢c journalists, and obtaining local radio orTVexposure. Published articles and books can establish and enhance both your image and your reputation, particularly if you have a specific story to tell within your area of expertise. There are more than 7,000 trade publications in the USA, most of which actively seek material. Again you should write for journals whose readers can use your services. Be aware however that writing is very time-consuming and it is hard to guarantee or quantify results. PR Advantages Disadvantages   ‘unpaid advertising’   writing is very time-consuming   more credibility than ‘paid advertising’   no guaranteed results   greater market awareness.   great strategy to avoid talking to ‘real people’ 96 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 97 Coaching point If you choose to undertake a PR campaign, you may consider using a specialist PR agency to support you. If you do, make sure you research their background and success, and be realistic about what you expect them to achieve. So much of PR involves being in the right place at the right time. Marketing communications Marketing communications encompasses brochures, business cards and cover letters. Brochures With the availability of desktop publishing, it has become easier to avoid the high costs of producing brochures. In the early stages of consulting, a professionally produced summary of qualifications in the form of a c.v. is adequate. Clients expect brochures but most often as a back-up device. Foul! Remember, people buy people ^ notpaper! Make sure you don’t spend time creating a brochure as an excuse for not talking to potential clients. Coaching point Make sure your brochure lists bene¢tsas well as features. Initially you can use simple data sheets including:   introductory text   overview of service   business results expected   objectives   biography. Business cards Business cards are an essential part of building your business’s corporate identity. However they are a tool best used face-to-face, so do not use creating a business card as an excuse for not talking to prospective customers. Use of business cards varies from culture to culture, so make sure you familiarize yourself with local customs when you are travelling to a new country. Coaching point There are resources on the web that provide a limited number of free business cards in exchange for advertising their services on the back of the card: see the appendix for more information. Consider including the following on your business card: your name, address, phone number, mobile number, fax number, e-mail address, web site (if you have one), and if possible some type of visual logo and statement that re£ects your business. Cover letters Cover letters support your brochure and/or proposal when marketing your services. They need to be personally written for each client, addressing specific issues regarding that client’s needs and the way you can meet those needs. (Proposals will be discussed in detail in the next chapter.) Marketing communications Advantages Disadvantages   necessary for client contact   difficult to create providing a ‘one size fits   an important tool in creating and all ’ description of services communicating your image   time-consuming to create Giving free speeches Speeches are frequently used to familiarize clients with consultants’ capabilities. Of course your topic must be timely and your presentation professional. 98 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 99 Free speeches Advantages Disadvantages   gives you credibility within a specific   time-consuming – remember, for one subject area hour’s presentation, it takes   allows you to personally demonstrate eight hours of preparation your verbal capability   free speeches may generate many more free speeches!   giving free speeches places your product in the ‘free’ category. Coaching point If you decide to conduct free speeches, make sure you research these opportunities to ensure your target audience will be attending. There’s nothing worse then presenting the right content to the wrong people! In addition, be clear about the outcome you are expecting from the speech. Do you want to generate leads or is this speech a way of establishing credibility within a speci¢c ¢eld? Either is possible, but being clear about results can reduce disappointments. Foul! Often consultants think they would like to do keynote speeches ^ very little time and lots of money! However, providing these types of speeches is very competitive (normally requiring a successful book) and you may have to invest in developing professional video tapes of previous speeches to supply to prospective clients. Not quite the easy money that it looks! Trade shows and exhibitions In the early stages of your business, trade shows can appear to be an expensive investment. However it is always possible to attend trade shows:   as a delegate in a professional development activity   to build a network   to conduct market research   to identify possible strategic alliances   to raise awareness by advertising in trade show guides   to get information on competition. Coaching point Attending trade shows can be a very cost e¡ectivewayof killing several birdswith one stone! Web pages As Internet use continues to grow, web-based marketing activities will become more critical to new business development. According to Microsoft, approximately 60% of the small businesses that have access to email currently have their own web site. Some organizations have eliminated conventional marketing channels to replace them with webbased sales and distribution. Other organizations use web-based marketing to supplement their marketing efforts. Web sites Advantages Disadvantages   inexpensive promotional channel   no personal recommendation – you   a wide range of audiences have will have to meet with any prospective access to it organization   geographic boundaries are eliminated   the web has millions of sites so your   easy and quick to put together and product/service could get lost change   many unqualified leads could get   requires minimal technical expertise time-consuming   a way of quickly and easily providing   it is better used as a support to existing information to people who inquire customers and prospects than to generate business Coaching point   Wait to set up your web site until you are somewhat clear on the products and services youwill be o¡ering ^ if you are not clear, theweb site certainly will not be either!   Setting up aweb site does not require an extensive capital outlay ^ there are many independent consultants out there who can help to create a site. 100 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 101   Try to make sure thewebsite is updated at least once a year to keep it fresh and current.   Spend some time‘sur¢ng theweb’and make notes on what you like about sites andwhat annoys you. Newsletters andmailings If you have unique information to share, or wish to keep in contact with those on your database when you are busy, newsletters are an effective communication tool. In addition, if you index your database you can then mail articles you read on specific topics to specific people. For instance, if some of your customers are interested in customer service, you could mail them an interesting customer service article you have read with a brief note attached to it. Newsletters and mailings Advantages Disadvantages   cost-effective way of keeping   they take time to create contact with your database   there is no ‘real reason’ to do,   excellent ‘soft’ sales tool – therefore this activity often reminds customers of you drops off the bottom of the ‘radar’ without asking for anything   great way of keeping the database current – you will know if people have moved because mailshots are returned Coaching point Newsletters andmailing can include such items as Christmas cards, articles, sending current business updates and upcoming events. Increasingly these newsletters are being sent electronically, resulting in cost savings and speedier access. Remember the disadvantage of this medium ^ many people do not download attachments and if the update is in the email, it’s hard to make the content look attractive. Case study: Joe initiates his promotional activities Using the web, Joe has conducted market research into other consultants who provide services, and into the market size. Based on the projected growth of his market and the increasing pressure to reduce time to market, he believes his business will be viable. He uses email to initiate contacts with the people he finds on the web and is planning to establish strategic partnerships with local marketing companies as an additional resource if they are overloaded or do not have his specific expertise. He has created his own web page to demonstrate his capabilities. Joe has linked his web page to other product marketing web sites to facilitate prospects ‘finding him’. He is investigating costs for advertising in local and national magazines, although he thinks that this could prove to be too expensive. He is going to attend a product marketing conference and is considering placing an advertisement in the conference publication. In addition, he has bought an email distribution list and he plans to email an attachment describing his services. Joe has created an email list of friends and colleagues and plans to send them the attachment describing his services. Exercise 5.5 Deciding your promotional activities Thinking about the type of consulting you wish to undertake and the market for your services, answer the questions opposite to help you prioritize your promotional activities. Coaching point It can be tempting to undertake lots of promotional activities in quick succession. Bear in mind that many of these techniques are time-consuming, so in order to be able to evaluate the success of each, you may want to introduce each in a more structuredway. Selecting distribution channels: the third ‘P’ As a consultant there are more limited distribution channels: building your network, performing sub-contract work and establishing strategic partnerships. 102 / Be a Successful Consultant Promotional activities Questions Actions Advertising What specific trade publications do you read? Refer to? How long is the ‘shelf life’ of each advertisement? What figures can the publications provide on their readership? Response rates? Press relations What journalists do you know? What contacts might you be able to leverage in the press? What is a unique story that you could tell? What subject material would help you in establishing your credibility? Marketing communications What is the minimum written documentation you require? What resources could you use to help you in graphic layout? What is the key message that you wish to include on all documents? Free speeches What target audiences would it be worth presenting to? What would you want to achieve from giving speeches? Is there another way you could achieve the same goal? What would be a worthwhile subject to present? Trade shows and exhibitions What are the major exhibitions for your market segment? What speakers are presenting at each? What are the themes? What would you want to achieve from each show? What planning can you do to ensure you capitalize on the time there? Web site What is the key information that you would like to include on your web site? Who do you know who could help you create your web site? Are there any other ways you can use your web site: questionnaires, quizzes, interactive exercises, checklists, etc which would increase the functionality of your web site? What do you want to achieve from establishing a web site? Newsletters and mailings What types of news, information, and articles could you communicate to your database? What would be the best medium for your newsletter – paper? Electronic? Both? How can you increase the possibility of a response? (Reply button on email; tear off slip in hard copy, etc) How can you gather other information to distribute to your database? Marketing Your Business / 103 The key to any personal branding is word-of-mouth marketing . . . so the big trick to building your brand is to ¢nd ways to nurture your network of colleagues. Tom Peters Your network is your prime distribution strategy. Referrals by past or present clients are the most commonly used means of obtaining new business. A survey made by the Institute of Management Consultants suggests that repeat business constitutes 70% of all business while referrals make up 15%. Networking is very important for marketing yourself, particularly in the early stages. Here are a few guidelines for establishing and formalizing your network:   build the network   consolidate the network onto a database. Build the Network T|me out! Your network should number between 200 and 400 people. It will be a dynamic, constantly changing promotional tool that you can expect to turn over approximately 25% (and up to 50%) per annum. Although this sounds like a large number of people, you create a network by identifying all the people you know (your primary contacts) as well as your secondary contacts, (those people you have been referred to). Your network comes from:   friends   family   colleagues, past and present   university, alumni associations   trade organizations   neighbours   the pub   sports clubs 104 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 105   people you meet when travelling   prospects from presentations   contacts from exhibitions and conferences   vendors/suppliers from previous jobs. Coaching point The best criteria to consider are:   you personally know the person   you respect the person   the people on the list would probably like to hear fromyou   you ensure that there is a mutual exchange of bene¢ts/information   the person on your network would remember you i.e. that you probably have met them more than once. Foul! Make sure you are not acting like the ‘networking barracuda’ who appears to always have something to sell and whom people avoid like the plague! It is impossible to talk to 200 people often, so you might want to use one or more of the following to stay in touch:   newsletter   email   Christmas card/letter. Consolidate the network onto an electronic database The database ideally should have an individual’s name, company name, job title, phone number, fax number, email address, and some sort of contact information. It is better to record your network on some type of database/sales management tool such as ACT, Outlook, etc, not on a Rolodex or business cards because:   this provides easy access for mailing and newsletters   it is centrally available   it is convenient to update   it is possible to sort the database by category. T|me out! Try classifying your network into the following categories: General Contacts: the world at large. Suspects: suspects are pre-quali¢ed in someway.They probably won’t give you business, but know someone who might. They are in£uencers and should compose about 25% of your network. Prospects: these are peoplewith a current de¢ned need. Clients: these are people for whom you have done work during the past year. There should be about ten to 20 names on this list. Key clients: the two to ¢ve people you are currently doing work for. This makes up the largest part of your current revenue. Interest in a speci¢c area: you may also want to sort your database by your contact ’s prospective interests in your service, for instance teams and consulting. In the next chapter we will review how this database can be used proactively in your business development process. Case study:Marie One of Marie’s marketing goals is to establish a database of over 200 names on Outlook. She has already established over 100 names on her database through internal clients she worked with as Director of Training, a few people from the training association she is a member of, vendors who supplied her when she was Director of Training, contacts from her previous consulting experience, other trainers and friends who are active working professionals. Exercise 5.6 Building your network Think about people you would like to include in your network: 106 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 107   Whose opinion do you respect?   Who do you think would have good ideas for you?   Look at the different categories outlined earlier: friends, family, etc. List all the people you would like to maintain contact with in each group.   Who are ‘influencers/thought leaders’ in their field?   Look at your Christmas card list – who should be in your database also? Take a break and then return to the list and see if you can add more names. What automated system will you use to track your database and why? Coaching point   Most people initially believe that they do not knowenough people to populate a database and yet when they take the time to stop and think about the people they know, they have no trouble building the database to 200 people. Pricing your product: the fourth ‘P’ This will be discussed in detail in Chapter 7. Creating a marketing schedule As a consultant, it is important to plan your marketing strategy. Often time taken in this area directly detracts from time spent in the most critical part of the consulting process: actually talking to and influencing clients. There are many prospective consultants who have great brochures and no customers! Marketing Week one Week two Week three Week four Market research Setting market objectives Deciding market segments Defining your product Deciding promotional activities Building your network Exercise 5.7 Creating your monthly marketing plan   When you integrate all the marketing activities onto one plan, make sure you are realistic about time commitments in each area. Coaching point If you know who, why, what and how you plan tomarket, then you must only decidewhen. Your timing should consider three factors:   When the client is most receptive.   When the client is least likely to receive competitors’messages.   When your resources will permit you to both market and to meet the demand created by marketing. 108 / Be a Successful Consultant Marketing Your Business / 109 Checklist Have you: 1. Conducted initial market research into your area of expertise? 2. Established three clear marketing goals? 3. Defined clearly the business needs your product and service address? 4. Identified three competitors and defined how you differ from them? 5. Analysed market segments and defined three markets for your business service? 6. Prioritized your promotional activity and established a promotional plan for the next three months? 7. Created a list of 200 people? 8. Bought a database program to track your database activities? Scorecard Before leaving this chapter, ask yourself the following questions:   In terms of yourmarketing plan,what do you consider to be the market for your product or service? Howcomfortable are you establishingmarketing goals and what segments do youwish to concentrate on initially?   What promotional strategies are best for your business? What are the personal challenges you face in de¢ning and deciding to use these strategies? What time commitment will you allocate to your promotional e¡orts?   What size network will you need to be able to facilitate your business growth? What are your personal reservations about contacting people you know for advice and how will you address these concerns? How will you categorize your database and ensure you are focusing on those peoplewhowill help to grow your business, not just those you like? CHAPTER SIX Selling your Service Game plan The most challenging part of consulting is finding clients! Marketing looks at the big picture of informing the public of your services. Selling is a specific marketing activity that results in a consulting assignment. The difference between successful and unsuccessful consultants is usually their ability to sell. The purpose of this chapter is to help you to:   Overcome your resistance to selling.   Understand the sales process to maximize activity at each stage.   Establish sales objectives to guide your activity.   Improve your sales effectiveness using email, on the telephone and face-to-face.   Structure your assignments using proposals and contracts to ensure client satisfaction. Overcoming your fear of selling Nothing happens until someone sells something. Source Unknown Foul! Whenwe hear the word SELL, often the ¢rst thing that comes tomind is:   used car salesmen!   pushy tactics! 110 Selling your Service / 111   telephone marketing calls in the evening over dinner!   unsolicited products or services. T|me out! SELL = HELP Instead of thinking about sellingto yourcustomers, change twoletters S and L and think about helpingthem instead.When you provide a service to clients, you will be helping them meet a business need, solve a problem or achieve a business goal. If you cannot help them, then don’t sell to them! Selling at its best is a mutually satisfying interaction in which both sides win. On the one hand, the client’s needs are met. On the other hand, the consultant generates income, engages in his or her profession, and reaps personal rewards for helping the client. In addition, selling ourselves can be simpler than selling a product – we know what we can do. But it can also be more difficult because a refusal can be viewed as a personal rejection. Exercise 6.1 What are your fears about selling? Thinking about your consulting business, answer the following questions:   How do you feel about the need to sell?   What are your biggest challenges you face in selling to clients?   How could you overcome these challenges?   What are your biggest strengths in selling to clients?   How could you capitalize on these strengths? Number of people 200–400 40–50 5–10 2–3 5–10 Form of contact Mailings and newsletters Phone calls and meetings Meetings, phone calls/mail Meetings/phone calls/mail 3 months to 10 years Network Suspects Prospects Proposals Clients Work Fig. 6.1 The sales process. The steps in this process are outlined on the next page. Coaching point To overcome a fear of selling, follow three steps: 1. Realize why selling is in your best interest. 2. Understand the emotional response behind your fears. 3. Learn the skills that enable you to sell successfully. Case study:Marie Marie learnt when she was working at the training company that selling, for the most part, did not involve the ‘dreaded cold calling ’! Instead, she knew that if she maintained her database of contacts and used a gentler networking approach, over time she would have as much business as she needed. Understanding the sales process In the modern world of business, it is useless to be a creative original thinker unless you can also sell what you create. Management cannot be expected to recognize a good idea unless it is presented to them by a good salesman. DavidM. Ogilvy In order to be able to sell successfully, it is important to understand the stages in the sales process as listed below: 112 / Be a Successful Consultant Category Definition Maintaining contact Your network As we discussed in Chapter 5, your network is the key building block for your business. From this base of 200–400 people, you will probably generate 95% of your new business opportunities. However if you tried to contact this network personally, you would become submerged in email, returning phone calls and meeting people, and would be unable to focus on the key individuals who can help you grow your business. To ensure your database is kept current and you don’t lose touch with people, the following can be used:   newsletter   mailing   cards   bulk emails. Suspects These individuals do not have a defined need as yet, but they are the contacts from whom future business is likely to arise. Suspects normally number about 20-25% of your database of approximately 40–50 people. Suspects can fit into the following categories:   they are pre-qualified in some way   they may be influencers in the industry   they may be other consultants who you might use for work and might also require your services   they are decision-makers in their area   they are brokers in the industry you are in   they are leading edge thinkers   they possess some type of unique content knowledge. With suspects you wish to develop the relationship in a more personal way using:   phone   personal emails   limited face-to-face meetings. Prospects Prospective leads have the ability to buy, the right to buy and the need to buy, often within a short time period. Your sales funnel at any one time will have between five and ten prospects depending on the size and maturity of your business. Your prospects come from two sources: your marketing efforts and your personal contact system (suspects and network). As people tend to buy people, most of the interaction with prospects is conducted in:   phone calls   face-to-face meetings, There may be two to three meetings as the prospect’s needs are refined and the sales process continues. Proposals Proposals are normally the final part of the sales process where you document the information and approach you have discussed with the prospect. At any one time, you will probably have two to three proposals outstanding. Proposals are sent by:   email   fax   hard copy. Clients If you are successful in clearly defining the client requirements, often the prospect will become a client. At any one time, a consulting business probably needs between five to ten clients. If the business only has one client, then it may be exposed if there is a sudden change in client’s strategy. Regular contact is inherent in conducting the project. Selling your Service / 113 Case study: Frank’s funnel in action Frank has established and prioritized his database, and has sent a general email flyer to his entire network providing a brief overview of his new venture and contact information. He identified ten key decision-makers for his suspect list. He believes that for his sort of services, long-term contract work, he needed only two to three prospects at any point in time. He was concerned that because each assignment could last several months, if he overloaded his sales funnel he might not be able to cope with the demand. He sent each of these people an email note outlining what he was planning to do, and then followed up a week later with the phone calls. From these ten contacts, he was able to talk to five people, after two or three call-backs, which resulted in a meeting with a server company. This lead came from the current Vice-President who used to be his boss at a previous organization. He is planning to meet them next week, and while they seemed to want only a short-term needs assessment project, he feels fairly confident that he will be able to take on this short-term project and build more work from it. In addition he has called several people with whom he used to work directly. He has also scheduled two meetings with other consultants in the industry, to start to build a collaborative network and to find out more about how they market and sell their services. Exercise 6.2 Understanding your sales process Thinking about your consulting business, draw a funnel and then fill in your funnel using the table opposite. Coaching point   If this process isworking e¡ectively the time taken to close business, i.e. move down the funnel, may be as little as three months. It could also take years!   If you talk to someone just as they identify a need it could be even quicker. And today the sales cycle is de¢nitely shortening as the rate of change in theworld increases.   However, there is normally a time delay between when you originally make contact and when you begin to ¢nd solid prospects.   Don’t get discouraged if you are making all the right e¡orts but haven’t found a client yet. That is all part of themystery that is sales! 114 / Be a Successful Consultant Category Questions to answer Maintaining contact Your network How large a network do you think you have? How large a network do you think you need? How could you build this network further? How will you initially contact your network? What will you say? How often do you plan to contact them in your first year? Suspects How many suspects do you need for your type of business? How could you build your list of suspects? How will you contact your list of suspects? Prospects How many prospects do you need for your type of business? How could you build your list of prospects? How will you contact your prospects? Proposals How many proposals do you need for your type of business? How could you cover a project if you became overloaded? How will you follow up and track your proposals? Clients How many clients do you need for your type of business? How could you ensure you generate more business from existing clients? How will you maintain contact with your clients? T|me out! Remember:   It can take ¢ve calls and numerous emails to secure a meeting.   It can take two to three meetings before you submit a proposal.   It can take days/weeks and months for clients tomake a decision.   Even if they decide to use you and you do thework, it could be 60 days after that before you receive any income! Establishing sales objectives Flaming enthusiasm, backed up by horse sense and persistence, is the quality that most frequently makes for success. Dale Carnegie Selling your Service / 115 Category Objectives and things to consider. Your network Size of network and frequency of contact. Suspects Number of suspects and targets for frequency of contact. Prospects Number of prospects and targets for frequency of contact. Proposals Number of proposals per month. Clients Number of clients per year, average reorder value, number of new clients per year. Other Number of meetings per week. Without a selling orientation you can easily overlook activities necessary for the continuation of your consulting practice. By establishing realistic yet challenging objectives for each part of the sales process, you can prevent the nightmare of running out of consulting projects and avoid the ‘feast or famine’ syndrome. Remember! These goals need to meet ‘SMART’ criteria as outlined in Chapter 4. S – specific M – measurable A – aligned R – results oriented T – time-based. Exercise 6.3 Establishing sales objectives Thinking about your consulting business, create objectives using the table below: 116 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 117 Coaching point The more speci¢c you are the greater are the chances of success. Evaluating sales communication channels Establishing positive sales communication with your clients represents a complex combination of means and method.   Means includes evaluating and using communication channels effectively.   Method includes understanding differences and applying a range of simple and complex interpersonal skills to adapt to differing client needs. Let’s look at communication channels first. T|me out! There are numerous communication channels available to use through which to interact with clients including:   email   voicemail   telephone   informal co¡ee/lunch meetings   formal meetings   presentations. Increasingly, more and more of our communication takes place via email. While email is a great communication channel, it is always important to use the right medium for the message. Foul! Remember the concept of a‘quick email’ is an oxymoron! Most emails will take approximately ¢veminutes towrite, spell-check and send. And for anyone who disputes this fact, think about the number ofemails you have received, which have obviously only taken one minute to write, that you have no idea what the person is talking about! Take a look at the list below: Email is great for. . . Email is not so good for. . .   Multiple distribution of the same   Initiating relationships information   Communicating about feelings   Giving instructions   An issue that needs real-time interaction   Creating a paper trail in commitments   Urgent issues   Communicating specific facts and data   Obtaining a buying decision   Summarizing follow-up commitments   Communicating with lots of people at the same time   Confirming a buying decision Real time interaction is great for. . . Real time interaction is not so good for. . .   Initiating relationships   Dissemination of facts and data   Communicating about feelings (with no discussion)   Building trust   Giving instructions   Identifying needs   Tracking specific facts and data   Presenting solutions   Dealing with issues that need person-to-person interaction   Urgent issues   Closing a sale Exercise 6.4 Which communication channel do you prefer to use? Thinking about the way you tend to interact with clients and others, answer the following questions:   How much of your communication is via email? 118 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 119   How do you feel about using the phone?   How much of your interaction is face to face?   To what extent are you using your real-time interaction (phone and meetings) on suspects, prospects and clients?   How can you make sure you are using the right medium for the message? Case study: Joe Joe really enjoys person-to-person interaction. In fact, he would prefer to be talking to someone than working alone, writing or planning. When Joe analysed his use of communication channels using the exercise above, he discovered that he was spending too much time interacting with his network, which although fun, was not allowing him sufficient time for planning and research. He started to use email a little more, sending interesting articles and information to his network, and concentrated his face-to-face time on new suspects and potential prospects with whom he wanted to build rapport. Preparing your 30-second commercial It is important, whether you will be meeting people in person or on the phone, to prepare your 30-second commercial so that when someone asks you, ‘What do you do?’ you don’t say ‘Well, duh, I am just getting started, and uh. . . !’ A simple model for preparing your 30-second commercial is to briefly review four specific sections. Any longer than that time and people will not listen. T|me out! In your commercial include: 1. Your personal background and/or your connection to the person. 2. Your educational background, particularly if this will enhance your credibility. 3. Your business background: a fewsummary statements providing your key areas of expertise and unique selling proposition. 4. The bridge connecting what you are doing as a consultant and what help or advice you are looking for from them. Case study:Marie Personal: Hi. My name is . . . and we met at the . . . meeting last week where you asked me to follow up with you this week. Educational background: I have a Masters in Organizational Development from . . . Business background: As you know, I am a training consultant with over 20 years of experience in the training and organizational development industry. For the past four years I have been running my own business, and my expertise includes assessing training needs, developing and delivering training solutions, and training internal trainers. My uniqueness is that I am a businessperson first and a trainer second, which means that any training solutions I offer are practical and business-results focused. Bridge: And the reason I am calling today is. . . Exercise 6.5 Preparing your 30-second commercial   Take a moment now and create your 30-second commercial. For this exercise, think about a specific upcoming meeting/call so that you can customize the introduction to this specific audience. Personal: _ Educational background: _ Business background :_ _ _ Bridge:_ Outcome from this meeting/discussion: _   Now find someone with whom you can try out your 30-second commercial. Ask them particularly to refine the information you have included in education and business background. 120 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 121   Make any further changes below. Personal: _ Educational background: _ Business background: _ _ _ Bridge:_ Outcome from this meeting/discussion_ _ Coaching point Initially, it can be very di⁄cult to condense the essence of your services into 30 seconds.The bene¢t of this process is that it helps you to more clearly articulate what it is you do so that anyone can understand it.The more people who understand it, the more can help you sell it! A great mistake that many consultants make is to ‘blind their prospects with science!’so they have no ideawhat you do or more importantly how you could aid them in their business! Using the telephone in selling He conquers who endures. Persius Selling, developing and delivering a service such as consulting differs considerably from selling a product like an automobile. These differences pose a special challenge to consultants. How do you make relatively invisible services seem real and useful to prospective clients? This is achieved by making sure the services are understood, and by somehow making them more tangible by talking to and meeting with suspects and prospects. General guidelines for selling on the telephone Foul! Remember, selling by telephone is not the same as‘cold calling’. It involves calling people from your network, suspect and prospect list to obtain ideas and information. If you are e¡ective with contacting people you know, youwill never need to make a‘cold call’. Telephone marketing Advantages Disadvantages   Saves time: you can cover many people   No face-to-face contact: you are not able in a short time. It is an incredibly time- to see body language cues and therefore effective tool, particularly in the early it can be harder to build rapport. stages of business development.   Difficulty in contact: it is becoming   Saves money: costs less than travelling increasingly difficult to talk to ‘live’ to face-to-face meetings. people, instead of message machines. Telephone marketing requires a concentrated, focused environment, plus rapid evaluation and decision-making. But the benefits can be considerable in terms of increased business. T|me out! General guidelines on telephone marketing   ‘Chunk’ your time: plan for at least two hours of telephone calls three times aweek in the set-up stages of your business and at least two one-hour sessions per week when your business is established.   Make sure you utilize your body clock e¡ectively.Telephone marketing is hard work, so make sure if you are a‘lark’ (best in the morning) that you make your phone calls then. If you are an ‘owl’ (best in the afternoon and evening), make your phone calls then.   If you are organized, you can make 30-45 calls in a two-to-three hour time frame.   Most of the time (approximately 80%) youwill be leaving messages on voicemails for the other person.Make sure you leave a speci¢c message including your name and number, the reason you called and a good time to call back.   If you are leaving a message on a voicemail, state your name and number at the beginning of the call, and then repeat it again at the end.   Don’t rushwhen you repeat your phone number! 122 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 123   Even if you have known the person for a long time, always leave your number.You never knowif they have lost their organizer, or if their system has crashed!   Make at least three to¢ve phone callswithout giving up. Researchwas conductedwith a sales force.Womenwere more successful than the men in this study because they made more calls than the men, and manyof the decisions to buy took place on the ¢fth call. Oftenwe take it personally when people do not call us back. Realistically, they are busy, not ignoring us!   If the person still does not return your call, you could send them an emailwith some information and wait for them to contact you.   Call back every three to ¢ve days. On average people return the call, if they are going to,within two to three days.   The ideal use of the telephone in marketing your business would be to make the initial call, send information, and then call again after the information has been received and enough time has passed for the recipient to have read it. Preparing for a telephone call As with most work, time spent in preparing and planning can save time when we are actually making calls. Following is a pre-call planning exercise to help you prepare for making contact on the phone. Exercise 6.6 Preparing for a telephone call   Create a mental picture of the person you are contacting and what you both want to accomplish as a result of this phone call.   What do you know about this contact, his/her company and background?   What is your objective in calling?   What questions are you going to ask?   How did you obtain the name of this contact?   Do you understand every conceivable aspect of your background that might be relevant?   What specific questions may this contact ask you, based on your knowledge of him/ her?   How can you make sure your voice is pleasant and upbeat?   What were your insights from thinking about the call in this way?   As a result, how will you approach the call differently? Coaching point The more you plan, the more prepared and professional you will appear, and the greater the chance of building your business. Case study: Julia Julia created her 30-second commercial and tried it out by calling friends and leaving messages with them to obtain feedback on her voice tone, how sincere she sounded and how clear her message was. She initially sent out an email targeted towards start-up companies and then she followed this up by making her first 40 telephone calls. She has been allocating two mornings a week for her telephone marketing efforts. She is using her Palm Pilot to track whom she calls and the responses she is obtaining. She managed to speak to five people directly from those calls, the rest she left a comprehensive message with. Of those five people she managed to talk to directly, every call had a positive outcome. She received four more names of people who might be interested in her services, and she scheduled two meetings. One meeting was with a venture capitalist, who might be able to sub-contract work to her. The other was with a small start-up that might require an HR assessment. Even with the messages she left, she received call-backs from over 40% of the individuals she had called. She sent the two people who gave her names a thank you email. 124 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 125 Managing the telephone interaction Let’s look at the steps in the telephone interaction in a variety of situations for the people from our case studies: when the person is there and it is a good time, when it is not a good time and when there is a voicemail. Foul! It can be tempting when you get the person you actuallywant to talk to on the phone, tojump in immediately with your pitch. Don’t! Always ask ‘Is this a good time?’ You buy yourself ‘Brownie points’and create credibility by so doing.There is nothing worse than picking up a phone and being on the receiving end of a data dump! As you can see, the first step involves being clear about your expectation for the call, plus being prepared will help you sound confident and organized, which in turn will help to make your contacts feel comfortable helping you. Person is there and it is a good time: Frank Step in the call Person is there: good time 1. Identify purpose for call: To generate a meeting 2. Short introduction Hello: This is . . .We met at the recent Help Desk Institute meeting and you suggested I call you about process reengineering (personal information). 3. Ask for permission Is this a good time? 4. Introduce purpose and story I have a Masters Degree in Quality Engineering (30 seconds, two minutes (Educational). maximum!) I have spent the last 20 years both in the field and at corporate headquarters managing and directing technical support operations, working for such organizations as Amdahl, Oracle and IBM. The specific expertise that I bring is that I combine both strategy and process improvement experience, with a practical implementation focus (business background). The reason I am calling today is because we discussed the process-reengineering project you are undertaking and thought I might be able to help (bridge/transition). 5. Transition into questions What was the driving force behind your process engineering? How far are you into the process? What are the results so far? What is working? Etc. 6. Listen to answers Make notes as required to act as the basis for more questions. When there is a two-way discussion lasting approximately three to four minutes, transition. 7. Transition It seems like we might have a fit, in terms of your needs and the services I could provide. 8. Date for a meeting I will be in your area on . . . . Is there any time that day that would work for you? If Frank were calling to try to build his network and/or find advice his bridge would be: ‘If you were in my situation, who would you talk to? What would you do? Who else might have ideas?’ Person is there and it is not a good time: Joe Step in the call Person is there: not a good time 1. Identify purpose for call: To ask for advice/information 2. Short introduction with Hello. This is . . . We worked together at Sun, when you purpose were the VP Marketing and I was the Product Manager for . . . product. I was calling to see if you could give me any advice as I am setting up my consulting business (personal information). 3. Ask for permission Is this a good time? 4. Not a good time When would you like me to try again? 5. Confirm time So I will call you back at. . . 6. Finish call Thank you and I will look forward to catching up personally then. 7. Call back when promised If there: continue with purpose, story, questions and summary. If the person is not there, they now have an informal obligation to call you back because you made an appointment and they broke it. 8. Call back three days later if don’t hear and start again. 126 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 127 Person is not there and you get voicemail: Marie Step in the call Person is not there: voicemail 1. Identify purpose for call: to obtain names 2. Short introduction Hello. This is . . . Linda suggested I call you regarding sales training for your organization. 3. Introduce purpose and story I have a Masters Degree in Organizational (30 seconds – two minutes Development (educational). maximum!) I recently left . . . organization where I was responsible for rolling out sales training to over 5,000 associates in a three month period resulting in a 17% increase in comparative store sales (business background). The reason I am calling today is because Linda suggested that you might need help in training associates at your stores (bridge/transition). 4. Transition into call back I would be very interested in talking to you about your current sales training process, to discover in what areas I might be able to help you. 5. Give availability I will be available tomorrow and Friday. 6. Restate contact information Again, my name is . . . And my phone number is . . . I look forward to talking personally to you soon. Coaching point Be sure to send athank you note if the person has given you good, useful advice or if he/she has given you a lead.Youwant to be comfortable calling again if necessary. Exercise 6.7 Evaluating your telephone e¡ectiveness Complete ten to 20 calls to your network and then answer the following questions to assess your effectiveness on the phone. Yes No & & Were you talking less than 50% of the time in any discussions? & & Were you 100% focused on the other person during the conversations? & & Were you trying to put yourself in the customer’s shoes? & & Did you ask questions? Both open and closed? & & Did you let the customer finish what they were saying without interrupting? & & Did you react to the ideas they provided? By repeating or verifying? & & Did you take notes? & & Did you review the notes after the discussion? & & Did you send any follow-up notes/emails? & & Did you make sure the exchange was two-way?   If you answered ‘yes’ to more than six questions, you are well on the way to building your business by using the telephone effectively. If you answered more than six questions with ‘no’ you may want to brainstorm ideas to improve the flow of conversation.   What can you do to improve your telephone effectiveness? Coaching point The average pause on the phone is between twoand ten seconds.Managing the silence on the phone is often the greatest challenge.We may tend to talk and ¢ll the gap when we would gather more information and build better rapport if we were to allow pausing. So, if in doubt, be quiet! As you can see, managing the telephone interaction is critical to optimizing your business success. However many people feel uncomfortable about contacting others for information or for ideas. By being clear about your purpose and examining reasons for your reluctance, you can overcome this obstacle. Just do it!! Courtesy of Nike 128 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 129 Managing the sales meeting Now that we have looked at real-time interaction on the phone, let ’s review some techniques used to manage the face-to-face sales meeting. T|me out! Managing the sales meeting: S: start the interaction positively E: engage the client: ask open-ended questions, listen, and paraphrase L: list features and bene¢ts that relate to the client’s needs L: leavewith the next step planned. S: start the interaction positively Let’s look at these steps in a little more detail. T|me out! Remember, when you meet prospects for the ¢rst time, the factors that in£uence your communication are:   body language (55%) (includes eye contact, gestures, facial expression, etc)   theway you say thewords (38%) (includes tone, delivery, enunciation, pausing, ¢ller words, etc)   the word choice (7%) (includes vocabulary and word choice), Step Guidelines S: Start the interaction   Positively provide a professional greeting: handshake and eye contact.   Build rapport by small-talk and mirroring body language and delivery.   Establish credibility by talking about the company/ current events.   Exchange business cards.   Can last any time from one minute to ten depending on the client.   The client will let you know when they are ready to move on by providing some type of body language cue e.g. they will pick up a pen, sit forward, or move somehow.   The need for this stage is larger at the beginning of the relationship because it takes time to build trust. Foul! If you miss the body language clue that the client is ready to move on to the next stage of the interaction, the prospective clientmay then ask you to describe your services and youwill not know the speci¢c needs that the client wishes to be addressed. E: engage the client The critical point in selling a service is to identify client needs and objectives before you begin to describe your products or services. Clients will only commit to purchasing services when they are convinced that the consultant’s support will help them meet their business objectives. The chances for closing a sale are greater if you actively search out the customer’s needs. But more importantly, clients will feel more valued if the consultant takes an active interest in their business. T|me out! There are twoways of uncovering client needs: making assumptions, and asking questions. Making assumptions: can be risky ^ makes an ASS out of UandME. Asking questions: should be primarily open-ended questions. Open-ended questions cannot be answered ‘yes’or ‘no’. E: engage the client Guidelines Asking open-ended   This part of the sales interaction can last over 20 questions minutes, with many open-ended questions being asked.   Use phrases such as ‘tell me about, describe and explain’ to act as excellent topic-opener statements to begin a subject area.   Use ‘who, what, when, where, why and how’ as openended questions to probe and gather more information.   Use closed questions to gather specific data or move to 130 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 131 the next stage of the interaction.   Think about the client’s current business situation, overall business goals and specific challenges in the area where you can provide help.   Begin with general questions, in terms of business challenges, and become more specific, focusing on the areas in which you can provide a service.   Ask as many questions as you can, until you have gathered enough information or until the client is ready to move on to finding out about you and your services.   At the end of this chapter is a general list of questions that can be used to gather information about the business. Listen actively   Take notes to help you listen.   Concentrate on the other person and pay attention to what they are saying and what else might be going on.   Be patient with the silence of if they do not talk as quickly as you do!   Remember the influence in a sales interaction goes to the listener not the speaker.   Make sure you listen by observing body language clues – that blank look is a good indicator that the client has no idea what you are talking about.   Don’t rehearse what you will say as the other person is talking. Make sure you stay focused on the other person.   Don’t prematurely jump to conclusions – let the person finish talking and keep listening. Paraphrasing   Paraphrasing involves repeating back to the client in your own words, what they have just told you.   Don’t repeat word for word – that’s parroting and can be viewed as patronizing.   Don’t provide your judgment or opinion, just a neutral restatement of what they said to you.   Paraphrasing has many benefits, which include: – validating the client – checking for understanding between what you heard and they said – gives you time to think about the next questions. When the prospective client’s posture changes, this is the time to begin to describe the products and services that you can offer that will meet their needs. Case study: engaging the client ^ questioning is key Marie was meeting with a client and at the beginning of the meeting the client asked, ‘Do you do cultural diversity training?’ Marie did not, but she said, ‘That’s an interesting question, why is this subject important?’ To her surprise, the client began to describe the environment and the training needs, which encompassed entry level management training for a supervisory group who mainly originated from Vietnam. By understanding the broader business context by asking questions, listening and paraphrasing, Marie was able to define a service that she offered, management training with some emphasis on dealing with different cultures. The client did not want intense cultural training. L: list features and benefits that relate to the client’s needs Step: L Guidelines List features relating to   Position the services you offer in terms of the features client needs and benefits you determined in Chapter 5. The benefits will relate directly to the needs you have identified in the sales meeting. Ask for status   If you are not sure where you are in the process and you observe a change in posture, the best thing you can do is to ask the client one of the following four questions: how does that sound? how does this information look? what do you think? how do you feel about this information? Foul! This is the step in the sales interaction when the business can be sold or lost. Many consultants fail to watch the body language clues from the client as they describe their service’s features and bene¢ts. As a result they continue to talk and walk straight into and out of the sale. If we miss that critical moment when the client wishes to buy, then we may not be able to close the sale. Over half of sales are lost because the critical cues from the customer are missed. 132 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 133 L: leavewith the next step Often the end of the interaction does not mean the closing of the sale. When selling services, on average, it takes two to three appointments to close the sale. However, it is necessary to ensure that when you leave you have the critical next steps identified so that you do not have to revisit the voicemail endless cycle! The next steps could include:   a further meeting with other decision makers and influencers   sending a proposal   a formal presentation to senior management. Exercise 6.8 Evaluating your person-to-person e¡ectiveness   Complete a visit with a prospective client with a colleague. Brief him/her on the steps you will be trying to adhere to in the sales cycle.   Make sure you position the additional person in the meeting with the client as a colleague from your consulting team.   After the meeting, discuss the following questionnaire with him/her to identify what went well and what else could have increased the success of the meeting. Step in the sales meeting Questions S: start the interaction   How long did this step in the interaction take?   How well did the consultant greet the client?   How did the consultant build rapport?   To what extent did the consultant talk about the client’s business in the introduction?   To what extent did the consultant pay attention to the client’s body language and transition into gathering information about needs? E: engage the client   How long did this stage of the interaction last?   How many open-ended questions did the consultant ask?   How many closed questions?   How well did the consultant listen to the client’s needs?   How did you know that he/she was listening?   How well, if at all, did the consultant paraphrase the information gathered?   What other information could the consultant have obtained which would have aided in the sales process? L: list features and benefits   How long did this stage in the interaction last?   How clear was the consultant about the benefits of his/ her services?   To what extent were these services linked to client needs?   How alert was the consultant to changes in posture?   Did the consultant ask for status: How does that sound? Look? Feel? What do you think?   How effectively did the consultant manage any concerns expressed? L: leave with the next step   How long did this stage of the interaction last? planned   To what extent did the consultant confirm next steps?   What else could the consultant have done to increase the chances of a sale?   Based on this discussion, what can you do to improve your sales effectiveness in a meeting? Coaching point The more you can adhere to these steps and get feedback, the greater the chance of building a successful consulting business. Don’t be afraid to use a coach to guide you in this process. Adjusting your style to maximize sales We don’t see things as they are, we see things as we are. Anais Nin As we discussed in Chapter 2, each of us may view the world slightly differently based on our temperament. This becomes increasingly important in the sales process, where clients 134 / Be a Successful Consultant Area Artisan Guardian Rational Idealist Subjects Concrete data: practical and tangible around action Concrete data: practical and tangible around process and results Abstract data: around theories and systems Abstract data: around people and their needs Structure Tactical and to the point: 1,2,3 . . . net it out Linear and sequential: 1, 1.1, 1.2, 2, 2.1, 2.2, 2.2a, 2.2b Strategic: categorized under headings Interconnected around a central theme Words Colloquial language: jargon, slang, short and to the point Similes and stories Traditional language: respectful and considered Examples from experience Precise language: sophisticated and elaborate words Analogies and metaphors Global language: over-exaggeration of data Analogies and metaphors Delivery Fast-paced Structured Deliberate Flowing and dramatic Body language/ gestures Clawing with hands Finger pointing and chopping Pull ideas from the air Circles with hands and open gestures Body language May appear casual and unprofessional May appear deliberate and formal May appear distant and preoccupied May appear warm and gushing Humour Outrageous or physical Dry: tongue in cheek, sarcastic Cerebral: double meanings, words and puns Use personal examples and self-deprecating jokes Questioning style Filter information based on Questioning on motive Questioning to identify relevant experience Questioning to identify relevant experience What is this person’s experience and skill set? Questioning of theories and competence Is person competent and knowledgeable? Questioning to find what ’s important to the person How does this person approach others? Selling your Service / 135 from differing temperaments will communicate differently and look for different benefits. Below is a table highlighting the different communication style associated with each temperament. The four languages of temperament Based on these differing styles, here are a few ideas for improving the sales interaction with each temperament. Communicating with Artisans   Use short and more direct communication.   Remember – less is more.   Talk about concrete realities.   Get to the point quickly and keep moving.   Expect cynicism and stories.   Adapt to their colloquial language.   Use tools and hands-on experiences when explaining approaches.   Talk about impact, end results and variety.   Remember, they read body language very accurately so watch your body language cues. Communicating with Guardians   Talk about what was done in the past and your prior experience.   Explain concrete, practical implementation approach.   Be specific about who is responsible for what in terms of roles and responsibilities.   Explain steps sequentially, starting at the beginning and using numbering 1,2,3,4,5.   Be specific about the expected results.   Expect questions about ‘rules’, ‘what can be done’ and ‘what cannot be done’.   Focus on efficiencies and process improvements.   Provide lots of data and background information.   Give practical examples. Communicating with Rationals   Start with the big picture.   Use precise language when explaining concepts and ideas.   Make sure of your facts and present theoretical information where possible. Don’t bluff!   Expect critical questioning to clarify a point of view.   Recognize their intellectual competence.   Talk about your expertise in a specific field. 136 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 137   Use analogies to make points.   Attend to the conditional language ‘if this . . . then . . .’.   Always explain what and why. Communicating with Idealists   Talk about the purpose of an approach.   Be authentic when communicating – they will pick up ‘fake’ conversation.   Focus on the big picture and conceptual ideas.   Use metaphors and analogies.   Talk about the benefits to people of actions: ability to develop potential and the ‘greater good’.   Don’t provide too much practical detail.   Listen to their insights on people, which is usually accurate.   Build an empathetic relationship. Writing successful proposals Defeat is not theworst of failures. Not to have tried is the true failure. George E.Woodberry Many appointments result in a client’s request for a proposal. T|me out! A proposal is usually a document you write for the client that:   Describes your understanding of the client’s need.   Paraphrases the key information gathered in the meeting(s) with the client and restates what the client requested.   States what you intend to do for the client.   Indicates what anticipated results and potential bene¢ts the client will gain as a consequence of the engagement.   Outlines your approach and quali¢cations.   Tries to persuade the client to accept your proposal. Foul! Don’t get caught by clients who say, without having met you,‘Send me a proposal and thenwe can discuss it’. This is classic avoidance behaviour fromthe client. 1. You don’t know their needs so how can you send a proposal? 2. Youwill only spend time creating something generic and they will reply ‘This is not what we are looking for!’ The complexity of the proposal will depend on the size of the project and type of consulting that you do. Remember that the proposal needs to include critical information, but should not be over cumbersome. Below are listed some sample areas: Item Explanation Table of contents Only for long, complex proposals Background information Include a summary of the background information that you have gathered in the meetings. Will normally include detail about the company, the current business environment, current challenges and key people involved. Purpose Purpose of the proposed engagement. Objectives A description of the key outcomes that you expect from the consulting assignment. It may also include details on critical deliverables. Approach A description of the critical steps and methodologies that will be used in the consulting assignment, the scope of the project and a plan. Content Key areas in which service will be provided. Pricing summary Compensation amount expected for the critical steps: see Chapter 7 for more information about rates. This will also include payment terms and cancellation rates. Progress checks For longer-term projects, this will include information about interim progress reports, deliverables and critical milestones in the project. Qualifications If this is the first time you have worked with the client you may need to include a summary of qualifications, client list and possible references. Resources Again, if this is a large contract, include a definition of other consultants to be used. Responsibilities A listing of your responsibilities and the clients’. 138 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 139 Coaching points   Be sure to not give away too much information in your proposal. Give only enough to make the prospective clientwant to come back and ask for more. If you provide too much advice and/or data, the client may decide to do the work themselves.   It is not generallya good ideato send a generic proposal.You need to meet and spend time with the prospective client in order to understand as much as possiblewhat his/her needs are, then the proposal can be speci¢cally tuned to those needs. (Since it is sometimes impossible to actually meet, this stepmay be done on the telephone, but a face-to-face meeting is always preferable.)   A proposal should not take more than twoto four hours to prepare. One to twois optimal.   When facing competition for a project, remember this rule: someone always has the inside track. Consultants refer to this as being ‘wired’.The ¢rst question you need to ask yourself then is if you have the inside track. Is there someonewithin the organizationwho will push for you and keep you in the running? Try to keep these key people on your side. Competitors also have sponsors who are usually di¡erent from yours.You can estimate your chances of getting the assignment by comparing the power of your sponsor vs. the power of competitors’sponsors. Under certain circumstances youwill not have the inside track but you should bid anyway because this may provide a chance for person-to-person exposure to the client.More importantly, the client may also have future projects, and if impressedwith you, he or shemay engage you for them. Exercise 6.9 Deciding your proposal approach   Review the table above and decide, for your area of consulting, which categories you would select.   Talk to three other consultants in a similar field to you and ask them (or get a copy if possible) what they include in their proposals. What type of information? What format? What ideas could you include in your proposals?   Now spend some time creating a standard template for a proposal so that it is easier to build in the specific client information. Presenting the proposal It is normally preferable to ask to present your proposal in person. This serves two purposes.   It indicates how serious you are about the client and their project.   A presentation in person increases your chances of clinching the sale. After presenting the proposal, you will want some indication the client has selected you as a consultant. You must take the initiative to finalize the sale. You close the sale by simply asking or by estimating when you are going to start. Once the client chooses you as a consultant, send him or her a letter of understanding to confirm your arrangement. Using cover letters If you do not personally present your proposal, or if you are unable to contact the prospective client by phone, it is often a good idea to send a cover letter with the proposal or with the information about your services. Cover letters are used to:   build rapport with the client   introduce your objective for contacting them   reaffirm information you know about the client   outline your qualifications   ask for a close. T|me out! A cover letter should include the following information: Reason for writing: article, referral, advertisement, research, previous meeting. Summaryof services: brief overview of range of services and experience. Summary of perceived need: the need they may have based on your previous information, and how you could help them meet that need. Close: ask for the next steps, whether it is an appointment, a phone conversation or a con¢rmation. 140 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 141 What if the client says no? Success consists of going from failure to failurewithout loss of enthusiasm. SirWinston Churchill The most difficult part of sales involves when the client says no. T|me out! Here are a few guidelines to help you manage the inevitable emotion that these negative answersmight generate:   The more clients who say ‘no’, the greater the chances that onewill say ‘yes’.   If the service is not the right ¢t, it is better not to get the work than to do it and fail.   Use this as an opportunity to evaluate your sales e¡ectiveness. Is there something that you missed? What else could you have done?   They are not rejecting you personally, they are saying ‘no’ to your services currently.Who knows what future opportunities theremight bewith this client?   Make sure you handle the negative response in a professional manner ^ this increases the chance that the client will come back to you again if they have further needs. What if the client says yes? Success is howhigh you bounce when you hit bottom. General George S. Patton Congratulations, your first major milestone has been achieved. Now you have to make sure the client pays you and you complete the work successfully. Keep reading for more tips! Sample questions to ask Foul! Don’t ask all the questions! Select the ones that are most relevant for your particular client! Coaching point Obviously the more information you can have at your ¢nger tips before the client meeting the better.You can then use questioning to deepen your knowledgewithin speci¢c areas. General business   What is the revenue of the company?   How many years has the company been in business?   Who founded the company?   Is either the founder or starter team still active in the business?   What has been the sales growth in the past year? Two years? Etc?   What are the company’s top five corporate goals? (Increase market share, enhance quality, improve client satisfaction, control costs, increase profitability, etc.)   What needs to be enhanced or accomplished by the company to achieve these goals?   What are the greatest business challenges/problems that are a priority to address in the next six to 12 months?   Who does the company consider to be their most serious competitors? How would any competitor compare or contrast your company or approach to theirs?   What will the company look like two to three years from now?   What external influences are of greatest consequence to the corporation?   What is the financial structure of the company?   What is the outstanding debt of the company?   Is the company public?   In the history of the company, what were the biggest advance and the biggest setback?   What does the client see as the strengths and weaknesses of this company? Marketing and customers   What significant market opportunities or threats will the company face over the 142 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 143 next 3-5 years?   What primary and secondary markets is the company currently targeting?   How many different customers does the company have?   Who are the organization’s customers? Local, regional, national or international?   What is the profile of the ideal customer?   What restructuring or expansions are planned over the next year or two?   What is the most profitable line of business and what are the development plans for this line?   What market segment is the organization part of?   How is the industry structured?   What is the organization’s role in the way the industry is structured?   What is unique about the way the company competes?   What is the company’s specific market niche?   What promotional strategies are used within this market niche?   How is the industry outlook?   What are the plans to expand to new market areas? Organization   Who does what in the organization?   What are the main functions in the organization?   What is the highest priority in the next six months and how could you help?   How is the budgeting process managed?   In addition to revenue, what else is monitored on a regular basis?   What companies, departments, divisions or sites make up the corporate structure? How are they related?   How are the products/services organized within that structure?   How centralized or decentralized are operational and profit/loss responsibilities?   What is the reporting structure for the client’s function? Culture questions   What key values does the firm consider important? How are these communicated throughout the organization?   What does the company have written about its culture? In terms of annual reports, quarterly statement, brochures?   Can all individuals state the company’s mission or reason for being? Do individuals have a clear picture of its values?   What are the slogans in the organization?   How do beliefs affect the day-to-day business of the organization?   What are the stories in the organization?   How is the physical environment?   What are the rites and rituals present in the organization? How are high performers recognised? What are the opportunities for team recognition? What are the team activities supported by the company?   How are meetings managed? (If possible, try to attend a meeting.) How often are meetings held? For the team? For individuals? How do employees get involved in meetings? Where do people sit?   What is the company’s compensation philosophy?   What is the company’s training philosophy?   How are new employees hired and introduced to the company?   What awards are given in the organization? What values do these awards reinforce?   Are there language rituals, such as the extensive use of jargon? How are individuals addressed?   What are the unwritten rules of behaviour in the organization? E.g. Nepotism? Sexist jokes? Dress code?   Are there predefined standards for presentation of materials?   How and when are memos used in the organization?   Who are the heroes of the organization? Why are they recognised as such? What does this demonstrate about the culture?   What are people like who work at the organization? How long have they been there? What is the staff turnover rate?   How do you feel about the president or CEO? What do you recognise about his or her temperament?   How are strangers greeted in the organization?   What is the format of the average day?   What is the company’s strategic planning process?   What are the main communication channels? Formal or informal?   How do these communication channels work?   How are decisions made in the company? Is there a formal chain of command for decisions? How far does the president delegate decision-making? 144 / Be a Successful Consultant Selling your Service / 145 Current environment questions   What current challenges are facing the business?   What is being done to address the challenges?   What changes have taken place in the past few months? Checklist Have you:   Written down the benefits to you of selling?   Highlighted in your database your 40–50 suspects?   Picked out any interesting prospects?   Created your introductory commercial?   Decided who will be the first 20 people you will contact?   Identified the outcome you require from these 20 calls?   Fixed three meetings with influencers, decision-makers and prospects?   Created a list of questions to ask prospects?   Practised paraphrasing and probing for specifics?   Created a template for proposals? Scorecard Before moving on to Chapter 7, think about the following questions:   In terms of the Sales Process, what tools and techniques will you use to ensure that you are conducting activities in all of the critical stages in business development: network, suspects, prospects, proposals and clients. Howlong do you believe the sales process is for your type of business? Howmany people do you think you need in each category to be successful?   Howmany telephone calls do you think would be appropriate for your type of business? How will you ensure that you are practising the key skills when making telephone calls? What is the target youwill set yourself and how will you measure your success?   What meetingswill you schedule? How will you ensure that you are using these meetings to gather information and not just talk? How can you practise asking open-ended questions and listening? What type of proposal is required for your business? This Page Intentionally Left Blank SECTION THREE: Getting Money This Page Intentionally Left Blank 149 CHAPTER SEVEN FinancingYour Business Game plan The area of funding your consulting business, establishing fee rates and collecting your outstanding accounts receivable is often one of the most misunderstood, and underestimated, areas of your consulting business. The purpose of this chapter is to help you to:   Create a realistic estimate of start-up costs.   Evaluate and obtain funding to begin your consulting business.   Establish financial objectives to guide your efforts.   Build a revenue and cash flow statement for your business to ensure financial liquidity.   Decide your fee structure and rates to maximize potential revenue.   Manage your accounts receivable so that you limit bad debts and protect cash flow.   Understand the financial infrastructure inherent in sub-contracting.   Provide the basis and infrastructure for achieving a profitable consulting business. Estimating your start-up and ongoing costs Money is like manure.You have to spread it around or it smells! J. Paul Getty Every business faces one-time start-up costs, which are dependent on the type of consulting you are doing, your location and your plans. Often it is easy to overlook these start-up costs, particularly if you have been working at a large company where they are Car/insurance Rent Office preparation Computer hardware & Cable connections/ internet access fees & Telephone/mobile phone/fax & Other office equipment and furniture & Computer software & Utilities & Postage & Stationery and business cards & Insurance & Printing and supplies & Answering service & Typing services & Accounting and legal services & Business licenses and permits & Advertising and promotion & Dues and subscriptions & Books and reference materials & Travel & Conventions & Continuing education & Entertainment & Gifts & Salaries & Unemployment insurance & Eating out part of the infrastructure. It is important also to plan systematically for all monthly expenses. The following is a checklist of possible areas of cost: T|me out! As you are starting your business, the two areas of cost that tend to be immediately higher than the others are phone bill and your eating out expenses.When you ¢rst begin marketing your business, as we discussed in Chapters 5 and 6, the telephone becomes a time-e¡ective business development tool.You might expect, depending on your speed and pro¢ciencyon the phone, for your phone bill to at least double in the early months. In addition, much of the time you spendwith networking contactswill be over food of some kind ^ breakfast, co¡ee, lunch, dinner, etc! Foul! Consultants are often tempted to pick up the bill when eating out, because now it is a deductible expense. However, as any accountant would say, ‘Don’t spend money to save money!’ Try to minimize eating out ^ meetings are often more productive when held separately from meals. 150 / Be a Successful Consultant Category Start-up costs Monthly expenses Office space and furniture Computer hardware and software Telephones/mobile phones/fax Travel and expenses Meals Advertising Marketing/collateral Stationery and postage Conferences/continuing education Insurances Car Vendors/services Owners’ draw/salary Financing Your Business / 151 Exercise 7.1 What are your start-up costs and estimated monthly expenses? Thinking about your consulting business, look at the list opposite and fill in the table below with your estimates of start-up costs and possible monthly expenses.   Looking at the amount above, what costs are essential? How could you save costs in the start-up phase? Coaching point It can be too easy for start-up costs to get out of control. By creating a realistic estimate of these costs and your approximate monthly outgoings, you will be in a better position to manage your business.More information on setting up youro⁄ce is included in Section Four. Case study:Marie Marie already has a computer at home, but she knows her main start-up cost will be eating out and phone calls. The first time she was a consultant her telephone bill trebled and eating out doubled. This time, she has decided to try to have meetings separately from meals, but is prepared for the rise in the phone calls, as she believes this is a critical startup cost for her. Funding your business in the start-up phase Money may kindle, but it cannot by itself, and for a very long, burn. Igor Stravinski It is important to have a certain amount of money in reserve to live on while your business gets started for a variety of reasons.   To cover the start-up costs and early monthly expense requirements.   In case you get sick and can’t work for any amount of time, or if someone close to you becomes ill and you need to care for them.   Most importantly so that you do not appear desperate when selling. You will sell more effectively if you’re not too hungry. If you are too eager, the customer may pick up on it and wonder if you’re good enough. Let’s look at how we can fund our business in this start-up phase. 152 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 153 T|me out!   You need aminimum of sixmonths’ living money, but it is optimumto have one year.Why? It takes time to close your ¢rst contract: minimally six weeks, can be as much as six months.   Often it is necessary to complete some consulting work for a period of time before you can invoice, particularly as you are getting started and have less credibility.   Finally, most companies pay invoices four to eight weeks after they are received: the average time is six weeks. Identifying sources of capital Once you have calculated your profit and loss and cash flow statement (see page 158), and estimated your start-up costs, you should be able to calculate how much income you need in order to resource your business. There are various options for funding your business. Type Comments A bank loan When dealing with a bank you should provide the business plan, look the part, and be prepared to shop around for a bank to back you. Many established banks are still reluctant to fund new business ventures. Friends/venture capital More often than you might suspect, you can find friends who believe in your undertaking more than your banker. Also, there is a range of venture capital firms that will often finance new businesses. People with venture capital often want a greater portion of the company ownership. In addition, there are some entrepreneurs who will fund start-ups. Your savings More often than not, your personal savings are adequate to finance your start-up as a consultant. You will need approximately a year’s worth of income as a back-up resource. Selling shares You may consider selling some shares of stock to finance your start. Redundancy packages You may use funds received from your previous company when laid off. Credit cards Many people with service businesses have financed themselves with credit cards since this has been the only credit available to them. Bear in mind that this is the most expensive way to finance since most credit card companies charge very high interest rates. However many credit cards offer low introductory rates and will help consolidate your previous debt. For example, the founder of a consulting organization who was 36, had three children under 12, and was the main breadwinner, funded his start-up business with credit cards. The business ultimately grossed 20 million pounds, with 25% net profit – he definitely covered his credit card bills! Equity line of credit Many banks and financial institutions will offer equity lines of credit on a primary property, which can be used to fund business growth. It is important to obtain this line of credit before you begin your business. It is more difficult after you start your business and/or lose your full-time income. The moonlighting plan Keep your full-time job and develop your business as a sideline., When it takes off you can go full-time. But be sure to work at least eight hours a week on the sideline business. Obviously the challenges inherent in this approach are the overall hours you will need to work, combined with the limited hours you will be able to invest in your business. The part-time plan Work at a part-time job to provide a base income while you are building up the business. When your business equals the base income, drop the part-time job. Again, you may face similar challenges to those listed above, but it can help to at least cover base expense requirements. The spin-off plan Turn your previous employer into your first major client, or, when ethically possible, take a major client with you from your previous job. Be aware though that some organizations will place limitations on the extent to which this is possible. For instance IBM now will not take back previous employees as sub-contractors within the first year. Many organizations therefore have arisen who then act as a broker between the client and the prior employee to avoid this limitation. The piggyback plan If you have a working spouse or partner, cut back on your expenses and live on one salary until the business gets going. 154 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 155 Borrow from retirement funds It is possible to borrow against retirement funds. The challenge with this is that there are often penalties for early withdrawal, but on the other side, if you can invest the money in your consulting business, you will probably be able to get a larger return in the long run and pay for future funds. Case studies: ¢nding funds Joe talked with his company about his need for new challenge, and this coincided with their need to reduce costs. However they did not want to lose Joe’s expertise completely, so they were able to structure a contract where he worked on one major project, on a consulting basis, with them for the next three months. It proved to be a win–win: Joe obtained a stream of revenue for three months, and a client, while his company saved costs yet retained the talent for the project that they required. Frank has extended the equity line of credit on his house, and has six months in savings behind him. Julia had the easiest decision to make: she owned shares in a company where she had worked that went public. She sold enough to cover a year with no revenue. Exercise 7.2 How will you fund your business? Thinking about your consulting business, answer the questions below to help you to evaluate funding options for your business.   In Exercise 7.1 what did you calculate your costs and expenses needs to be?   Looking at the sources of funds above, what is your best way of covering these costs?   What will you do, by when, to obtain this funding? Action What Who When Completed 1 2 3 Coaching point Byspending time sourcing funds in an organizedway, youwill not only reduce your stress level, but will also ensure you have the resources necessary to support you while you are building your business. Establishing ¢nancial objectives You need to establish financial goals for your business within the finance key result area. Again, these goals need to meet SMART criteria as outlined by Allen Lakein. They need to be: S – specific M – measurable A – aligned R – results oriented T – time-based. Exercise 7.3 Establishing ¢nancial objectives Thinking about your consulting business, create objectives on a separate sheet of paper using the information below: Category Objectives and things to consider Overall sales revenue Total gross revenue figure you would like to generate. Remember this is not the same as profit – see next section for more information. 156 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 157 Profit Figure left after expenses are paid. Fee structure Target fee amount and/or number of projects. This may overlap with the sales objectives described in Chapter 6. Aging percentage Targets for 30 days, 45 days and 60 days. Cash flow Target cash balance below which you will not allow your account to go. Case study: Joe Joe listed the following two financial objectives: To achieve revenue of £. . . . in financial year ending 31 December 200X. This was the same amount as the salary he had received for full time employment. He knew that he would have to pay expenses out of this amount but he thought this would provide enough income to cover costs and a lower living standard. To have 100% of revenue collected from clients within 60 days with 0% bad debts. He knew this would require focus, but he thought this was essential for maintaining his cash flow. Setting clear objectives for the financial side of your business will help to ensure that you make your business successful and viable. Creating revenue statements In managing business performance, there are two critical financial reports: the revenue statement and cash flow statement. Let’s look at the details in the revenue statement first. It shows the monthly invoice amount and costs. Revenue When you are getting started, based on your business plan, calculate your estimated revenue for the first year that will include all income from your business. If your business is already operating, the revenue figure will comprise the total of your invoices. Example For instance: if youwish to invoice »600 a day, and you budget onworking10 days amonth, your revenue ¢gurewill be »6,000 each month. Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Consulting income 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 6,000 Mat 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 Rev 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 Costs Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Car 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 Rent 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 500 Mat 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 Phone 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 250 Costs 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 In addition you may have other income from materials and sales of products. Each will be budgeted in the month the sale takes place, not necessarily when the income comes in. Costs Your costs will include sales, marketing, salaries, rent, equipment, utilities and so on as listed in the earlier section. T|me out! Costs are broken downinto ¢xed costs, which are costs whichwill occur whether or not there are sales e.g. utilities, cost of your car ando⁄ce rental, and variable costs which are costs you would not have incurred if you had not made a sale e.g. printing of materials, shipping and phone calls. Profit/loss After you add up all your costs and subtract them from your sales, you have your profit/ loss. Profits are usually stated as a percentage of your total sales revenue. 158 / Be a Successful Consultant Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Rev 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 Costs 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 Profit 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 %age 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Cash 6,500 6,500 6,500 6500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 6,500 Costs 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 1,250 Profit - 1,250 - 1,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 5,250 %age 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% 80% Financing Your Business / 159 Many small companies now use computer-based software to help them manage the financial side of the business. Quick Books is currently the market leader in this area. Creating cash £ow statements The cash flow analysis explains the amount and timing of expected cash in flows and out flows. T|me out! The cash £owstatement is usually divided into the sources of the funds and the uses towhich the funds are put. Sources of funds normally include sales revenue, owner investment, loans and outside equity investment. Use of funds is typically expenditures for rent, salaries, equipment, taxes, and interests on loans and other costs. The purpose of the cash flow analysis is to determine if you will have enough in-coming sources of funds to meet required out-going uses. In the previous example, if all else remains constant, yet we use cash flow statements to manage the financial side of the business, you can see the difference in the example below. Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May June July Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Cash Costs Profit In this example, we are assuming that the consulting work performed in January is invoiced in January, but that payment does not take place until 60 days later. We are also assuming that the costs to be paid in March can wait until the revenue is received. More likely, many of the March costs would have to be paid before that income is received. As you can see, with steady income and a 60-day payment term, you will not only have to pay the monthly costs for two months, but you will also not have any cash coming in to pay any other home or living expenses. Foul! More businesses fail due to lack of cash than lack of business so most consultants use the cash-in/cash-out approach to managing their business. Case study: Susan Susan had too much work for her to manage, and when she reviewed her workload she decided that she could afford to pay a sub-contractor full-time for three months. However, when she began the work she discovered that she had to pay her sub-contractor immediately, but that she would not receive the income until three months later, and as a result had to use money from her savings to absorb the cost. Exercise 7.4 Creating your cash £owstatement   Fill in your estimated revenue projections in the revenue row.   Fill in your estimated expenses in the costs column.   What shortfall did you notice?Were the funds you raised in Exercise 7.2 sufficient to cover your cash flow for the first six months? 160 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 161   How else could you generate funds? Coaching point While these exercises might appear tedious, they are essential to establishing your business on a sound footing. Persevere! Setting your billing rate Money is the most egalitarian force in society. It confers power on whoever holds it. Roger Starr When people who are not consultants hear a billing rate, they often see the figure as astronomically high because they compare it to the salary they are earning, if it was paid on an hourly basis. Unfortunately, this is not a fair comparison as the consultant’s rate includes many factors that are included above and beyond the employee’s salary. Considerations The consulting fees charged are your revenue and it is important when setting a billing rate to take into consideration the following nine items. Factors Considerations Salary This is your worth as a labour commodity on the open market performing the same services you provide as a consultant. Research and development This is an important overhead expense in time and money, which is often forgotten. This includes purchasing books, finding answers to questions, taking classes, purchasing new software, etc. As you continue to improve your skills or streamline your operations, this cost needs to be covered in your consulting fee. Employee benefits Benefits are the extras you receive from an employer, above and beyond your salary, which are often tax-free. For most employees, benefits amount to 25–60% of their salary and include such items as insurance, training, holiday, sick leave, pension, unemployment insurance and payroll taxes. In addition, employers often match employees’ contributions in factors such as retirement plans, medical coverage, etc. The consulting rate has to cover all the benefit costs. Overhead expenses Overhead represents the expenses incurred in operating a business and includes both direct and indirect costs as described earlier. Expenses can include, but not be limited to, typing, telephone, automotive, travel, postage and delivery, lights, electricity, duplicating, and securing projects, i.e. writing of proposals, insurance. When you are employed by a company, it is easy to forget that paper and pencils cost money that you must now spend yourself. Profit Profit is your reward for business risks and ownership, and ranges from 10–50% of your salary, plus benefits plus overheads. Most business owners confuse revenue with profit. Competition When establishing your billing rate you must be aware of the customs of your community and of the industry. Many trade associations will publish current rates, and it is always worth talking to others in the industry to evaluate current market levels. Economic conditions Your billing rate must take into account the economic conditions that affect you. Is there inflation and/or a recession? At what rate are your costs rising or falling? When the market is doing well, this often produces a growth in the amount of consultants required. However, conversely, a poor economic market may not indicate the opposite. Often, when the market is going down and companies are reducing their work force, it may create more work for consultants to meet short-term needs. Bad debts A bad debt occurs when you are not paid for services you provide. Professional firms experience bad debt rates from 5–40%. Most try to maintain a 5–10% bad debt ratio. For ideas on how to ensure you collect the money 162 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 163 owed to you, look at the section in this chapter: Limit Your Exposure to Bad Debts. Fairness to clients After considering all the above items, you must make an ethical judgment on what you think is fair to your clients and to yourself. Calculating your billing rate In this section we will be showing you how to calculate your base hourly billing rate. Many times you will not be charging clients on an hourly basis; you may use a fixed fee, but this step is important to provide the starting point in calculating other approaches. Before the billing rate can be calculated, there are two important items that need to be defined:   Billable hours. These are the number of working hours you actually bill to clients. You may work more hours for the client but you may not charge for all of them. The number of working hours in a year is estimated, simplistically, by taking the number of working weeks in a year, 48, and multiplying these by the approximate number of working hours in a week (41.66). The total of billable hours in a year therefore is 2,000.   Your utilization rate. This tells you what percent of your total working hours each week/year that you bill to clients. – The target is to try to bill 50–60% of your available hours to a variety of clients. – The rest of your time (40–50%) is spent on looking for work, administration for your business, training, holiday, etc. Foul! If you bill consistently more than 60% of your time, other parts of your business will su¡er, often the marketing side, resulting in the‘feast or famine’syndrome. Therefore, if you estimate:   a total number of possible billable hours at 2,000 hours   a 60% utilization rate youwill only be able to bill 1,200 hours. Setting your base rate Setting your base hourly consulting rate utilizes your salary requirements as a first step. T|me out! The Rule ofTwo   Your salary requirement is ». . .   Estimated overheads, bene¢ts, costs and pro¢ts = the same as your salary requirement.   Therefore salary X 2 is your target revenue amount.   To calculate your target hourly billing take your total yearly revenue and divide it by your yearly billable hours. The rule of two is a simple and quick method to calculate your base-billing rate. You only need to know your annual salary requirements and the number of hours you can bill to clients each year. Example If you require »40,000 ayear salary:   Multiply by two in order to cover pro¢t, overhead and bene¢ts = »80,000.   Youwish towork at 60% utilization rate (1,200 hours per year).   The base billing rate would be »80,000 divided by 1,200.   This equals a base rate of »66.66 per hour or approximately »550 per day. In most industries there is an ‘accepted’ hourly rate, so the extent to which you can obtain the rate you wish depends on these industry standards. For instance, technical writing has a market place rate of £40, software programming can range from £60 to £80 per hour, and training consultants range from £1,000 to £1,500 per day. Foul! If you cannot achieve aminimum hourly rate of »40 per hour, youwill be forced intoworking too many hours resulting in critical aspects of managing your business being missed. 164 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 165 Exercise 7.5 Calculating your target hourly rate Work through the process below to help you calculate a base hourly rate: Step one: what was/is your salary level in a full time position? Step two: multiply this number by two and write it on the line below. Step three: how many hours a month do you want to work out of a possible 160? How many days per month? What percentage is that of the total? Therefore, what utilization rate do you want to achieve? 50%? 60%? Write this number on the line below. Step four: using that as a percentage of the total possible 2,000 hours in a year, calculate the number of billable hours you would like to achieve on an annual basis and write the number below (for instance 50% of 2,000 is 1,000 billable hours). Step five: divide the figure in step two (the total revenue figure) with the percentage in step four. Write that figure below. Step six: based on your knowledge of your type of consulting, how does this figure sound? Too high? Too low? How will you test out the validity of this target fee rate? T|me out! Three factors determine your competitive position:   What are your successful competitors charging?   What will your clients pay?   Whatminimum and maximumlevels will you accept? If your rate is perceived as too low prospective customers will assume you are not adding as much value. If your rate is perceived to be too high you may put off prospective customers: ‘No wonder he can afford to drive a Mercedes!’. Coaching point Sometimes the ¢gure can look too high when you ¢rst calculate it ^ remember, there are di¡erent ways of structuring fees so that you do not have to quote this as a daily rate, but which ensures you cover yourminimum ¢nancial requirements (see the next section formore speci¢cs). Case study: Frank Frank has sold some of his shares in one of his previous organizations to provide his back-up capital. He has built a clear cash flow statement based on the assumption that he will receive his first client within three months, and that they will pay their first invoice three months later. He wants to charge 50% deposit up front and then collect payment on the rest of the work later but he realizes that, as this is his first contract, he will probably have to hold off on invoicing up front this time. Frank realizes that most of his assignments will be long-term with a fixed number of days, so he has calculated that a daily rate of £650 for contracts over ten days in length is fair to the client. Using di¡erent fee arrangements There are certain common fee arrangements. Many consultants use different fee arrangements depending on the nature of the project. Hourly or time charges Hourly or time charges involve multiplying your billing rate by the number of hours you work for the client. This is the most basic and the most common fee arrangement. All you need is your standard billing rate and a method to keep track of how you spend your time. The benefit to you is that you are paid for all the hours you work and there is minimum risk to you. The disadvantage to the client with this structure is that they do not know how much the project will cost, and have less control of the cost outcome. It can feel like a bottomless pit to them. Case study A client used a consultant on an hourly rate to develop three procedure manuals. All the money allocated to it was gone by the time the first manual was completed! 166 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 167 Fixed or project fees Fixed fees occur when a particular service is performed for a fixed amount. The advantage to you of this fee structure is that it can hide your daily rate. The disadvantage is that you as the consultant run the risk of budget overruns, but you gain the bonus of budget underruns. Generally, if you quote a certain fee and it requires more time than expected you absorb the difference. Therefore you might be taking a risk and might not get paid for all the hours you work. Watch for the following:   the project can change   the client can try to add additional steps   the client can change their minds   the client cannot provide the information that you require. To lessen your risk, you must have a very clear outline with the specifics of the project. In that way if the client asks you to do something extra, you can say that you would be happy to help, but since the terms of the contract have changed, you will need to negotiate for more money. Coaching point The rule of thumb for deciding how much to charge for a ¢xed fee contract is to take the numbers of hours you think the work will take, and multiply by two (minimum) or three (maximum). Case study A consultant was working on a fixed fee bid to upgrade their existing applications and install several new applications, but because he had an incomplete understanding of the system requirements the installation went over four times the hours he had budgeted for the project. That type of project can kill the hourly rate! Often customers enjoy this fee structure because they know ahead exactly how much the project will cost, which is normally of benefit to them in the budgeting process. This structure is also better for the tax authorities because they can see the project milestones, with a beginning, middle and an end. Bracket fees Bracket fees combine fixed fees and time charges. Essentially the consultant works on an hourly basis but his or her fee cannot exceed a specific amount. This fee structure favours the client and protects them from budget overruns. Retainer fees Retainer fees have several meanings among consultants.   Retainer fees may describe an advanced payment to retain your services for a particular project. In this respect it is a sign of faith on the client’s part to use your services and to ensure payment.   In a slightly different sense, retainers are used to guarantee your availability during a certain time period. Clients pay you a fixed fee for a certain number of months to cover specific services. Clients use retainer fees to ensure continuity of services. Consultants like retainer fees because they provide a steady income. There are also some challenges associated with a retainer. Clients may confuse a retainer with a salary, and overload your time. Conversely the client may become absorbed in their internal responsibilities and not give you the work that you have budgeted. While this looks positive in the short term for the consultant (being paid for not working!) in the long term this will cause the client to be dissatisfied and go elsewhere. Coaching point To try to ensure the success of this fee structure, make sure you specify in detail what is included and what isn’t such as phone calls (how many), time at their site (how much), written communication required, etc. This type of payment is common for such consultants as psychologists, legal counsel, etc. Other less common fee arrangements Fee type Description Percentage fees Merger and acquisition consultants may charge a percentage of the entire transaction known as a percentage fee. 168 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 169 Assignment fees As a consultant, you may perform projects that have intrinsic value beyond the number of days or hours consumed. Assignment fees are additional payments for such projects and can be either fixed amounts or percentages. Equity fees Occasionally consultants receive payment in the form of business ownership in the client’s company. This may be an option if the client does not want to pay your published rate, however it is a high-risk option and you want to make sure you balance these types of high-risk compensation with firm cash payment. Deferred fees A deferred fee is not really a method of determining your fee. Instead it is a collection method that spreads the consulting fee through instalments over an extended time period. Deferred fees are used most often when the client does not have the money to pay you. The client may also request deferred fees so that the savings from the project can offset your consulting fee as it comes due. Coaching point If you are accepting deferred fees, you are extending credit to your clients.To o¡set these risks, you should consider the following tactics employed bymany professionals:   charge interest on the total amount   charge higher fees   request a sizable retainer fee before you start the project   request collateral if your total fees are substantial   request payment via banker’s check or credit card to ensure payment   be sure the company is solvent before you reach any agreement about deferred fees. Exercise 7.6 Choosing your pricing structure Now that you have calculated your target hourly rate, let ’s think about what type of pricing structure would be best for you and the type of services that you offer.   Based on the type of services that you offer, which type of pricing structure would you like to use?   What are the advantages to you of this pricing structure? What could be the disadvantages to the client of the pricing structure? How can you position this to the client in the most positive way?   How will you ensure you manage any disadvantages associated with this structure? Case study:Marie’s pricing structure Marie has calculated her base-billing rate at £1,000 per day for large training and development projects. She will use this rate for quoting the sales training project she has proposed, as this will be a large customized programme. She believes this will cover some development and marketing time. From this base assumption, for her other standard training programmes, she is going to charge per person per day, as this is a common practice in the industry. So she will charge a graduated scale based on numbers of people ranging from £100 per person per day to £150 per person per day. She has contacted a training broker for whom she wishes to perform sub-contracting work. Although the training broker has over 40 large high-tech clients, she believes the exposure to these clients as she is getting started will prove to be extremely beneficial. She accepts that she will be paid only £400 pounds per day for this work, but feels that the corresponding benefits of gaining contacts and building client testimonials outweigh the revenue shortfall. Quoting for extras There should be no surprises on the invoice! Make sure if you are going to charge for extras such as travel time, learning time, meals, etc that they are discussed and agreed upon up front. Many organizations will not pay for travel or mileage if you are travelling within the area that employees at the company come from. In addition, if you have to travel out of the country, consider charging a lower daily rate for that travel day. While you are not able to work the entire day, you may be able to complete some preparation work on the journey, so the entire day is not lost. 170 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 171 Guidelines in communicating fees to the client Now you have established your fee rates and structure, how do you communicate these to the client and ensure that they agree to them? T|me out! Asking for your rate   The key in£uence on the rate that consultants can receive for their services is often their con¢dence in asking. If the client suspects from your body language that you are uncomfortablewith the rate, they will try to negotiate to reduce it. If they hear con¢dence in your approach they are less likely to try to reduce the rate.   Remember you can always reduce the rate: it is much harder to ask for more!   Sometimes consultants arewilling to ask for less money if the contract is in an area of interest where they receive the bene¢t of learning more.Make sure this is a conscious choice and the potential disadvantages areweighed against the potential bene¢ts.   Often consultants on long-term assignments give a price break on their daily rate. Remember if you do this that youwill still have to build up your business again after you have ¢nished the assignment, and youwill need the money from that daily rate to do so.   When you work half a day, you need to assesswhether you can actually use the other halfday. Often consultants charge 75%-100% for a half-day for this reason. Another factor to consider is consistency in pricing. Within certain market segments, e.g. high-tech, it is important to have a consistent fee structure. For different market segments, you may have a different pricing structure, e.g. charge less to non-profit organizations than to high-tech companies. Also, you may have reasons to take on a project that you know will cost you more than the amount the company has budgeted. If this is the case, you still need to do your best work, and not put in fewer hours because you are getting less than your regular rate. Coaching point Many consultants fail because they under-price their services in the interests of building a client base and establishing credibility. If you have done your market research into current market rates, stick to your guns and ask.What you don’t ask for, you don’t get! Collecting fees Many new consultants assume that an invoice is the same as payment – it ’s not! It is possible to avoid many fee collection problems through good front-end communication. T|me out! Collecting fees   As early as possible, obtain a mutual understanding with your client concerning the fee. As a general practice, discuss your fees during the ¢rst meeting.   Also, indicate howand when billing occurs.Many consultants ¢nd it di⁄cult to discuss fees with perspective clients. Some fear losing the consulting project if their fees seem too high. Other consultants are reluctant to discuss money, and other consultants are so involvedwith discussing the project they forget to discuss the fees. Limit your exposure to bad debts Though you need to make an allowance for bad debts, there are certain things you can do to avoid not getting paid.   Obtain progress payments by billing frequently. A business can budget a £1,000 per month more easily than it can absorb a £12,000 bill at year’s end.   Bill on time: the value of your service diminishes in the client’s mind over time.   Establish a billing and collecting practice.   Make sure you obtain purchase orders (PO) wherever possible.   Don’t work without a PO.   Make sure you have a clear contract with clear payment terms.   Once the contract is signed, ask up front about the company’s procedures for paying vendors. ‘What do I need to do to get paid? What is your process?’ ‘Who has to sign off on bills?’   Work in milestones throughout the duration of the contract.   Ask if you can bill weekly/bi-weekly/monthly/bi-monthly. 172 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 173   Communicate clearly your normal payment terms.   Some consultants charge late fees. However, large organizations such as Sun and Oracle will not pay these.   You may ask for a deposit up front.   Check out the financial status of the company beforehand. Read trade publications, ask other vendors.   Decide when to stop working if you are not getting paid. Many consultants have horror stories of being owed tens of thousands of pounds. Either set yourself a time period or quantity beyond which you will withhold services such as £10,000, or over 90 days. It is surprising how quickly a cheque can be written when you say you will stop working! Your greatest friends in a company are those in accounts payable. Do not alienate them, but engage their help to solve your problem, if you are not getting paid on time. Case study: Julia Julia’s first contract is with a small biotech start-up for 30 days’ work, in two stages, with concrete measurable steps and deliverables for each step. Each step will be invoiced separately: the first step will be invoiced after five days’ work, the second after ten days’ work and the third at the end of the work. She has talked with accounts payable and built an understanding of their payment process. She knows she has to have a signed purchase order from the President, issue an invoice to the Director and at the same time issue an invoice to accounts payable (AP). AP then asks the Director to approve the signature and the invoice will be paid at 45 days. She believes that her knowledge of this system will prevent any exposure to bad debts. Charging for sub-contracting The man who says he is willing to meet you halfway is usually a poor judge of distance. LaurenceJ. Peter As we discussed in Chapter 5, one of the distribution channels for consultants is subcontracting. T|me out! Subcontracting de¢ned. Sub-contractingworks bothways.   You can sub-contract work to other consultants when you need help: this means that you are the main contractor and the other consultants are your sub-contractors.   In addition, you can dowork for anotherconsultant, who has the main client contact.This means that you are the sub-contractor. While this process is very beneficial both ways, it can also lead to misunderstandings if the working parameters are not set out clearly up front. Sub-contractingwork to others When you have too much work, a viable option is to sub-contract the work to other consultants. Bear in mind the following guidelines:   Make sure that you have worked with the consultants previously so that you know their competencies and their liabilities.   Keep in mind that when you hire sub-contractors you are responsible for them and the work they produce.   Be clear about the work they will be doing, the standards that you expect and the measurements that will be put in place.   Be clear about the financial remuneration: see later notes, not only in terms of the amount to be paid, but the payment terms to which you will adhere.   Make sure the sub-contractor realizes that all invoicing will be done through you.   Make sure the sub-contractor realizes that this is your client. Any further work from the client, even if they sell it themselves, must come through you. Foul! Who owns the client? Whoever sold the work, and got the foot in the door, owns the client. This is often the biggest bone of contention when working with sub-contractors. Most consultants do not realize the complexityof getting the initial entry contract and thenwant to own the remainderof thework. Some consultants use contracts to try to enforce this structure, but it is better to have a clear mutual understanding when you begin the assignment. 174 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 175 Case study: Peter Peter sub-contracted a technical writing project through a business brokerage. He had to sign a contract stating that he could not work for that client directly for the next year. For this organization, there was only one purchaser of technical writing. It was appropriate in this case that he was unable to do business directly with the organization. Case study:Marie Marie began work for a large organization conducting training programmes. An organization for which she sub-contracted also did work in that organization, but with several different contacts. The brokerage tried to prevent the consultant from working with that organization, but that was inappropriate because the consultant had several direct contacts there, and there were multiple points of entry into the company. Coaching point The main di¡erentiator on whether a client is yours or the other consultant’s normally comes fromthe point of entry into the organization: did you have the ¢rst contact or did they? And that point of contact should be initiated by you, not as a result of doing work for someone else at the time. Doing sub-contractwork for others This can be a good way to get work when you have time available and also when you are getting started. Sub-contracting is like the cake without icing. It enables you to obtain exposure, clients on your reference list and some stable income. However it is not as financially lucrative as working with clients directly. T|me out! Following are a fewguidelines about working as a sub-contractor:   Make sure that you have worked with the consultants previously so that you know their competencies and their liabilities.   Be clear about the work youwill be doing, the standards that the contractor expects and the measurements that will be put in place.   Be clear about the ¢nancial remuneration. (see below), not only in terms of the amount to be paid, but the payment terms that youwill accept. Financial compensation for sub-contracting The general standard in the industry is that the consultant or consulting organization which gets the work keeps approximately 50% of the revenue. The ability to market the service and collect the revenue is worth half of the total. Remember most consultants can do the work, but many cannot find it. Exercise 7.7 Evaluating sub-contracting for you Think about how sub-contracting might fit into your service offerings.   If you were overloaded, who could you use to support you? How would you structure the relationship? What written documentation might you need to confirm the working relationship?   Who could you sub-contract for? What are the advantages to you of subcontracting? What are the disadvantages of sub-contracting?   What percentage of your time would you like to spend sub-contracting for others? What percentage of your revenue should be spent sub-contracting? What is the minimum rate you will accept? 176 / Be a Successful Consultant Financing Your Business / 177 Coaching point Sub-contracting, when e¡ectively managed, provides advantages as a relatively risk-free revenue source.Make sure you are clear about boundaries before any work starts. Checklist Have you:   Estimated your start-up costs?   Decided how you will fund yourself for six months to a year?   Established financial objectives for your business?   Created a cash flow statement?   Calculated your base-billing rate?   Decided whether you wish to price your service by project?   Decided how to limit your exposure to bad debts?   Researched sub-contracting options as a base source of income? Scorecard Before moving on to the next chapter, think about the following questions:   As you set your ¢nancial goals for your business,what is a realistic target revenue ¢gure and how will you protect your cash £owas you are getting started? Think about what other ¢nancial safeguards you could put in place to fund your start-up.   As you look at the industry, what do you believe is a the market rate for the type of services you are o¡ering? Are your contract opportunities short-term or long-term, and how will this a¡ect the pricing structure? What is theminimum compensation you will accept? What types of fee structures would be appropriate for your business?   Towhat extent is acting as a sub-contractor to others a viable option for you? Who do you knowin your industry whomight have opportunities to provide youwith work? If you do sub-contract to others what will be the lowest rate youwill accept? Who do you knowin your network whom you think you could use if you had too much work? What contractual arrangement will you havewith these sub-contractors? This Page Intentionally Left Blank SECTION FOUR: Getting Organized This Page Intentionally Left Blank 181 CHAPTER EIGHT OrganizingYour Business Game plan Unlike when you work for an organization, there is no automatic structuring system when you are running your consulting business. The ability to organize activities and structure your environment is fundamental to being successful as a consultant. The purpose of this chapter is to help you to:   Set up your office space.   Select the correct equipment.   Identify any necessary outside administrative resources.   Prioritize more effectively between multiple projects.   Plan your weekly activity.   Manage your paper flow. Setting up your o⁄ce space There are two options open to consultants: 1. Work from home. 2. Set up a separate office. Below are listed some advantages and disadvantages of both options. Working at Home Advantages Disadvantages   Saves costs.   Interruptions from family.   Time effective – you don’t waste time   No place to receive visitors. going from the office to home and   Lack of professional image. back.   People think you’re not really working.   Avoids commuting: the two-second   Separate phone lines are essential. commute!   Difficulty in distancing yourself   Most work can be performed from from the business. home.   Self-discipline is essential to avoid   Fewer ‘work’ clothes. temptations such as nice weather, soap   You can look like Edward Scissor operas and nibbling from the refrigerator! Hands when talking to clients   Work may ‘spill out’ through other and they would not know! areas of the house.   Flexibility in that you can work your   Office space can act as a ‘red flag’ to own hours. the tax man if you claim deductions   It allows you to try out consulting for a home office. without making any long-term   There can be complications when commitments in terms of leases you sell the house, because you are and rents. now selling a house and an office. Case study:Marie works at home Marie has decided to work at home, and has created a dedicated office space in what used to be the dining room. This is separated from the rest of the house, so she has the advantage of being able to close off the office when she is not working. It is a light area with easy access to phone lines. She learned from the first time as a consultant that her family tended to forget that she was working when she was at home, so she made sure this time that she established ground rules around office hours and break times. Working from an office Advantages Disadvantages   Separate from home.   Cost.   Prestige.   Distance from home – commute.   Proximity to clients.   Less convenient when you want to refer   Referral potential. to paperwork. 182 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 183 Exercise 8.1 Will you work from home or rent an o⁄ce? Thinking about your consulting business, look at the advantages and disadvantages listed above.   What would be the advantages to you of a home office? What could be the challenges? How would you overcome these challenges?   What would be the advantages to you of an office out of the home? What could be the challenges? How would you overcome these challenges?   As you are getting started, which option will you select? T|me out! There are many ways to establish an o⁄ce out of the home:   Rent a smallo⁄ce.   Share an o⁄cewith other professionals; you may even be able to barter services for space.   Use an executive suite.   Sublet an o⁄ce. Coaching point The key factor to remember when making the decision on o⁄ce space is to ensure you have a dedicated space and you can separate/close o¡ the o⁄ce area fromyour home.Trying to share a children’s bedroom is not conducive to productive work. Often when consultants are beginning their consulting practice, working at home is the simplest, most expedient option, and to this end it is worthworking out ways to overcome the disadvantages. Furniture Consultants normally require minimal office furniture although the quality of the chair is key:   desk   chair   filing cabinets   bookshelf. Just remember additional factors such as light and noise. The more aesthetically pleasing your office the more productive you will be. Selecting equipment and support tools Today’s consultants require an increasing array of technology in order to be productive:   telephone   mobile phone   answering services   email   fax machine   computer   printer/scanner   software programs   stationery. Telephone It is essential to have both a dedicated telephone line and a line dedicated to the fax and email when working from home. Often consultants use three dedicated lines: one for a business line, one as a fax line and one for email. Sharing a home line can cause inconvenience to other family members and might appear unprofessional. ISDN and cable lines are also an option. 184 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 185 Mobile phone Mobile phones provide additional flexibility when travelling, however the roaming charges can mount up. So when you are looking at options, consider the extent to which you travel, and the degree of international travel before making decisions. T|me out! There are decreasing costs and increasing competition in the telecommunications industryso make sure you shop around and read the small print in fee structures! Answering services Some type of answering service for your telephone is necessary to ensure you do not miss important business calls. The following are some of the options available to you.   Answering machine with remote dial-in capabilities: while this is cheaper, the quality of the voice message is often not high.   Answering service: high cost and hard to guarantee the quality.   Voicemail: this provides the highest quality reception and most flexibility in terms of remote checking and saving of messages. Email 75% of Britain’s self-employed use email for work ^ compared to 16% of the public as awhole. Alodis/MORI poll, 2000 As the World Wide Web expands, some type of email system is critical. It can be used for researching companies, for marketing, for maintaining contact with individuals when you are busy and following up on proposals. The email provider does not need to be the same provider as the Web site provider. The most popular email programs are AOL (America On Line) and Microsoft Outlook. Fax machine Having access to a fax machine is essential in today’s business market. Options include either a stand-alone machine or a computer-based version. Stand alone fax Advantage Disadvantage   The stand alone fax works whether   Material is received, but not in soft copy the computer is on-line or not. format. Computer fax Advantages Disadvantages   Documents are sent directly from   Slightly more inconvenient to use. computer to computer.   If the computer is not on, documents   You will have the soft c,opy of faxed cannot be sent or received. documents. As with other business decisions it is important to analyse the business requirements and then decide the best tool for the needs. Personal computer It is essential for a consultant to own a personal computer. The choice between an IBM (or IBM clone) or a Macintosh depends on the nature of the work you perform, your degree of computer literacy and the equipment your prospective clients use. PC advantages Mac advantages   Wide choice.   More user friendly.   Clones can be cheap.   Greater range of graphics programs.   More complete range of software   Higher quality product. programs.   More companies use PCs. T|me Out! Have you considered a laptop rather than a desktop computer?   Prices of laptops have reduced drastically.   Portability provides greater £exibility.   Ideal if youwant towork in multiple locations and/or client sites.   You can buy a docking station so that, when you are in youro⁄ce, you can have a screen and full sized keyboard.   Laptops canweigh as little as 1.5kg so are lighter to carry than they used to be. 186 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 187 Foul! Capacity does matter! When selecting a computer, more is normally better. More megahertz (speed), more random access memory (RAM ^ more £exibility in the moment) and more gigabytes (permanent storage). Printer/scanner A laser printer is an ideal investment depending on the number of written documents you need to produce. Many of the printers available now have colour printing options, built in scanners and can serve multiple purposes as a copying machine. Your choice of printer is related to the type of business that you operate. Software programs Below are some of the programs you will need and find useful. Purpose Type and Comments Word processing The most popular version on the market is Microsoft Word, which has largely taken over the market from Word Perfect. Spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel are the most widely used. Database ACT is an excellent sales tracking system. Access is also available in the Microsoft office suite, which is therefore compatible with Microsoft Outlook (for email). You can also use a more elementary Labels program. The purpose is to ensure you have a computer record of all prospects and clients. Read more about the requirements for a database in Chapter 5. Presentations Dependent on the nature of the graphics you need to produce; popular packages are Harvard Graphics, Page Maker and Power Point. Cash management Software, such as Quick Books, help to track finances, including revenue and costs. Virus prevention With the increasing volume of email comes an increasing number of viruses, programs specifically designed to harm your files. The two leading market providers for virus protection are Mac Afee and Norton Anti Virus, both of which can be downloaded from the Web. Case study: Frank Frank has purchased a laptop computer because this will provide him with additional flexibility when he is working on long-term projects. Most of this time is spent on the client ’s site. In addition, he has purchased a portable printer to supplement his laserjet printer in the office. He has then purchased a separate keyboard, screen and mouse for when he is working in his home office. He prefers an electronic fax machine, because many of the documents he faxes need to come directly from his machine, plus he likes to incorporate information from his client ’s tracking system into his report, and this means he does not have to double enter data. He has purchased an international cell phone, and set up two lines in his office, one for the landline and one for dial-up purposes. He has postponed signing up for Broadband until he is a little more settled. His laptop computer came complete with Microsoft Office and he finds this has been sufficient for most of his software needs. Stationery and image Stationery is the primary means of establishing a professional image and identity. It is often a good idea to keep it flexible to allow you to adapt the content as the business develops. The types of stationery and guidelines for using it include: Business cards   Use quality paper.   Err on the side of being conservative (based on profession).   Include name, company name, telephone number, fax number, email address and type of consulting. Letterhead   Same quality, paper and layout as business card. Envelopes   Keep the same quality, paper and layout as the letterhead. You can also provide labels that can be used on any type of envelope. Clothes and image   Your clothes and accessories need to match who you are, the image you wish to portray based on your area of consulting and your prospective client base. Coaching point Remember people buy people! Don’t become too absorbed in design and layout. More importantly, many written communications are sent by fax and email, and therefore the qualityof the written materials has become less important. 188 / Be a Successful Consultant Category Questions Actions Telephone Will you need a land line and a mobile phone? To what extent do you travel? How important is it to have international calling capabilities? Answering services What answering services do other consultants use? Will you use an answerphone and message service or some type of voice messaging service? Email What are your critical requirements for email? How can you ensure your email works when you are remote from your office? What email provider are you going to use? Fax machine What are the benefits to you of a stand alone fax machine? What about a computer based fax system? Computer Do you prefer a PC or a Macintosh? Do you need the flexibility that a laptop computer could provide? What capacity do you require? Speed? What type of computer do your prospective clients use? Printer/scanner What type of documents do you expect to be printing? How important is colour in your printing requirements? How important is speed? Software programs To what extent do you need to use word processing? Graphics? Spreadsheets? Stationery To what extent do you think you will need stationery? How much of your communication do you expect do be conducted via email? Organizing Your Business / 189 Example: image A marketing consultant in theMidlands dressed in clothes such as a purple jacket and yellow trousers ^ no one doubted that hewas in the design business! Exercise 8.2 Selecting youro⁄ce equipment Take a moment to complete the table below to help you select what equipment you need in order to be productive. Coaching point Make sure you are economical when you get started. Better to be more cautious and add equipment later, than to burn through your cash reserves buying elaborate ‘bells and whistles’. Identifying administrative resources One of the greatest challenges for the new consultant is the inordinate amount of time consumed by detailed administrative tasks. T|me out! Remember Pareto’s Principle:   20% of time produces 80% of results.   80% of time produces 20% of results. Administrative tasks certainly ¢t in the latter category! Often we cannot cope with all our administrative requirements ourselves or we choose to outsource them so that we increase our overall productivity and revenue. Options include: Do it yourself This is okay if you are computer literate and it also depends on the kind of work you do. Temporary agency Most areas offer administrative support services. Try to ensure the software used by the agency is compatible with your software so that business information is interchangeable. Some agencies will not supply resources if you work from home because of liability concerns. Executive suite Often the services of a typist are available at extra cost at an executive suite. Contractual Many consultants will invoice clients for the administrative administrative support they need, at the cost they pay, or with a minimal mark-up. support This ensures a win–win solution. The client pays a lower rate than if the consultant does the work. The consultant does not take on any additional expenses. 190 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 191 Company-provided Many organizations will supply internal editing and administrative support administrative support in projects if this reduces the overall cost of the assignment. Employed staff This may prove to be too expensive and there may be not enough work, at least at the beginning, to justify a salary. In the early stages of your practice, you probably will have no need for employed staff. The general rule applies that you only need personnel if you are billing over 80%of your time, or if you can bill over 70% of that person’s time. Case study: Julia Julia did not think her time was best used fulfilling administrative functions and, as she built her client base, she applied two different alternatives to the issue.   One client had an internal junior HR person, so Julia negotiated that she would only charge for the strategic advice and the detailed implementation would be performed by the internal person.   Julia’s administrative assistant from a previous company had left at the same time as she had and was not working full-time. For one client, she included her in the project proposal. Exercise 8.3 Identifying Administrative Support Thinking about your consulting business, answer the questions below:   What type of administrative functions are associated with your consulting business? For instance, ordering? Packing? Creating memos?   Which of these is it essential that you complete? Which could be delegated to others? What would be the benefits of delegating to others? What would be the benefits of doing this work yourself?   Which tasks therefore, if any, will you attempt to delegate? What alternative resources could you use for each type of task or activity? Coaching point If you are not sure howmuch time you spend on administrative tasks, or what these tasks are, you could complete a time log for a few days. Simply write down each task you complete and howlong each task takes. Prioritizing between multiple projects We say wewaste time, but that’s impossible.Wewaste ourselves. Alice Bloch One of the greatest challenges consultants face is prioritizing between the multitude of tasks and projects to be completed. Because you tend to have to do everything, it can sometimes feel you end up doing nothing! A technique that can help in prioritizing is the important/urgent methodology. Foul! Most of us live our lives with the ‘urgency habit’ rushing from one activity to the next, with no time for pause or re£ection. As we do this, we believewe are being e⁄cient and getting a lot done. However, being e⁄cient is not the same as being e¡ective. T|me out!   Being e⁄cient means crossing tasks o¡ the list by completing them correctly, quickly andwithminimal e¡ort. Butmanyof the taskswe address should not be completed at all, as they were not even important in the ¢rst place.   Being e¡ective is what matters in improving consultant productivity. E¡ectiveness means that you are doing the right things, those things that will produce results, build your business and increase your revenue. In other words, focusing on the tasks and milestones that make a critical contribution to your consulting objectives and vision. 192 / Be a Successful Consultant 3 1 4 2 + Urgent – Not urgent + Important – Not important Urgent/important quadrants Figure 8.1. Urgent/important quadrants. Organizing Your Business / 193 Whenever we have to prioritize between tasks and objectives, we need to ask ourselves two critical questions: 1. Is it urgent? 2. Is it important? From these two questions we can create four quadrants: Quadrant one: important and urgent ^ quadrant of necessity Many of your tasks fall into the urgent/important quadrant. These tasks represent your top priorities. Examples of tasks in this category can include critical reports, meetings to gather data, key deliverables, creating proposals and responding to client requests. Few would argue that tasks in this quadrant should be, and normally are, rated as number one. Quadrant two: important and not urgent ^ proactive quadrant Tasks that fit into the important/not urgent quadrant include such things as long-range planning, product development, assessing new distribution channels, and professional development activities. These tasks are part of the 20% of work that produces 80% of results. Neglecting these activities for more urgent, less important tasks drastically affects your productivity. These tasks should be rated as number two, to be completed after the important/urgent items. T|me out! What di¡erentiates successful, pro¢table consultants is their ability to complete tasks in the proactive quadrant. Quadrant three: urgent but not important reactive quadrant Examples of tasks and milestones that might be in the urgent/not important quadrant are some telephone calls and emails, solving last-minute problems, fires, interruptions and small short-term tasks. Often these types of tasks are reactive in nature. These activities distract you from completing more important proactive tasks and milestones. Foul! The challenge comes when trying to di¡erentiate between the urgent/not important quadrant and the important/not urgent quadrant. Normally there is a tendency to do the tasks in the urgent/not important quadrant (urgency habit) before those in the important/not urgent quadrant. In our hectic lives, there is not always time to think about theweight of a particular task. Instead most of us respondwithout thinking aswe dash fromone project to another. As a result, we tend to be always reacting and the more important long-term projects either do not get done or end up being rushed at the lastminute. Urgent/not important tasks can consume 80% of our time, but only produce about 20% of our results. Tasks in this quadrant should really be prioritized three and completed after tasks in the important/not urgent quadrant. Quadrant four: not urgent but not important - quadrant ofwaste Tasks in this quadrant should be completed last, if at all. T|me out! One of the key time management principles is ‘you can’t do everything!’Choosing what to not do is as important as deciding what to do. 194 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 195 Exercise 8.4 Prioritizing your tasks Thinking about your consulting activities, fill in your answers in the quadrants below.   What two activities this month would you put in quadrant one – the urgent/ important quadrant?   What two activities this month would you put in quadrant two – the not urgent/ important quadrant?   What two activities this month would you put in quadrant three – the urgent/not important quadrant?   What two activities this month would you put in quadrant four – the not urgent/not important quadrant?   What changes could you make to your activities to obtain a greater return on your investment of time? What tasks could you decide not to do? What tend to be your ‘urgency habit’ tasks in quadrant three? How could you reduce your reactive tasks and increase your proactive workload? Case study: Joe Joe conducted his analysis using the exercise above and discovered the following:   He was pretty effective at completing his priority one tasks – he was quick and seemed to enjoy multiplexing.   His greatest challenge lay in quadrant three. He loved to be busy and would often jump in to whatever was in front of him without weighing the priorities. He particularly responded to the phone and sent over 50 text messages a day to many of his network of contacts. Plus, he loved jokes on email – he discovered that he was receiving about 20 emails a week containing just jokes! As a result, he has been too busy to work in quadrant two: contacting marketing companies to investigate opportunities for strategic partnerships.   As a result of this understanding, he reduced his text messaging, removed himself from some email distribution lists and prioritized phone calls to only suspects and prospects. With the time he saved, he was able to surface one strategic partnership which brought him in his first client with a revenue of £10,000. What to do? Vision Unique selling proposition Key result Objectives What? Tasks/milestone Plan When? Month Week Day Figure 8.2. Linking what to when. Coaching point To improve individual productivity, make sure you prioritize yourworkload e¡ectively to ensure timeis spent in the important/not urgent quadrant, on those long-term Important/not urgent tasks andmilestones that drastically impact on your business results. Planning your activities Until you value yourself, you won’t value your time. Until you value your time, you will not do anything with it. Scott Peck Planning is the process by which we link what we want to achieve as a consultant (see Chapter 4 for business objectives) with when we are going to complete the critical tasks. Without linking our overall business direction to our daily and weekly activities, we will not optimize our productivity. 196 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 197 T|me out! We plan for di¡erent periods of time:   year   quarter   month   week   day The further away the time, the less detail there is. For instancewe need very little detail on an annual plan but considerable information on a daily plan. Weekly planning Steven Covey, in his book First Things First, highlighted the importance of weekly planning as an integral tool linking objectives and direction with weekly activities. Activities planned and prioritised weekly could include:   contact with customers   essential milestones from key result areas   meeting activities   financial targets   networking contacts   marketing strategies   new projects   percentage of time in the office/on the road   small ‘don’t forget’ items   paperwork/administration. Coaching point Theweekly plan is like an organized, categorized, weekly to-do list.   Plan the next week as you are moving though the current week.When action items for next week arise, put them on theweekly plan.   Finalize your plan on Friday: this provides closure for theweek and allowsyou to mentally prepare for the following week. Date Schedule Key result areas WeeklyTasks/Milestones Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 8:00 Intel Design Review 10:00 1:00 3:00 8.00 10.00 SGA Joe Smith 1.00 3.00 8.00 10.00 1.00 Writing Team Building Programme 3.00 8.00 NEC Bill Smart 10.00 North Face Mtg. 1.00 3.00 8.00 Team Mtg. 10.00 1.00 3.00 1. Clients * Intel * Oracle * North Face * NEC 2. Prospects * Macys * SGA * Frito * Xicor 3. Database 4. Finance 5. Marketing 6. Administration 7. Product development Complete LG to Design Design Team Building Programme Meeting, finalize proposal Meeting Call Meeting List of references Proposal Team – Building Programme Follow up call Add 10 new clients Invoice The North Face Monthly profit and loss Draft newsletter New contracts Office filing system review Prepare first draft for ‘Making Communication Work’   Review your key result areas and pick out the critical tasks that need accomplishing that week. Full details on these projectmilestones will be in your objectives and key result areas. Don’t write too much detail on your weekly plan.   Write thesemilestones gathered under key result area in the two right-hand columns. These tasks are not, as yet, allocated per day. (e.g. Xicor ProposalTeam Building Programme is a task but it has no speci¢c time allocated to it).   Write in speci¢c appointments (e.g. North Face meeting).   Review the best times to complete critical tasks and book time for them on your weekly plan (e.g.WritingTeam Building Programme is booked onWednesday). A sample weekly plan is given below in the case study. It is important to select your critical milestones to be accomplished before you set appointments and meetings, otherwise you are again working in quadrant three (not important/urgent) before quadrant two (important/not urgent). Take a moment and review the sample from Marie’s week. Case study:Marie Task of the week: Complete Intel Leader’s Guide (L.G.) Week of: 198 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 199 Exercise 8.5 Planning next week Let’s begin planning next week’s activities.   What critical tasks would you like to achieve next week? Think about networking, marketing, sales, business planning, telephone calls, proposals, projects, meetings, finance, operations, and administration. Write these tasks below.   Now fill in your weekly plan below. Fill in fixed appointments. Allocate time for specific activities where possible.   How realistic is your weekly plan? Do you have elements from quadrants one to three on your weekly plan?   What else do you need to do to plan your week? Coaching point Remember, the thought process is key, the tool you use can be of your own choice. By planning your week in this manner youwill increase your control of your discretionary time. Daily planning T|me out! Research has shown that if we have a clear picture of the next 24^48 hours, we will avoid stress and achieve more.Therefore having a clear plan of the next 24 hours can be important. If youwish to plan your day, the best time to do so is the end of the previous workday.This gives you an opportunity to recognize the projects and activities completed and allows the brain to work on the next day while you are asleep! Date Schedule Key result areas Weekly tasks/milestones Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday 8.00 10.00 1.00 3.00 8.00 10.00 1.00 3.00 8.00 10.00 1.00 3.00 8.00 10.00 1.00 3.00 8.00 10.00 1.00 3.00 Task of the week Week of 200 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 201 Many consultants, due to the nature of their work, do not plan every day. Some only plan ‘office days’ because when working on a client site there can be minimal time that is discretionary. Many of us use ‘to-do’ lists, but have a problem making them work because the list tends to be a random collection of activities. Buying groceries may be in the same list as achieving a major work objective! Make sure you use your weekly plan as the source of the critical tasks for your daily plan. Coaching point A suggested approach to daily planning is as follows:   Each day list all the activitiesto be completed.   Next, assess whether any activities could be delegated, postponed or not done at all.   With the remaining activities, assign priorities.   Estimate time needed for each activity.   Estimate time needed for unplanned activities such as interruptions, ¢re ¢ghting, and people demands.   Judgewhether youwill need large uninterrupted blocks of time for the activities or if smaller blocks will be adequate.   On a daily plan, assign a starting time to each item of work.Make sure you start on priority-one actions ¢rst.   Match your work schedule to your body schedule.   Don’t over plan!   Remember to build in regular breaks: the body can only concentrate for short periods of time. On page 202 is a form that could be used for daily planning. Again, the thought process is more important than the tool. Organizing your o⁄ce work space Organizing your office and paper flow is important in ensuring your productivity. There is nothing more frustrating than not being able to find a piece of paper! Often filing systems tend to develop in demand to paper, when they should help manage paperwork to achieve objectives. Schedule To do 6:00 7:00 8:00 9:00 10:00 11:00 12:00 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 5:00 6:00 7:00 8:00 _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Calls_ _ _ _ Daily plan practice Task of the day Date 202 / Be a Successful Consultant Organizing Your Business / 203 T|me out! A category-focused ¢ling system consists of four main sections: 1. Current ¢les relating to achieving short-term milestones. 2. Bring-forward ¢les to track future actions related to objectives. 3. Current hanging ¢les for paperwork related to current objectives: within key result areas. 4. Historical ¢les for objectives: within key result areas. Below are some guidelines for using each section. 1. Current files: paper for today. These can be sorted by objective, customer, etc and are usually stored on the desk, in stacking trays or folders. 2. Bring-forward files. Bring-forward files (sometimes called ‘tickler files’) can be located in hanging files or on the computer. Bring-forward files consist of numbered folders, one for each day of the month (31), and one for each month of the next six months (6). Requests for action are placed in the folder under the day the action must start. At the end of each day, you must check the folder to see what ’s coming up for the next day. Once each week, look at the folder for the coming month and move forward any items, which need to be in the 31-day files. 3. Current project files: per key result area. It is important to distinguish between current information, which needs to be readily available for possible action, and historical information which is complete. Current project files are normally located in your desk drawer and contain all current paperwork, divided by key result area, if at all possible. The files can be colour coded to indicate different activities, e.g. prospecting could be red, existing clients green. 4. Historical data files: per key result area. These files contain information which is complete and may be needed for future reference. There is a legal obligation to keep certain types of paperwork. The risk with historical files is that far too much information is kept, most of which is unlikely to be needed in the future. Historical files are also categorized by key result area and need to be cleared out at least once every three months. 204 / Be a Successful Consultant Case study: Frank gets organized Frank has begun organizing his office and has found that separating the historic from the current data has made it much easier to access paperwork. He has colour coded his filing system to correspond to his key result areas. He has converted the second bedroom at his house into an office, because he has the space and this is a cost-effective solution. When planning, he refers to his contact manager from the database to remind him of key people to call and follow up with, and then he creates a weekly to-do list for the additional critical tasks he needs to complete each week. Exercise 8.6 Getting organized Spend some time reviewing your paperwork and answer the following questions:   How are you going to manage your current paperwork? On your desk? In a file drawer?   To what extent will you use tickler files? Will this follow-up be stimulated by the computer? Or will you create a paperwork trail?   How will you organize your current filing system? How will you cross-reference your filing system to your current planning tool?   How will you separate current from historical files? How will you ensure that you continue to divide current and historical files?   What else will you do to keep your paperwork organized? Key result area Objective (s) Organization Organizing Your Business / 205 Coaching point Organi zing your paperwork will not only reduce your stress level, but increase your productivity. Remember you probably need to thoroughly clean out your ¢les at least once every six months! Establishing organization/administration objectives You need to establish organizational objectives for your business within the administration/organization key result area. Again, these objectives need to meet SMART criteria. T|me out! There is normallya varietyof organizational objectives for a consulting business under several categories:   o⁄ce organization   o⁄ce equipment   o⁄ce location   resources   planning. Exercise 8.7 Establishing organizational objectives Thinking about your consulting business, create one organizational objective using the table below: 206 / Be a Successful Consultant Checklist Have you:   Chosen office space?   Set up your office?   Got the right equipment?   Got the right software?   Prioritized your monthly tasks?   Completed a sample weekly plan?   Identified a planning tool to help you in weekly planning?   Organized your paperwork filing system by key result area?   Established current files and ‘tickler files’?   Separated historic from current data? Scorecard Before leaving this chapter, ask yourself the following questions:   As you set up youro⁄ce, furniture and equipment, think about whether a home o⁄ce or separate o⁄cewould ¢t bestwith your lifestyle. If you are thinking of a home o⁄ce, how will you ensure the e¡ective division between youro⁄ce and work? What othero⁄ce options could you consider? What equipmentwill be the most useful to you in running your business?   Towhat extent did you recognize the ‘urgency habit’ in theway you behaved? How can you ensure that you stop and think before jumping in to the task at hand?   As you plan your weekly tasks and priorities, how will you ensure that you are concentrating time and energyon your key result areas? How will you link the overall direction of the business to yourweekly tasks? What system can you use to facilitate this process? Howelsewill you ensure that you are focusing energy into all aspects of running your business: sales,marketing, networking, product development, ¢nance and administration?   As you organize youro⁄ce, what are the biggest challenges you face in ensuring your paperwork is easy to ¢nd and use? How will you overcome these challenges? Do you knowanyone who can help you in this o⁄ce organization phase? CHAPTER NINE RunningYour Business: Doing theWork! Gameplan When you have successfully completed the key steps in setting up your consulting business described in Chapters 2 to 8, you will be ready to ‘do the work’: the area in which you have the most expertise. ‘Doing the work’ involves providing the functional expertise that you possess within the structure of a consulting assignment. The purpose of this chapter is to help you to:   Set up your contract with the client to ensure a win–win outcome.   Understand the different types of contracts.   Structure each stage of the consulting solution to ensure client satisfaction. Formalizing contracts Consultants, like everyone else, are turning to written contracts to protect their interests. Contracts do have a useful purpose other than self-protection. As has been stressed, the consultant–client relationship is ambiguous and a clear contract provides a guide for both parties. A legal contract is an agreement enforceable by law. Contracts can be written, spoken or implied. You may wish to send a letter outlining the responsibilities of each party in the contract. In addition, a verbal agreement is just as binding but more difficult to prove. T|me out! When creating a contract you should consider including the following items:   Responsibilities of each party. 207   T|me agreements.   Financial arrangements.   Products or services to be delivered.   Cooperation of client.   Independent contractor’s status.This establishes that you are not an employee.   Advisory capacity. This indicates that youwill notmake decisions for the client, butwill provide best opinions only.   Client responsibility for review, implementation and result.   Your potentialwork with competitors.   Authorityof client to contract for your services.   Attorney’s fee clause.   Limitations. Coaching point Using a legal contract is a personal decision. The majority of consultants do not use them. However if you have had problems with clients, or you are taking a substantial risk, then a contract is appropriate. Proper groundwork, continual communication and a thorough proposal may be an adequate substitute for a contract. Exercise 9.1 Will you use a formal contract or not? Thinking about your consulting business, answer the questions below to identify whether you will use a contract with your client. Questions to ask Tips Thinking about your client, to what If they have tended to be trustworthy in extent have you worked with them the past and done what they said they in the past? How reliable have they would do, this is a good indicator been? that there may not be the need for a contract. How large is the contract? The larger the contract, the more need for a contract to protect liability on both sides. 208 / Be a Successful Consultant Running Your Business: Doing the Work! / 209 How large is the company? Often the larger the company, the more need there is for a contract. Most large companies have their formal contracts which they use when working with sub-contractors. As a consultant it can be easier to modify these contracts rather than insisting on using your own. Thinking about the work, to what extent The greater the direct link between are they making business decisions that your recommendations and business directly impact on their bottom line costs/liabilities, the greater the need for a based on your recommendations/input? contract.   As you consider the factors above, do you think you need a contract for your business?   What do you need to include in a contract?   Who can help you write the contract? Case study: Julia Because Julia provides advice about HR issues, with potential risks (eliminating certain positions and/or job roles, sexual harassment, etc) she has decided to always use a contract with her clients. With start-up companies, she worked with a solicitor to create a standard template to which she could simply add client details. This saves her the cost of having to consult with her solicitor for every contract. She has also found one lead in a large company where they have an existing contract. She asked her solicitor to review that contract to ensure that her interests were protected. Structure of consulting assignments There are broadly three types of consulting assignments:   one-off projects   short-term contracts   long-term contracts. The type of consulting you provide will often influence the type of contracts you receive. Marketing projects will probably be a mixture of short and long-term projects, where training could be a series of one-off projects. One-off contracts These contracts take the least planning: a simple proposal normally acts as the project plan. They normally take place in a very short time frame: one to two days. Examples could be running one training programme for a team, reviewing a service level agreement and making recommendations, editing one document, etc. Advantages Disadvantages   Give you variety of activities with   Can take as much time to sell as a different clients – greater client long-term contract. exposure.   Working with many such contracts   Provide you with the opportunity can feel like a new job every day. to try out working with the client.   Can be hard to keep all the balls up   May act as a marketing possibility in the air. to obtain other work with the client.   Necessitates keeping contact with more   More clients for your client list. people.   Simple to deliver and meet   May not allow you to work in depth with expectations. the client and demonstrate the range of your competence. Short-term contracts Short-term contracts normally have a defined beginning, middle and an end, normally ranging from three to ten days. These short-term contracts require slightly more planning (some of this planning can normally be charged to the client) yet still remain fairly flexible in nature. Advantages Disadvantages   Give you variety of activities with   If there are too many projects at one time, different clients – greater client exposure. they can be difficult to manage.   Easier to balance workload: two or   There is still an element of balancing three projects at one time. multiple activities. 210 / Be a Successful Consultant Running Your Business: Doing the Work! / 211   One client does not dominate your   If all clients want more work at one time time: keep other options open. you may be unable to meet the demand.   Build reasonable client relationships   Harder to sub-contract to others. over a period of time. Long-termcontracts Long-term contracts normally have a defined beginning, middle and an end, normally ranging over 10 days with a series of specific milestones and deliverables. These long- term contracts require more extensive planning (some of this planning can normally be charged to the client) and often need to be regularly monitored. Advantages Disadvantages   Give you focused effort with one client   If the project absorbs more than three – can feel more like a ‘normal job’. to four days per week, marketing to other   Able to build a strong relationship clients can suffer. A ‘famine’ may with many contacts within one client. occur at the end of the ‘feast’.   Can learn more about the company   There may be tax implications associated and therefore ensure that the consulting with being an employee. is linked to business objectives.   If the company experiences financial   Ideally situated to continue to develop difficulties, then your entire source more business. of revenue can be affected.   When you have established the payment   You may miss other opportunities cycle, you will normally receive regular because of the lack of flexibility in your financial payments. schedule. Case study:Marie Marie has decided the best mix for her business is a mix of one-off standard training programmes, and short-term projects. For one-off training programmes she will work through the training broker, as this will reduce her sales and marketing time, yet still provide her with a diversity of projects. She decides to focus on time management and presentation skills standard programmes in the beginning, because she has existing materials developed, plus she knows two people who could help meet client needs, if she is busy when they need help. For the sales training project, she has quoted it as a short-term project with critical stages defined in the planning stage as:   initial design   pilot programme   revision to class   train trainers through the programme   write leader’s guides   present a train the trainer programme for facilitators   measure training effectiveness. She believes that this will amount to approximately 15 days of training, but will be concentrated into a month. She thinks that there may be an opportunity to link the sales training programme with increases in sales. With this balance of business, she thinks that she will have some solid income, but will also be able to open up doors for further training when she conducts the standard training programmes. Exercise 9.2 What type of consulting projects are the best ¢t with your business? Thinking about your consulting business, identify what type of consulting projects, or mix of consulting projects, might be the best for you.   To what extent would you have the opportunity to do one-off projects? What are the benefits that this would provide to you? What about the potential downside? How could you manage these challenges?   To what extent would you have the opportunity to do short-term projects? What are the benefits that this would provide to you? What about the potential downside? How could you manage these challenges?   To what extent would you have the opportunity to do long-term projects? What would you enjoy about such projects? What would be your main concern?   What would be your ideal balance in percentages between one-off, short-term and long-term projects? 212 / Be a Successful Consultant Running Your Business: Doing the Work! / 213 Coaching point The more speci¢c you are in what youwant, the more likely it is that thiswill happen. Probably the best solution is to have a combination of all types of projects, to minimize risk and maximize the bene¢ts of each. Consulting project stages Within each consulting assignment there may be a mixture of the following phases:   planning   needs assessment   recommending options   implementing recommendations   monitoring progress   evaluating success. Depending on the type of consulting that you are providing, you may use some or all of the stages described in more detail below. Planning the assignment The time taken to plan the assignment will be directly linked to the time spent delivering the project. Foul! Planning is not awaste of time! Often time spent planning will increase the productivity and reduce execution time ^ away tomake your consulting business more pro¢table! For one-off and short-term projects, the assignment is often planned in the proposal stage: basically you want to know who is going to do what, when, where and how. T|me out! With long-term projects, you will need to be more speci¢c, particularly in the early stages while credibility is being built on deliverables and milestones.Make sure you:   Build in smaller, short-term deadlines: for instance in the design of a training project, copying the client in on the initial draft of training materials.   Design an initial break-through project that has a high probabilityof success, such as a needs assessment in the development of a training programme.   Break a project into smaller do-able tasks. Needs assessment In most consulting assignments you need to gather all the pertinent facts or data relating to the situation. You begin the data gathering and normally determine the primary problem in the initial interview. During data gathering you must also gather information about problems which the client has not shared with you. T|me out! There are six basic data gathering tools: Literature search: reading any published information on the company. Document review: reviewing all internal documentation such as operating plans and procedures, along with external documents such as ¢nancial reports from auditors, banks etc. Interviews: gathering information from a variety of personnel within the company, by using a structured plan, and probing on speci¢c issues. The dynamics are very similar to the sales interview process where you must relax the interviewee, build trust and obtain the necessary information. Questionnaires: questionnaires can be distributed both internally and externally.They can be open-ended, requiring the respondent to write in answers, or objective, where the respondents have to rate given answers. Direct observation: nothing can replace your own observation. Basic research: some projects require controlled scienti¢c research to collect the necessary data. 214 / Be a Successful Consultant Running Your Business: Doing the Work! / 215 Recommending options For specific types of client engagements, the information you have gathered from a variety of sources now needs to be analysed and synthesized to produce an accurate picture of the client situation. T|me out! The steps are as follows: 1. Often, the data is analysed by reviewing any statistical data (the quantitative analysis), and by using a more subjective analysis from interviews and questionnaires. 2. When synthesizing the data you are attempting to produce a coherent picture providing the areas most in need of your and your client’s attention. 3. Then the elements of the data are compared, prioritized and sequenced to be combined into ameaningfulwhole and often may be presented in a comprehensive report. The options are normally presented to the client for prioritization and implementation planning. Coaching point Remember, when developing recommendations, options can be evaluated into one or more of the following four categories:   client must do   client wants to do   client can do   client should do. Despite our personal opinions, normally the client has the ultimate decision-making authority! Case study: Frank Frank has received a go-ahead for the Support Centre reengineering project. He has outlined two main steps for the project. The first step involves conducting research into the current Support Centre operations, analysing current challenges and then recommending possible solutions. This step he estimated at four weeks – 20 days at the conclusion of which he would prepare a report and present key findings to the management team. The second step involves the implementation of the critical recommendations. Phase One, he believes, will go smoothly because he will be meeting with key contributors and analysing Support Centre operations. This is pretty much in his direct control. He is somewhat concerned about Phase Two, because internal personnel are extremely busy and may not have time to invest in working on the implementation ideas. He wanted to try to ensure that changes were made as a result of his analysis. He considered providing support in this implementation phase but decided not to because he was worried about possible conflict of interest for future work. For instance, if this Support Centre assessment is undertaken on an annual basis, it would not be ethically fair for him to make the recommendations and then do the work – how could the client be sure the recommendations were not just to guarantee future work for him! As a great hands-on implementer, this was his first major experience of the difference between consulting (making recommendations) and working full time (making decisions and dong) for his type of work. Implementing recommendations Implementing recommendations is where the plan decided in the previous stage is delivered. Sometimes implementing the recommendations is the responsibility of the client and sometimes a consultant is used for implementation. T|me out! If the client is implementing the plan, you can do several things to smooth the implementation process. 1. Determine who is responsible for implementation. 2. Understand the organizational structure. 3. Train client personnel. 4. Monitor the newsystem. If you are implementing the plan, it is critical to manage the client’s expectations and keep them abreast of any major changes to the deliverables. Often, in the implementation stages, clients are unable to dedicate enough time and resources to the project, and as a result deadlines might slip. Case study: Joe In Joe’s consulting work, he found his role was not dissimilar to the role he played when 216 / Be a Successful Consultant Running Your Business: Doing the Work! / 217 employed by the company; he conducted the planning for his project, assessed options, recommended design and marketing strategies and took responsibility fo,r implementing the plan up to and including the product launch. Because of this focus, his accountant was concerned about the tax authorities thinking that he was really an employee, not a consultant. To overcome this concern, he actively looked for other one-off projects, for instance conducting market research into possible market viability for products, to ensure that he had a mixed client list. Plus he enjoyed the variety that this strategy presented. Monitoring progress Reports form an essential part of your communication with your clients. They may be the sole means of communicating with the client, and must contain all pertinent information relative to the progress of the project. Reports also facilitate clients’ commitment to your work and give control of the project over to the consultant. There are two main types of reports:   The progress report: Documents major events, problems and solutions.   The final report: Documents the entire project, including background, methodology, findings, recommendations and conclusions. Often the final report is the only tangible result from the project. T|me out! Major sections of the ¢nal report can include:   table of contents   executive summary   project background   objectives and scope   methodology   results   ¢ndings and conclusion   recommendations. Evaluating project success When you evaluate your performance both you and your client benefit. Evaluation acts as both a quality control mechanism and a learning device. T|me out! Stages in evaluation are: 1. Deciding what to evaluate ^ for example:   client satisfaction   reduced turnover   project outcome   employee morale   productivity. 2. Howdo you evaluate?   collect pre-project data   conduct evaluation immediately after project completion   evaluate several months after project completion   select appropriate measurement tools based on the project: interviews, questionnaires, observations, etc   include the evaluation in the original proposal. 3. Documenting results   present the entire picture   document all results fully   publish to other groups. By evaluating success you can integrate learning into new consulting assignments while at the same time using them as a marketing tool to obtain more business. Exercise 9.3 Outlining the stages in your consulting assignment Thinking about the type of consulting that you plan to do, fill in the table opposite to provide the structure for your consulting projects. Coaching point Using this thought process with newand existing clients will help to ensure you do notmiss a critical step thereby negatively a¡ecting the outcome. 218 / Be a Successful Consultant Step Questions Actions for you Planning How much planning is required for your consulting projects? How can you ensure you gain the maximum return from planning? Needs assessment To what extent does your consulting work require that you conduct a needs assessment? Which combination of the tools outlined (literature search, document review, interviews, questionnaires, direct observation and other research) will be most suited to your client and your work? Recommending options To what extent is your role to make recommendations, and not necessarily implement activities? How comfortable do you feel with recommending options without the power to implement? Implementing recommendations To what extent will you be implementing the recommendations that you make? How can you ensure that you protect yourself legally and financially in this process? Monitoring progress Will you be using a progress report and a final report? What would need to be the essential elements of your final report? Evaluating success How will you evaluate the success of your consulting assignments? How can you make time for evaluation before jumping into the next assignment? Running Your Business: Doing the Work! / 219 Key result area Objective (s) Client projects Establishing project objectives As with the other activities which you undertake as a consultant, it is helpful to define objectives for each project, as a way of quantifying the result you wish to achieve. Setting clear objectives for the project side of your business will help to ensure that you provide the services your clients require, and that will continue to develop your business. T|me out! There could be a varietyof project objectives under several categories:   customer satisfaction   productivity increase   number of recommendations implemented   criticalmilestones   objectives related directly to the client needs. The extent to which you can quantify objectives can vary from one type of consulting to another. Case studies: Frank’sand Joe’s consulting assignments are easy to set objectives for: an increase in client satisfaction and a successful product launch. For Julia’s and Marie’s business it is more difficult to quantify direct tangible results from a training programme or implementing an HR infrastructure because many other factors can come into play and affect the outcome. Exercise 9.4 Writing your project objectives   Take a moment and review the types of objectives you could write for a client project.   Now write a SMART objective for one such client project below. 220 / Be a Successful Consultant Running Your Business: Doing the Work! / 221 Checklist Have you:   Decided whether you will use a contract or not?   Decided whether one-off, short-term or long-term projects are the best for you and your business?   Gathered samples of projects you completed at jobs as samples for clients?   Decided how you would like your work evaluated?   Met with other consultants who do similar work to see how they manage projects? Scorecard Before leaving this chapter, ask yourself the following questions:   As you consider your consulting business, towhat extentwill your business comprise one-o¡, short-term and long-term projects? How will you ensure that you capitalize on the advantages of each type of consulting work and how will you avoid any potential disadvantages?   As you look at each speci¢c project, how will you ensure that you put the correct process in place to ensure the e¡ectiveness of each contract? How will you ensure your planning is e¡ective? What will you do to keep the client informed on progress? How will you measure the success of the project?   When you review your objectives for consulting projects, howclear are they as to the result that they will achieve? Who could look at them and provide youwith feedback to ensure they meet the SMARTcriteria? Are there clear bene¢ts to the client from the goals? Howeasy is it to quantify your objectives? CHAPTER TEN Moving IntoAction So what will you do now? By this point you may be thinking ‘What a lot of work?!’ Yes it is and No it isn’t!   ‘Yes it is’: consulting is not a ‘magic pill ’. Like many work opportunities it has inherent advantages and challenges. By understanding more about consulting and yourself, it is possible to make a successful alternative life style as a consultant.   ‘No it isn’t’: many of these activities take place automatically when you are working.We don’t necessarily think about them, we just do them. Think about your normal working day and how you do your job. If you tried to document that, it could look pretty scary! For every person who says that they will never take a ‘real job’ ever again because they enjoy consulting so much, there are an equal number who, having tried consulting, return with enthusiasm to full-time work. There is no right or wrong decision: it is dependent on your needs and preferences. Coaching point The most common reason that people choose to go back to a job is that they struggle with selling their services. No matter how great you are at doing something, you have to get in front of a prospect and sell the bene¢ts to them. In this book we have tried to share with you the critical steps necessary to establish your own consulting business, combined with exercises that you could complete to bring the ideas to life and make your business a reality. In this book: 222 Moving Into Action / 223 Section One covered Getting Started: to make sure you begin on the right foot.   In Chapter One you were introduced to the dynamic business environment and understood why consulting is a viable and growing option for many individuals. It defined consulting, and gave parameters for the consulting industry as a whole. It included the following exercises: Exercise 1.1: What does consulting mean to you? Exercise 1.2: Would you benefit from working for a consulting firm?   Chapter Two described the strengths and weaknesses of consulting as a profession, and showed the critical characteristics of successful consultants. Knowing the strengths that you bring to the role of a consultant and understanding potential challenges, can help you succeed as a consultant. It included the following exercises: Exercise 2.1: Consulting advantages and disadvantages Exercise 2.2: Consulting advantages and disadvantages to you Exercise 2.3: Assessing your ability as a consultant Exercise 2.4: Animal characteristics Exercise 2.5: Choosing a mascot Exercise 2.6: Exploring temperaments Exercise 2.7: Is consulting for you?   Chapter Three helped you to get started by defining your vision and unique selling proposition. In addition, by conducting SWOT analysis on your potential business, you were able to establish key result areas for your business that exploited opportunities and minimized threats. It included the following exercises: Exercise 3.1: Defining your vision statement Exercise 3.2: Looking at your strengths and weaknesses Exercise 3.3: Defining your unique selling position Exercise 3.4: Conducting a SWOT analysis for your business Exercise 3.5: Deciding your key result areas   Chapter Four provided you with more detailed skills and techniques to establish your business direction by writing a clear business plan, deciding the best business structure and being specific about expectations for your business by setting objectives and milestones. It included the following exercises: Exercise 4.1: Writing your business plan Exercise 4.2: Choosing your consulting business structure Exercise 4.3: Writing your objectives Exercise 4.4: Writing tasks and milestones   In Section Two we covered Getting Clients: the fundamental difference between being an employee and being a consultant:   Chapter Five moved you from planning your strategy into business development mode, by introducing the key elements that you need to market your business and the promotional strategies that will raise awareness of your services. You were encouraged to formalize your network to ensure that you have the key building block for your business. It included the following exercises: Exercise 5.1: Deciding your market research approach Exercise 5.2: Deciding one marketing objective Exercise 5.3: Deciding your market segment Exercise 5.4: Defining your service; features and benefits Exercise 5.5: Deciding your promotional activities Exercise 5.6: Building your network Exercise 5.7: Building your monthly marketing plan   Chapter Six gave you skills and techniques in the most critical areas of success for a new consultant, selling your services. Using the telephone, face to face meetings and proposals you were introduced to the critical steps necessary to move the prospective client ‘down the funnel’ to become a paying customer. It included the following exercises: Exercise 6.1: What are your fears about selling? Exercise 6.2: Understanding your sales process Exercise 6.3: Establishing sales objectives Exercise 6.4: Which communication channel do you prefer? Exercise 6.5: Preparing your 30 second commercial Exercise 6.6: Preparing for a telephone call Exercise 6.7: Evaluating your telephone effectiveness 224 / Be a Successful Consultant Moving Into Action / 225 Exercise 6.8: Evaluating your person to person effectiveness Exercise 6.9: Deciding your proposal approach In Section Three we examined Getting Money: you can have all the clients in the world but if they are not paying you, you might find it hard to live!   Chapter Seven introduced you to the critical tools for measuring your financial business success and then gave you ideas on how to ensure that you charge enough for your services to make your business profitable and pay all the necessary overheads. It included the following exercises: Exercise 7.1: What are your start up costs and estimated monthly expenses? Exercise 7.2: How will you fund your business? Exercise 7.3: Establishing financial objectives Exercise 7.4: Creating your cash flow statement Exercise 7.5: Calculating your target hourly rate Exercise 7.6: Choosing your pricing structure Exercise 7.7: Evaluating sub contracting for you Finally in Section Four we reviewed Getting Organized: some basic principles for raising your productivity and increasing output.   Chapter Eight provided ideas and techniques for organizing your business for maximum effectiveness. The following exercises would help you in this endeavour: Exercise 8.1: Will you work from home or rent an office? Exercise 8.2: Selecting your office equipment Exercise 8.3: Identifying administrative support Exercise 8.4: Prioritizing your tasks Exercise 8.5: Planning next week Exercise 8.6: Getting organized Exercise 8.7: Establishing organizational objectives   Chapter Nine talked about the different types of projects and how to ensure that they are successful. Finally we were able to talk about the part that most people associate with consulting – actually doing the work – with the following exercises: Exercise 9.1: Will you use a formal contract or not? Questions to ask Getting started:   Have you analysed the strengths and weaknesses of consulting objectively?   Have you decided your vision and established your key result areas?   Have you defined specific measurable, time-based short term objectives for yourself? Getting clients   Have you begun to decide a marketing strategy?   Have you conducted some telephone calls and face-to-face meetings?   Have you begun to formalize and develop your network? Getting money   Have you priced your product or service competitively, yet realistically?   Have you decided how you will ensure the client pays? Getting organized   Have you got yourself organized?   Have you decided what type of projects are the best fit? Actions this month Exercise 9.2: What type of projects are the best fit with your business? Exercise 9.3: Outlining the stages in your consulting assignment Exercise 9.4: Writing your project objectives Exercise 10.1 What will you do this month? To help you decide your plan of attack for the next month, fill in the table below. 226 / Be a Successful Consultant Moving Into Action / 227 Case studies All our consultants have successfully launched their consulting practices, but in very different ways! Joe has got going quickly by seizing the opportunity to work on a consulting basis for his previous employer. He is delighted that he is generating revenue right out of the door. His greatest challenge will be completing some of the strategic planning activities, which he views as unnecessary, but which provide critical guidance in long-term direction. He primarily used Section Two for ideas for getting clients. Frank adopted a more methodical, structured approach, and completed Section One to ensure that he was clear about his offering before he presented himself to clients. His use of his network has brought him results surprisingly quickly – he didn’t realize when he was at work how much people respected his output! Julia has again adopted a more organized approach, with a focus on clearly identifying and articulating her business and marketing strategy so that her energy is focused entirely on relevant activities. She used all the sections of the book because she enjoyed the overview it provided to her of all the steps in the consulting process. As a business person, much of the content was a review of existing knowledge geared towards the consulting industry. She was pleasantly surprised at the responses and business she received from her mailshot to small companies. Mariebegan forcefully with marketing. Having been a consultant before, she understood the pros and cons and was committed to making her consulting business work long-term this time. She used the funnel extensively to prioritize her contacts, so that she did not become overwhelmed with social rather than business focused interactions. The combination of using a distribution channel (training broker) and her own short-term projects has proved to be very successful. If you follow the steps in this book, and are committed to trying the process, consulting can provide you with a greater control over your own destiny, more opportunities for creativity, the ability to make an impact and help you produce results for clients. If you decide to return to full-time work, worst case you will have gained a perspective on a different lifestyle and gained some skills to help you back in work. Good luck with whichever choice you make! Scorecard Before completing this book, ask yourself the following questions:   Based on everything that you have read, be honest with yourself about howmuch you would like the constant multiplexing of projects,marketing activities and administrative tasks.What would work for you? What would be sources of stress?   What are the bene¢ts to you of consulting? Towhat extentwill the bene¢ts outweigh the potential costs?   What are you going to dowithin the next month to either make it happen,make a decision or get a new job? 228 / Be a Successful Consultant TheMyers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) was designed to try to assess which of Jung’s cognitive processes we use most easily and then in what sequence we use them. It provides a four-letter code (e.g. ESTJ) which in essence, acts as a license plate to broadly describe how an individual might approach the world and the typical behaviors that they might demonstrate. The Four Preferences The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI1) attempts to assess our preferences on four dichotomies as shown below. VISUALThe Four Preferences DIRECTION ENERGY FLOWS Extraverting Introverting FUNCTION: GATHERING INFORMATION (PERCEIVING) Sensing iNtuiting FUNCTION: DECISION MAKING (JUDGING) Thinking Feeling FUNCTION USED IN EXTERNALWORLD Judging Perceiving 229 Extraverting Often drawn out to interact Act first and then think (initiate) Process information in the external world – talk everything over May be easier to ‘read:’ Self-disclose readily May talk more than listen May communicate with enthusiasm May use more expressive body language May respond quickly with a verbal stream of consciousness Introverting Often pulled in to reflect Think first and then act (respond) Process information in the internal world – think everything over May be harder to ‘read:’ Share personal information with few, close people May listen more than talk May keep enthusiasm to self Use more reserved body language May respond after taking time to think – more deliberate speaking pattern Extraverting and Introverting Many analysts of personality think of Extraverting and Introverting in terms of where you get your energy: from the outer world (Extraverting) or the inner world (Introverting) but this is not how Jung originally described the two terms.   Extraverting is defined as when your energy naturally first flows outward to the external world of people and events and then inwards to the world of ideas and thoughts.   Introverting is defined as when your energy naturally first flows inward to ideas and thoughts, and then outwards to the world of people and events. We have to live in both worlds! Just because an individual has an extraverting preference does not mean that they never re£ect and allow their energy to move inwards. In the sameway, just because an individual has an introverting preference does not mean that they nevercome out to interact! It is a matter of where your energy £ows most naturally. Now look at Extraverting and Introverting, represented by E\I in the diagram. Review the characteristic behaviors associated with an Extraverting or Introverting orientation in the chart below. Extraverting and Introverting Put an X by the orientation that seems most like you in the space provided. My Orientation is toward: Extraverting (E)& Introverting (I)& 230 / Be a Successful Consultant Sensing Tune into information that is concrete and real: see, hear, smell, touch, taste, and feel Notice concrete detail like changes in someone’s appearance; can be frustrated when others are oblivious to the concrete environment Like to use tangible, physical, or practical skills Tend to specific: give details and examples in a linear step-by-step approach or in literal form Speak and hear literally Tend to present concrete evidence either sequentially or briefly and to the point Move from specific to general: start with the steps and move to the end result Can appear realistic or too focused on the details iNtuiting Tune into information that is abstract or theoretical: concepts, theories, patterns and insights Notice and interpret what ’s between the lines in communication; can be frustrated when others take things literally Like to philosophize and develop new concepts Tend to be figurative with general descriptions and theories, using analogies and metaphors Speak and hear figuratively Tend to present information in impressions or organized around a conceptual framework without concrete examples Move from general to specific: start with the end result and then build up the steps Can appear visionary or impractical The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) / 231 Sensing and iNtuiting Jung identified two main ways that we tend to gather or perceive information: Sensing and iNtuiting.   Individuals who prefer the Sensing process, tend to primarily gather information through their senses such as sight, sound, smell, touch, taste, and balance. They also tend to trust whatever can be measured or documented and what is real and concrete. As a result, they may initially appear to doubt intuitive insights. They tend to use more concrete language, being more literal and using specific words.   Individuals who prefer the iNtuiting process gather information through ideas, patterns, possibilities hypotheses, and inferred meanings. They also tend to trust abstract concepts, ideas and potential, minimizing the importance of concrete evidence. They tend to use more abstract language, being more general and figurative. Now look at Sensing and iNtuiting, represented by S/N in the diagram. Review the characteristic behaviors associated with a Sensing and iNtuiting orientation in the chart below. My information gathering process is: Sensing& Intuiting& THINKING Feelings need to be understood to be truly felt Conflict can be intriguing Need to be in control of their emotions Logical analysis Remember numbers and figures more easily Decisions are based on logical, objective criteria Definition of fairness is one standard for all Others say I sometimes appear heartless, insensitive, and uncaring FEELING Feelings are felt and often difficult to explain Conflict is gut wrenching Like to be swept away in emotion, need to express their emotions Emotional intensity Remember faces and names more easily Decisions are based on personal, subjective criteria Definition of fairness is caring and based on personal factors Others say I sometimes appear overemotional, illogical and weak Thinking and Feeling Jung identified two main ways that we tend to make decisions or judge events: Thinking and Feeling. Both are rational decision-making processes, they are simply based on different criteria.   Individuals who make decisions based on Thinking, tend to make decisions impersonally, logically and analytically. They may see criteria as black and white: ‘the facts ma’am, just the facts!’   Individuals who make decisions based on Feeling, tend to be more interested in subjective criteria such as personal values, the people involved, and special circumstances. They may see criteria as shades of gray. Now look at Thinking and Feeling, represented by T/F in the diagram. Review the characteristic behaviors associated with a Thinking and Feeling orientation in the chart below. My decision making process is: Thinking& Feeling& Judging and Perceiving The final preference, the Judging and Perceiving Preference, was added to Jung’s typology by Myers and Briggs to help to explain which function individuals use in the external world. 232 / Be a Successful Consultant Judging Most comfortable after decisions are made and then stick to it Set goals and work towards achieving them on time Prefer knowing what events are coming up Finish the task in a structured manner and enjoy the result Deadlines are serious: time is finite Push for closure Tend to schedule time, plan and organize Perceiving Most comfortable leaving options open or quick to change if circumstances change Change goals as information becomes available Like adapting to new situations Enjoy the process and complete the task in order to move onto the next project Deadlines are elastic: time is a renewable resource Like ‘going with the flow’ Tend to be more spontaneous The Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) / 233   Individuals with a Judging preference prefer to achieve closure, make decisions and make plans either to organize resources to achieve an end goal, or to push for closure to achieve group harmony. Therefore individuals with a Judging preference tend to like to make a plan and stick to it.   Individuals with a Perceiving preference prefer to remain flexible, open to possibilities and enjoy exploring options from current concrete data, or generating possibilities and employing future patterns. Therefore individuals with a Perceiving preference either make decisions and change them easily (Artisans) or keep their options open and postpone making a decision (Idealists and Rationals). Place an X in the box beside the orientation that seems most like you. My Orientation is toward: Judging& Perceiving& This Page Intentionally Left Blank 235 Further Reading Berens, Linda V., Ernst, Linda K., Robb, Judith E. and Smith, Melissa A., Temperament and Type Dynamics. The Facilitator’s Guide. Huntington Beach. California: Temperament Research Institute, 1995. Berens, Linda V., Understanding Yourself and Others: An Introduction to Temperament – 2.0. Huntington Beach. California: Telos, 2000. Covey, S., The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. New York: Fireside, Simon & Schuster, 1989. Delunas, E., Survival Games Personalities Play. SunInk Publications, 1992. Handy, C., The Age of Unreason. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1990. Handy, C., The Age of Paradox. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1994. Handy, C., Beyond Certainty. Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 1996. Hersey, P., and Blanchard, K. H., Management of Organizational Behavior: Utilizing Human Resources. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1988. Hirsh, S., and Kummerow, J., Life Types. New York: Warner Books,1989. Isachsen, O., Joining the Entrepreneurial Elite. Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black, 1997. Kelley, Robert Earl, Consulting. Scribner, October, 1986 Keirsey, D., Portraits of Temperament. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis Books, 1987. Keirsey, D., Please Understand Me II. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis Books, 1998. Keirsey, D, and Bates, M., Please Understand Me. Del Mar, CA: Prometheus Nemesis Books, 1978. Kriegel, R. J., and Patler, L., If It Ain’t Broke, Break It. New York: Warner Books, 1992. Kriegel, R.J., Brandt, David., Sacred Cows Make the Best Burgers. New York: Warner Books, 1997. Lakein, Alan, How to Get Control of Your Time and Your Life. New American Library, 1996. Nash, S., Turning Team Performance Inside Out. Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black, 1999. Nash, S., Dating, Mating and Relating, Oxford, UK: How To Books, 2000. Nash, S. and Nash D., Deliver Outstanding Customer Service, Oxford, UK: How To Books, 2002. Nash, S. and Nash D., Delighting Your Customers. Oxford, UK: How To Books 2001. Quenk, N., Beside Ourselves: Our Hidden Personality in Everyday Life. Palo Alto, CA: Davies-Black, 1993. Quenk, N., In the Grip: Our Hidden Personality. Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press, 1996. Tieger, P. D., and Barron-Tieger, B., Do What You Are. Boston: Little, Brown, 1995. Timmons, Jeffrey A., The Entrepreneurial Mind. Brick House Publications. March, 1989. Other reference sources Barclay’s Bank Research Review, Starting up in Business, July 1999. Daily Telegraph, Working for Yourself Book. Association of Management Consultants study ‘Personal Qualifications of Management Consultants’. IWant To Be My Own Boss – Inside the New Self Employed Revolution. Alodis/MORI poll, 2000. Institute of Management Consultants, 32–33 Hatton Garden, London EC1N 8DL. Tel: (020) 7242 2140. Federation of Small Businesses, Whittle Way, Blackpool Business Park, Blackpool, FY4 2FE. Tel: (01253) 336000. Department of Trade and Industry, Department of Social Security, the Inland Revenue and Department for Education and Employment also print useful pamphlets. Other books Small Business Guide (4th edn), C Barrow Business Publications. Be your Own Boss, David McMullan (Kogan Page). Croner’s Reference book for the self employed and Smaller Business, Croner Publications. Going Freelance, Godfrey Golzen (Kogan Page). Business information New Venture Creation, Jeffry A. Timmons. Up Your Own Organization, Donald M. Dible. Self improvement First Things First, Steven Covey. 236 / Be a Successful Consultant Index adapting style, 136, 137 administration, 19, 21, 55, 56, 163, 197, 199, 205, 206 administrative support, 47, 190, 191, 225 advertising, 51, 52, 94, 95–6, 98, 100, 102, 103, 150, 151 artisan, 29–30, 32, 135, 136 ask for status, 132, 134 bad debts, 149, 157, 162, 172–3, 177 benefits, 82, 89–93, 97, 129, 131, 132, 137 billing rates, 162, 163–4, 166, 170, 177 business cards, 36, 81, 97, 98, 105, 129, 150 business development, 23, 52, 56, 61, 64, 65, 72, 83, 100, 106, 122, 145, 150, 157, 224 business environment, 3 business plan, 54, 55, 59, 62, 63, 65, 66, 69, 70, 78, 81, 153, 157, 199, 223, 224 capital, 6, 14, 78, 87, 100, 153, 166 cash flow statements, 61, 64, 149, 153, 157, 159–60, 166, 177, 225 characteristics of successful consultants, 17–25 clients, 81, 92, 94, 95, 97, 98, 110, 111, 113, 115, 116, 117, 118, 130, 133, 140, 141 closed questions, 130, 133 collecting fees, 172 communicating with different temperaments, 136–7 competence (conscious and unconscious), 41–4 consulting advantages and disadvantages, 15–17 assignments, 209, 214, 218–20 defined, 6 industry, 9, 223, 228 process, 19 contracts, 52, 110, 166, 174, 207, 209–11 costs, 4, 6, 7, 10, 62, 64, 68, 70, 97, 102, 122, 142, 149, 153, 155, 157–60, 162, 164, 177, 182, 185, 187, 209, 225 cover letters, 97, 98, 140 credibility, 11, 21–2, 23, 24, 25, 68, 96, 99, 103, 119, 125, 129, 153, 171, 214 daily planning, 197, 199, 201–2 database management, 56, 72, 75 distribution (place), 82, 100, 102–4, 118, 193, 228 e-mail, 100, 113 engage the client, 129, 130–3 equipment, 72, 150, 158, 159, 181, 184–9, 205, 206, 225, 229 ethics, 23–5, 34 evaluation, 217–9 exhibitions, 94, 99, 103, 105 features, 52, 82, 89–93, 97, 129, 132–4, 224 fee arrangements, 166–9 fees (price), 166–9 financial objectives, 74, 149, 156–7, 177, 225 financial plan, 61, 64 funding your business, 64, 152–5 goals, 34, 38, 50, 53, 61, 64, 78, 86, 106, 109, 115, 130, 138, 142, 156, 177, 221 guardian, 30–2, 135–6 idealist, 30–3, 135, 137 importance, 192–5, 197 incompetence (conscious and unconscious), 41–4 237 key clients, 106 key result areas, 39, 49–56, 57, 58, 59, 66, 70, 72, 73, 74, 76, 78, 87, 197, 198, 203, 204, 206, 223, 226 legal structure, 59, 66–70 lifestyle, 23, 24, 206, 228 limited company, 66–9 listening, 21, 131–3, 145 long-term contracts, 213–9 loss , 61, 68, 142, 153, 158 mailings, 94, 101, 103 market analysis, 61, 64 research, 82, 83, 85, 99, 102, 108, 109, 171, 217, 224 segmentation, 33, 48, 52, 54, 61, 64, 82, 87–8 marketing communications, 51, 94, 97–8, 103 plan, 61, 64, 81–104, 108, 109, 224 milestones, 50, 59, 62, 70, 74, 75–6, 77, 78, 82, 85, 138, 167, 172, 192, 194, 196, 197, 198, 200, 203, 211, 214, 220, 224 mission statement, 38 monitoring progress, 213, 217, 219 monthly expenses, 149, 151, 225 Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI1), 31, 32, 33, 229–33 needs assessment, 114, 213, 214, 219 network, 11, 20, 22, 23, 24, 25, 34, 38, 47, 52, 81, 99, 102, 104–6, 108, 109, 113, 114, 115, 116, 119, 122, 126, 127, 145, 177, 195, 224, 226, 228 networking, 22, 23, 52, 54, 84, 104, 105, 112, 150, 197, 199, 206 newsletters, 52, 72, 75, 86, 94, 95, 101, 103, 105 objectives, 49, 59, 66, 70–4, 75, 77, 78, 81, 82, 83, 86–7, 97, 108, 110, 115–6, 130, 138, 149, 156–7, 177, 192–3, 196, 197, 198, 201, 203, 205, 217, 220, 221, 224, 225, 226 office equipment, 150, 189, 205, 225 office space, 10, 151, 181–3, 206 one-off projects, 210 open-ended questions, 129–30, 133, 145 operations, 9, 49, 66, 125, 128, 161, 199, 215, 216 organisation objectives, 205 organisation (of paper), 203–5 overhead expenses, 6, 7, 68, 69, 161, 162, 164, 225 paraphrasing, 131–2, 145 partnership, 66–8, 69, 87, 102, 195 personality, 22, 24, 25, 26, 33, 34, 41 place (distribution), 82, 100, 102–4, 118, 193, 228 planning, 52, 53, 62, 84, 92, 102, 103, 114, 119, 123, 144, 193, 196–9, 201, 204–6, 210–11, 213, 215, 217, 219, 221, 224, 225, 228 price (fee structures), 166–9 prioritizing, 192–5, 225 product development/definition), 52, 56, 72, 193 profit, 39, 59, 61, 63, 66, 68, 87, 149, 153, 154, 156, 158–9, 160, 162, 164, 171, 194, 213, 223 project fees, 167 project objectives, 220 projects, 199, 209, 210–4, 217, 218, 221, 225, 226, 228 promotional activities, 82, 86, 94–103, 108, 224 proposals, 52, 98, 110, 113, 115, 116, 119, 137–9, 145, 162, 185, 193, 199, 224 prospects, 19, 52, 66, 71, 72, 74, 75, 90, 98, 99, 100, 102, 105, 106, 107, 113, 114, 115, 116, 119, 121, 129, 130, 132, 133, 238 / Be a Successful Consultant 139, 140, 145, 186, 187, 188, 189, 195, 203, 222, 224 public relations, 94, 96 questions to ask, 142–5 rational, 29–30, 33, 135–6 recommending options, 213, 215, 219 research and development, 53, 62, 65, 161 retainer, 168–9 revenue statements, 157–8 rule of two, 110–3, 164, 224 sales communication channels, 4, 116–7, 119, 144 meeting, 129–134 objectives, 110, 115–6, 157, 224 process, 114, 115, 133, 134, 145 self-employed market, 3, 5–6 selling skills, 121–134 service businesses, 210, 211 Shamrock organization, 4–5 short-term contracts, 210–11 skills, 4, 5, 20–2, 24, 25, 31, 33, 34, 35, 38, 42, 43, 46, 47, 49, 81, 112, 117, 145, 161 sole proprietor/trader, 66, 68, 69 sources of capital, 153–4 speeches, 94, 98–9, 103 start-up costs, 6, 7, 149, 151–2, 153, 177, 225 stationery, 10, 150, 184, 188, 189 strengths, 14, 17, 25–6, 32, 36, 41, 42, 47, 57, 58, 60, 63, 111, 142, 223, 226 sub-contracting, 173–4, 177 suspects, 72, 106, 113, 115–6, 119, 121, 145, 171, 195 SWOT analysis, 36, 46–7, 57, 58, 59, 60, 63, 66, 223 telephone calls – managing, 116, 122–4, 145, 194, 199, 226 telephone marketing, 122–4 temperament, 26–7, 29, 30, 35, 134–7, 223 thirty second commercial, 120 trade shows, 94, 99–100, 103 ultimate benefit, 89–90, 91, 92, 93 unique selling proposition, 36, 41, 44–6, 49, 57, 58, 59, 60, 65, 86, 120, 223 urgency, 192, 194, 195, 206 utilization rate, 163–5 vision statement, 37–40, 57, 60, 63, 223 weaknesses, 17, 26, 32, 36, 41–3, 44, 46, 47, 48, 58, 60, 142, 223, 226 web site, 98, 100, 102, 103, 185 weekly planning, 197–9, 206 working from home, 184 Index / 239 (声明：本站所使用图片及文章如无注明本站原创均为网上转载而来，本站刊载内容以共享和研究为目的，如对刊载内容有异议，请联系本站站长。本站文章标有原创文章字样或者署名本站律师姓名者，转载时请务必注明出处和作者，否则将追究其法律责任。) 上一篇：中国首次对“强奸”男性者追究刑事责任 下一篇：哇！奥斯卡*普利策啊（中英对照--别错过哦！） 在线咨询 姓 名 * 电 话 类 别 咨询 投诉 建议 其他 邮 箱 内 容 * 联系我们 电话：13930139603 13651281807 QQ号：373036737 邮箱：373036737@qq.com

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