Consultants help executives
Executives have big, enterprise-size problems, and Fortune 500 budgets. We understand the industry landscape, work well cross-functionally, dig through the messy data, prioritize recommendations, and generally help them succeed in their jobs. It’s a great feeling to be in professional services – a lot of the time. We help executives.
clients vary a lot
Think about your last 5 clients. I bet they are different:
- Different stage of career lifecycle (growth, maturity, decline)
- Different tenure at employer (just got here, getting settled, on a tear, been there forever)
- Different life demands (young kids, sick parents, single parent, global responsibilities)
- Different work experience, educational pedigree, mentors, leadership experiences
- Different risk tolerance (yep, one client = all bonds, one client = all stocks, one client = no savings)
- Different communication preferences: keep me updated vs. call me when diner’s ready
Heck, think about how much you and I are different. Consultants vary a lot too.
Why aren’t they buying?
There are a dozen people who have budget to hire you. Yet, sales are not coming in, why not?
So many potential reasons, here are the top 10 I can think of now:
- They don’t realize they have a problem
- They don’t know you well enough
- The pain is not great enough
- The opportunity is not juicy enough
- They are afraid (aren’t we all?)
- Their last consultant team wasn’t great
- Need to wait until next year
- Too tactical, not enough oxygen to be strategic
- New to the team; still “waiting and watching”
- Can’t be bothered now
No surprise, they don’t care
I still remember my first job out of college – cold-calling investors as a stockbroker. What was blind to me then, and Tiffany crystal clear now, is “People don’t care.” Your problem (sales, business development, career path) is not their problem. Don’t impose your expectations. It’s not their job to care about the stone in your shoe.
you be you
So what do your clients have in common? Oddly enough, the answer is you. Your firm. Your experience. Your teams. Your approach. Your testimonials. Your software. Your implementation. Your executive presence. Your stories. Your integrity. Your differentiation. Your unfair advantage.
Be generous
This is full-tilt stealing from Seth Godin, Gary Vaynerchuk, Naval Ravikant, and David Maister, but be generous. Be really good at your job, and share advice, counsel, help, analyst reports, Linkedin referrals, information, Ubers, insights, and even your worries. Find ways to add value without constantly “counting the score.” Give a lot.
The zero-based idea might be, “What am I uniquely good at?” “How can I help them?” How can I be generous (in a ways that comes cheap to me?” Think Adam Smith – comparative advantage.
You need ABC, and I am really good at ABC.
Find willingness-to-pay
Talk to buyers. It’s fine to be generous (without expectation), AND if you do want this to convert to sales at some point, this is not randomly throwing nets in the ocean:
- Who has budget?
- Who cares enough to give you some of their budget this year to solve this problem?
- Are they missing the skills internally?
- Do they need “hands and legs” to do the work?
- Is this confidential and requires 007 kid-gloves treatment?
Pricing is an art
I did pricing for 2 years at a B2B manufacturer, and then 2-3 pricing projects in consulting, AND I just scratched the surface. I have friends who run the pricing practice at large consulting firms, and they can write books on this stuff. Just from the strategic pricing side (not transactional), we could talk about: Strategic positioning. Value. Competition. Substitutes. Trade-offs. Return on investment. Commercial excellence. Revenue synergy. Cross-selling. Needs vs. wants. Segmentation, targeting, positioning. Price discrimination. Market setting vs. market taking. Loss leader. Brand strategy. Product portfolio. Lifetime value of customer. T.h.e.r.e.i.s.s.o.m.u.c.h.h.e.r.e.
Pricing tells you a lot
Some potential clients will say “no.” (see the 10+ reasons above). Some people will balk at your prices. Some people will ask you to lower your prices. Some times you will.
Do more work. Get more referrals. Adjust your prices and bill rates. Do more work. Keep doing more work.
When I gave some pricing to one of my clients, he confided to me in an authentic, mentor way, “Yes, that price is high, but in my experience, the right price usually hurts a little.” Deep.
Good pricing nestles up close to willingness to pay. The client still gets what they want (for a little less than the $$,$$$ they might have said “no” to), and the consultant can profitably do great work, feel like a professional, learn, and growth with the client. Yes, Adam Smith 101 stuff.
Delight your current client
This is something very actionable. You can crush your current project. Help your client win.
Remember: Your best future client is your current client. As I write this on a Saturday night, I also realize that I have clients who deserve an update email from me. John – remember – “wisdom is taking your own advice.”
1,000 true fans
Kevin Kelley, a futurist and editor of Wired magazine, once said [paraphrase], “You only need 1,000 true fans” to be successful in the connected world we live in. While the world is culturally fragmented, polarized and lonely, there is a premium put on trust, repeatability, and good work. When clients find someone who can “really carry the mail”, they will tell people. In a connected world, referring great people is a sign of influence and grace.
100 true fans
One lovely thing about professional services is that the average selling price is high, and customer repeat business (if done correctly) is also high. This means don’t need to “catch” a new client every week. This is not banner ads on Facebook. This is not an endless series of first dates. So, perhaps consultants only need 100 “true fans”.
You just need 100 people who will vouch for you, try you out, refer you to others, endorse your work, and generally brag about you to their boss and peers. In fact, I can think of 2 consulting partners who built a huge career and book of business with a few key clients.
This takes time
This is the hard part. We are all impatient. We deliver results for clients in months, and yet, for our own business, this will take years. Collaborating with your partners and principals. Becoming famous with 2-3 niche expertise. Writing blog posts. Creating content for podcasts. Sitting on panels. Creating benchmarking surveys. Reading and interpreting new legislation. Training clients. Helping people get jobs. Finding add-on work. Scratching backs.
Client lifetime value
One of my colleagues at Emory is famous for client lifetime research. Like a landlord with a rental, is it easier to find new tenants every year (no), or rent the same same nice family next year (yes)?
