Tag Archives: solutions

Business Strategy, Professional Development , , Leave a comment

Consulting: This Is How We Do It

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There are millions of Freelance consultants in the U.S. and our numbers continue to climb on a steep upward slope, fueled both by the reluctance of employers to offer stable full-time, benefits-paying jobs and the desire of workers to have more flexible schedules, whether single and childless or married with children.  There are different levels of Freelance consulting, from the one-off hourly paid short-term project to ongoing client relationships that may endure for several years.

Some Freelance consulting projects are very limited in scope: you are hired to design a brochure, build a website, facilitate a meeting, provide special event PR, or redecorate a living room. Other projects might start with a change management process that would benefit from the perspective and expertise of an external  professional and segues into implementation and training for impacted staff.

It is useful to break down the components of the consulting function because it will encourage us, its practitioners, to think about the sum total of what we do— the value that each component brings will remind us that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.

Further, when we speak with clients or generate our content marketing information or traditional advertising copy, having the components of our work and good sound-bites at the ready will keep marketing messages and elevator pitches fresh and relevant and help us to communicate to clients that we understand their needs and priorities and we would make a good hire for their mission critical project.  Below is a list  of a consultant’s core duties.

  1. Provide information.
  2. Diagnose (and maybe redefine) the client’s problem.
  3. Provide recommendations for the short and long-term based on the diagnosis.
  4. Propose one or more effective solutions that will resolve the client’s problem.
  5. Assist with the implementation of the chosen solution to the problem.
  6. Suggest how the client can encourage and sustain internal support for the solution.
  7. Facilitate training or learning, to allow impacted staff to resolve similar problems in the future.

When we Freelance consultants are called in to discuss a possible assignment with a client, we may want to ask a few questions of the project team or leader, to allow us to gain insight and context; to help reveal one or more potentially useful solutions; and to make it more likely that the client will accept and approve your recommendations:

  1. What solutions have been implemented or proposed in the past and what was the outcome?
  2. Which untried steps toward a solution does the client have in mind?
  3. Which, if any, related aspects of the client’s business operation are not going well?
  4. When a reasonable solution is recommended, how and when will it be implemented?
  5. What steps can be taken to encourage buy-in for the solution, to assist its successful implementation?

Thanks for reading,

Kim

Sales , , , , Leave a comment

The 5 Minute Sales Call

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I am writing on Valentine’s Day and I confess that I believe in love at first sight.  It does not always happen but sometimes,  one or both members of the couple  “know”  that the other is someone special and that the relationship is probably destined to be significant.   Some claim that they knew almost immediately that they would marry a particular person and that in fact the marriage took place  (I know three such couples).

Business relationships can follow the same pattern.  One or both parties may sense very early in preliminary discussions that there is great potential in the relationship or conversely,  that it is likely there will be no future.  Create some good luck for yourself by making a good first impression and making the most of your first five minutes with a prospective client.  Success lies at the intersection of good fortune and preparation.

Minute 1   Grab attention

Create  “verbal packaging”  that portrays your product or service as relevant to prospective clients.  Communicating the relevance of what you sell comes from knowing what clients value about your offerings and deftly articulating those benefits for prospects as you describe why,  where,  when and how to use your product or service.   If you’ve had time to prepare,  then do your homework to get a good sense of that individual’s business and construct a personalized pitch.  Your product/service must solve a problem or create a competitive advantage.

Minute 2   Talk details

If your prospect either admits that what you sell is needed,  or at least continues to listen with interest,  then ask a few questions to find out where you stand.  Is there a specific and immediate problem or goal?  What is the time-table? Float solutions that your product/service will provide.  This stage allows the prospect to visualize the process and outcomes of doing business with you.

Minute 3   Propose solutions

Explain further the solutions that your product/service will provide and persuade the prospect to define the goal or problem if that has not been done so already.

Minute 4   Establish timeline

Lay out a road map for implementing your solution and completing the sale.  Define the operational processes that will be followed to put your product/service in motion.  Now the client will know that he/she must agree,  or decline,  to proceed.

Minute 5   Close sale

Tell the prospect what has to happen to enable the sale.  Confirm that you have a sale   (“Are you ready to move forward with this and when would you like to start? You would like the project to be completed by what date?”).  Offer to send a contract or confirmation email to lay out the steps,  the timeline and project milestones.  Confirm the project budget and negotiate/agree on the project fee  (or hourly rate),  the amount of money that must be paid to you before you begin working and when future payments will become due.   Confirm payment options.   Say thank you and shake hands with your new client!

Thanks for reading,

Kim