Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan's PSF (Professional Service Firm) Barking Board

11 Key Attributes Of "Respected Authority" Calibre Consultancies

2012-01-16T13:12:00.001-08:00

Be it recession or plain short-sightedness, many consulting firms consciously or subconsciously undermine their “respected authority” status and become replaceable vendors.

And then they are surprised that the market treats them accordingly, and real buyers refer them to purchasing agents.

Then in the hands of price-obsessed purchasing agents, they have to jump though all sorts of hoops to qualify for some over-scoped and underpriced projects.

And this is what we discuss this month's brain-fryingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, “11 Key Attributes Of "Respected Authority" Calibre Consultancies”.

Are You A Tradesperson Who Installs Or A Consultant Who Implements?

2011-12-16T07:29:00.002-08:00

Over the years many consulting firms have deviated from the traditional collaborative-implementation-based consulting model to the prescriptive-installation-based subcontracting model.

Using commissioned salespeople, they have started selling pre-fabricated off-the-shelf solutions that are to be installed by armies of competitively priced young MBAs freshly out of school.

And the result, as a per an old McKinsey study, is that 75% of solutions don’t return a profit to the selling company, and 50% of solutions don’t deliver the value that buyers have expected, bought and paid for.

And saying that consulting has lost its former prestige is a gross understatement. Even when they get hired, many clients treat consultants as hired hands, and consultants can expect roughly as much respect as a skunk at a lawn party.

But there is a way to turn the situation around...

And this is what we discuss in this month's notoriously judicious episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, “Are You A Tradesperson Who Installs Or A Consultant Who Implements?”.

Enjoy!

Why To Keep Investing In Your Consulting Firm Even When You Think You Can’t Afford It

2011-11-21T01:20:00.001-08:00

Every now and then the shit hits the fan in every consultancy. In some cases, the result is just some “freckles”, but in some cases it’s a major “coverage” and a stink-up of biblical proportions.

And what do consulting firms do when they hit on hard times? In the best case, they scale down on their marketing. In the worst case, they stop marketing altogether and start hoping and praying that the hardship passes.

And what usually happens is that the general economic hardship passes, most businesses are on the mend, but our heroes, instead of resuming marketing, are still on their knees praying for better times.

A much better approach is to market your way out of the hard times. That is, invest in those things that most other consulting firms would never invest in during hard times.

And this is what we discuss in this month's notoriously judicious episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, “Why To Keep Investing In Your Consulting Firm Even When You Think You Can’t Afford It”.

Enjoy!

Techniques for Consultants to Become More Valuable to Clients

2011-10-12T08:18:00.002-07:00

Have you ever thought about why a toilet is called the loo?

The word "loo" comes from the French "garde a l'eau!"

You see, in medieval Europe people didn't bother much about minute issues like hygiene, and after doing their "toilet actions", they would empty their chamber pots through their window onto the streets.

But before doing the act itself, they were required to warn the people below that some crap was coming and they'd better run for shelter.

In French the warning was "garde a l'eau!", meaning "watch out for the water!".

In England, this phrase was Anglicised, and became "gardy-loo!". Later it got simplified to just "loo".

Today, although most people don't empty their chamber pots onto the streets, buyers expect exceptional value from consultants. And when they don't get the value they negotiated for, they make a big song and dance to warn their peers about which consultants and studs - in a professional sense, of course - and which ones are duds, deadbeats, commercial flotsam-jetsam.

But there are some neat ways was consultants can become more valuable to their clients, and this is what we discuss in this month's blood-boilingly splendiferous episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, Techniques to Become More Valuable to Clients.

Enjoy!

Are You Rendering Your Consulting Services As A Slave Or As A Real Professional?

2011-09-15T09:12:00.001-07:00

Talk to some consultants and they tell you that getting into consulting was one of the best decisions of their lives.

Talk to some others, and they tell you that getting into consulting was one of the biggest mistakes they’ve ever made, and they wish they’d taken a mind-numbing bureaucrat job in a government office with exalted titles, union protection, obscene benefits and zero requirements for performance and accountability.

I know several consultants who made it as parts of large “consulting” firms, but when they left and started their own firms, they soon landed in some financial hot water because they didn’t know how to acquire clients.

Some got some clients and worked their arses off, turning their careers into 24/7 non-stop drudgery. So, if you’re curious about how solo consultants and boutique consulting firms can operate as real consulting professionals and avoid being treated like consulting slaves, then join in this month's brain-fryingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, “Are You Rendering Your Consulting Services As A Slave Or As A Real Professional?”.

How Perfect Clients Can Elevate Your Consulting Firm's Success

2011-08-11T06:19:00.001-07:00

New client acquisition should be a top priority for all consulting firms, but it seems many firms accept clients solely on a monetary basis. There is no screening for character match. Anyone with a budget and pulse can become a client.

And when the shit hits the fan and projects start go sour one after the other, those same consulting firms get haunted by the spectres of their bad clients for years to come.

Think of the Enron Arthur Anderson fiasco. Enron had been a fundamentally rotten company and as a result of becoming Andersen's clients, Andersen started rotting to Enron's level.

And now all the former Anderson associates are busy covering up their pasts with their dirty employer.

It's not only the company that suffers but employees to who had nothing to do with the corruption.

All this headache and aggravation can be avoided by accepting only perfect clients in your consulting firm. Potential clients should be sifted, sorted and screened. Then accept the best and unceremoniously dump the rest.

How, how to recognise perfect client materials? Well...

This is what we discuss this month's mind-witheringly electrifying episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, "How Perfect Clients Can Elevate Your Consulting Firm's Success".

Seven Consulting Firm Leadership Pains... And How To Reduce Or Eliminate Them

2011-07-14T05:56:00.001-07:00

Since 1923, The 24 Hours Of Le Mans has been one of the most prestigious endurance car races in the word. Jointly with the Monaco Grand Prix and Indy 500, they are also called the "Triple Crown of Motorsport".

Originally, the race was invented to test cars' endurance and reliability under extreme circumstances. And it's an extreme race in terms of both the fierceness of competition and the torture the cars have to go through. By the end of the race, drivers cover as many as 5,000 kilometres.

At one point, The Le Mans races started seeing a new type of start. Cars would line up on one side of the road and the drivers on the other side. At the wave of the start flag, drivers would run to their cars, jump in, start their engines and off they go.
However, this type of somewhat oddball start was soon terminated because, in order to get to the front of the pack, many drivers didn't bother to fasten their safety harnesses.

So, they started the race, crashed every now and then, and, in turn, kicked the bucket every now and then. And that was a rather miserable way of ending an otherwise rather nice day.

And the reason why I mention this interesting point is that, in the shuffling madness, so many consulting firms rush headlong to the market to generate revenue, but they fail to think through how they manage their operations.

And as the saying goes, if you catch the tiger by the tail, then you'd better figure out your next move pretty quickly. And the same goes for managing consulting firms.

And since they've never figured out how to manage their firms, the proverbial tiger comes back and bites them in the arse.

And then this tiger goes home and tells all his friends and relations about the fresh juicy tushies available for biting. And the process repeats for the poor miserable firm.

Or maybe not...

While growing any business can be a major challenge, and while many aspects of growth in industrial companies can be delegated to watertight systems and almost minimum-wage workers, growth in a consulting firm is a totally different ballgame. And while I truly believe in systems and processes, to truly grow a consulting firm requires kick-arse talent as well. Not merely workers, but actual talents.

But just how to handle the delicate balance of what to systemise and what to humanise?

Using Pareto's 80-20 rule, systemise some 80% your firm's mundane and recurring tasks. This gives your people the creative freedom to humanise the other 20%.

As Roy Williams, The Wizard Of Ads writes in one of his Monday Morning Memo...

"A company without freedoms is a sweatshop. A company without policies, procedures, methods and systems is a country club for unproductive employees."

Just look at client acquisition.

It can be broken down to three phases...

And this is what we discuss this month's staggeringly mouth-watering episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, "Seven Consulting Firm Leadership Pains In The Arse... And How To Reduce Or Eliminate Them".

Enjoy the reading and then hop back here if you have something interesting to comment.

Five Ways of Elevating Consulting Firms Innate Creativity for Higher Value

2011-06-17T08:49:00.002-07:00

Have you ever thought about how long a chicken can live without its head?

On 10th September, 1945, a young rooster in Fruita, Colorado, was about to become dinner, and in the first step of the process, his owner intended to separate his body from his head. The act was a blasting success. The head was separated from the body.

But for some magical reasons, the axe left the jugular vein intact. Also, a large enough section of the brain stem was left with the body, so the rooster kept on living, and had become a bit of a showman until it's death.

And the reason why I've mentioned Mike's interesting story is that so many consulting firms are like Mike.

They lose their heads and just run around from project to project, failing to stop and think how to make their work more creative, so they can justify to charge higher fees for less amount of manual labour.

So they are busy chasing after more work and more clients, but all that gradually becomes more mundane and under-priced.

One way of spicing up consulting firm's projects and fees is by spicing up consultants' creativity.

And this is what we discuss this month's inconspicuously electrifying episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, "Five Ways of Elevating Consulting Firms Innate Creativity for Higher Value".

Nine Ways of Attracting and Retaining Loyal Rainmakers For Your Consulting Firm

2011-05-17T09:06:00.003-07:00

Do you know about the earth-shattering impact of the very first bomb that the Allies dropped on Berlin in World War II?

You don't. Hm. Neither do I.

Do you know why?

Because all it achieved was that it killed the one and only elephant of the Berlin Zoo?

And as a former gravedigger, I can offer my deepest sympathy to the guy who had to bury it. I had buried a few almost elephant-sized people, and even that's a big task. But burying a real elephant is a task to the power of quinquadecillion (10^90).

Considering the long preparation and the huge effort, it's fair to say the impact was rather dismal.

We can even say, the Allies had made a pig's ear of it.

So, why is this important to you?

It's important because when consulting firms hire new associates, although they may be amazing subject matter experts, they look down on sales and marketing, and as a result, they can't promote and sell your firm's services.

And the impact they create can be as dismal as the Allies’ first’ bomb’s in Berlin.

And this is what we discuss this month's stupefyingly exhilarating episode of Commando Consulting, mischievously entitled, “Nine Ways of Attracting and Retaining Loyal Rainmakers”.

Enjoy your reading.

Does The Use Of Sales Commissions Fit Into Selling Consulting Services?

2011-04-13T07:17:00.006-07:00

Many years ago it all started well. The intentions were good and the implementation was pretty congruent with the intentions.

Then something shifted. They thought sales and marketing were way below them, and started hiring people to bring them business. And it was good.

Then they discovered that they can keep more money if they pay the business development folks for performance.

And that’s when the shit hit the fan. That’s when they started relegating the relationship-building process to commissioned salespeople, and that’s when consulting firms started sliding down on a slippery slope of losing their trusted advisor status, and becoming fungible vendors, many competing on price.

So, should consulting firms rely on armies of salespeople to bring in business?

This is what we discuss this month's furiously delicious episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, “Does The Use Of Sales Commissions Fit Into Selling Consulting Services?”.

Enjoy.

The Inherent Lunacies of Human Resources Departments in Consulting Firms

2011-03-14T09:19:00.001-07:00

Do you remember May 2009?

A lawyer in Victoria (BC, Canada was appointed to investigate the British Columbia College of Teachers (BCCT) after several complaints that the Teacher's Union had hijacked the BCCT and tried to conserve or even reduce standards while demanding higher wages and better and benefits for teachers.

Some years ago BCCT tried to toughen up continuing professional development for teachers but the union stepped in saying BCCT has no right to demand higher level of competency form teachers, and teachers have the right to perform at any damn level they feel like.

So, BCCT wants to increase the standards for teachers and education in general, but the Teacher's Union, as all unions do, want to keep standards as low as possible.

And this is the exact battle I see in so many consulting firms between the C-level executives and HR departments.

HR departments keep hiring people, as per HR Best Practice, with impressive resumes, amazing references and recommendations, but C-level executives keep crying for people who can actually do the work.

And this is what we discuss this month's brain-fryingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, "The Inherent Lunacies of Human Resources Departments in Consulting Firms"...

18 Ways of Acquiring Higher Paying Clients Part 2

2011-02-15T16:21:00.003-08:00

Have you heard the story of Tantalos? According to Greek mythology, Tantalos, king of Sipylos, the son of Zeus and the father of Pelops and Niobe. One day he was admitted to the society of the gods, but he had divulged some divine secrets and stolen the gods' sacred food.

Maybe he wanted donate the food to the Food Bank, but Zeus and the other gods got really pissed off with Tantalos.

Tantalos tried to smooth the gods' anger by murdering one of his sons, Pelops and serving his body as food to the gods to test their omniscience.

Then the gods got even more pissed off with the poor bugger.

As a punishment, the gods condemned him to hanging from one of the larger branches of a fruit tree over a pool of water. When he bent down to drink, the water would recede. And when he reached up for a fruit, the wind would blow it from his reach.

To make Tantalos's situation more precarious, there was a huge stone hanging over his head threatening to fall on him at any time and end his wicked life.

Sadly, many consulting firms are in similar situations.

They don't make conscious efforts to upgrade their clients, and often end up flooding their shops with low-end, sludge-dwellers.

Sludge-dwellers are clients from the lowest end of the quality continuum. The sort of crap of the crop, as opposed to cream of the crop.

And although these firms have never pissed off any kind of gods and have never served the bodies of their children as godly dinners, due to low quality clients, they voluntarily hang themselves on some proverbial fruit tree with both water and fruit out of their reach.

So, today we continue our journey to discover how to prevent the nasty situation of getting stuck with gutter-grade clients, and if we follow some of these ideas, with some luck, we can eventually die in a more pleasant way than good ol' Tantalos.

If this sounds like a better idea than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick, then read on.

And this is what we discuss in this month's brain-fryingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, 18 Ways of Acquiring Higher Paying Clients Part 2.

18 Ways of Acquiring High-End Consulting Clients Part 1

2011-01-19T10:50:00.002-08:00

The other day, horror of horrors, a guy was caught masturbating on the Skytrain, Vancouver's local train system connecting the surrounding municipalities with Vancouver.

And where were the Skytrain security guys when you needed them to take care of odd events?

Security people were busy inspecting tickets because the inspectors were... hell knows where.

So, everyone was busier than a one-legged man at an arse-kicking contest but doing the wrong thing.

The same is happening to client acquisition in many consulting firms.

While everyone is frantically running around like poisoned mice, trying to bring in more sales volume, a huge part of that sales volume is landed at a deep discount.

According to a RainToday study, over 60% of all consulting projects are landed at a discount.

Many consulting firms willingly offer give deep discounts but the sales volume must be brought in.

The problem is this.

Based on an old McKinsey study, every 1% sales volume increase can add as much as 3.2% to your profit. But every 1% of price increase can add as much as 11.1%.

Then why do so many consulting firms are chasing the 3.2% at the expense of the 11.1%?

Hell knows.

And this is what we discuss this month's euphorically stimulating episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, "18 Ways of Acquiring High-End Consulting Clients Part 1"

From Task-Focused Helping Brawn to Value-Focused Helping Brain

2010-12-27T05:37:00.003-08:00

The time was 1988. Massachusetts Governor, Mike Dukakis was the Democratic presidential nominee. Unfortunately for good ol’ Mike, he was harshly criticised for his softness on defence issues.

So, the great American PR machine went to work and conjured up a mind-menglingly splendiferous plan, so cunning that if you put a tail on it, then it would become a weasel.

The idea was to put Dukakis into a tough environment that would prop up his weaknesses on defence.

So, let’s have him ride a tank. That will beef up his image.

So, the great photo was shot, and what happened? Hm? Nothing. Not a sausage. The tank didn’t make a dickybird of a difference.
The tank actually tanked Mike’s chances of becoming a president.

Sadly the cunning PR plan miserably flopped, and George H.W. Bush’s used the picture as evidence to prove that Dukakis, in spite of sitting on tank, is far too weak for the double role of US president and Commander-in-Chief.

Some thought it was the tank to blame, but it wasn’t.

In 1986, Prime Minister and world-renowned handbag wielder, Margaret Thatcher was riding an on Challenger tank.

For some reason she achieved the total opposite of what Dukakis would achieve two years later. She was perceived as a strong leader.

So, what was the difference?

Well, this is what we discuss in this month's eye-poppingly inconspicuous episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, “From Task-Focused Helping Brawn to Value-Focused Helping Brain”

Commando Consulting November 2010: Ten Causes of Low Morale in Consulting Firms

2010-11-17T20:43:00.002-08:00

Have you heard that in the years of yore people believed that certain colours could help to fight the evil spirits that had the nasty tendency of lurking over nurseries?

And since blue was the colour of "heavenly spirits", parents started dressing their boys in blue.

And what about girls?

First they were dressed in black, and then from the Middle Ages, they were dressed in pink.

And what happened to boys who got dressed in pink for some inexplicable reason?

That created a bit of a self-esteem problem which led to morale issues.

We can observe similar morale nosedives in many consulting firms, triggered by various events.

It seems the whole firm is dressed in pink.

And this is the topic we're going to dissect in this month's bottom-achingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, Ten Causes of Low Morale in Consulting Firms.

Commando Consulting October 2010: Getting Clear on Clients' Expectations to Maximise Consulting Engagements’ Value

2010-10-13T06:22:00.003-07:00

Do you know that what is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France. The two countries just can't agree on the exact definition.

The same disagreement often happens between consultants and their clients over certain terms of their engagements. And while those terms may or may not include French kisses, they certainly include terms like fees, payment terms, guarantees, who does what, etc.

And what is the result?

Every time we talk about performance in the context of consulting, it's almost always about consultants' performance, and it's hardly ever about clients' performance.

And this exactly what what we discuss in this month's brain-fryingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, Getting Clear on Clients' Expectations to Maximise Consulting Engagements' Value...

Techniques To Deliver More Consulting Project Value To Clients, And Raising Your Fees Accordingly

2010-07-13T09:55:00.006-07:00

Do you know Aesop's fable about the Sun and the Wind? Most probably you do.

But do you also know that since the days of Aesop, both the Sun and the Wind have grown up, obtained their MBAs from Harvard and have become management consultants?

On one nice sunny day, unbeknownst to each other, both the Sun and the Wind hopped down to the local pub, the Queen's Arse (a fierce competitor of the other pub, the King's Head) for a pint of beer.

After a few pints, they started arguing about who can deliver more client value more quickly.

So, they made a bet...

Whichever of us can deliver enough value to that traveller to take off his cloak, that will be the winner.

So, who can win the contest?

As a bonus we also meet a mysterious stranger, Eccentrica Gallumbits, the triple-breasted whore of Eroticon 6 in Douglas Adams' The Hitch Hikers Guide To The Galaxy and we find out why her erogenous zones start five miles from her actual body.

We will also listen in on one of her mini lectures, as she teaches some useful stuff to a young and inexperienced space traveller.

So, this is all that's waiting for you in this next toe-curlingly electrifying episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, Techniques To Deliver More Consulting Project Value To Clients, And Raising Your Fees Accordingly.

4 Ways Selling Consulting Is Just like Delivering Consulting

2010-06-24T11:02:00.003-07:00

Close your eyes for a moment, and think of the the images that pop up in front of your mental eyes as you say the word "salesperson".

Oily, smarmy, phony, mendacious. two-faced liars, smooth-talking street peddlers, glad-handed bazaar hucksters.

Even your mother may have warned you…

“Honey, I don’t mind your becoming a consultant, but don’t ever become a salesperson.”

And most people have taken their mothers’ requests to heart, and while they know they have to makes sales in their businesses in order not to starve to death, they do it reluctantly.

Right or wrong, the above words are often associated with salespeople, and by association, with consultants too.

While being salesy is ill-advised for salespeople, it’s a real disaster for consultants.

Buyers of products often may say, “I can't stand this sales rep, but I can tolerate her to evaluate her product against the competition.”

But buyers of consulting evaluate the sellers. Why? The seller is often the service provider. Buyers know that the way consultants sell is the way they serve after the sale is made.

And while Dr. House, the genius jerk works on TV, consulting clients do their best to avoid genius jerks.

The relationship doesn’t end when the sale is completed. It’s just begun. Thus, the foundation of trust set up between the buyer and seller in the sales process is of paramount importance.

But realistically…

There is Nothing Wrong with Selling

Quite the contrary, the act of selling, when done well, adds a significant amount of value.

During great sales calls with prospects, consultants facilitate prospects’ decision-making processes. A well-planned sales conversation can help even sophisticated buyers make smarter decisions.

And to do that, consultants don’t have to apply “used car” or “snake oil” sales tactics.

As a Consultant You Already Have Many Skills You Need to Be Great at Sales

Here are four ways you can apply consulting skills to your selling process:

1. Sell as You Serve: Many consultants who have never sold think the purpose of selling is to part people from their money at any cost, and make them to buy something they neither want not need.

They believe that to be successful at selling, consultants must leave their values and everyday personalities at the door and adopt a sleazy persona and voice, one that would naturally say something like, “What’s it gonna take to get you into this shiny, red, pre-owned sports car today, ma’am?”

Nothing is further from the truth. The best rainmakers bring in new clients because they are no different when they sell their services than when they deliver their services.

Great consultants create better futures for their clients that the clients didn’t know were possible.

The best rainmakers meet mutually-set expectations over and over again, building trust, relationships, and confidence. The best rainmakers are ethical at all times.

The skills that make you a great consultant can make you a great rainmaker.
Sales is about helping clients and prospects find solutions that solve their problems and help them succeed.

2. Sell to Need: Great consultants are masters at uncovering clients’ goals and challenges and helping them to make the changes necessary for success.
Great rainmakers are no different.

However, many consultants feel uncomfortable making connections, uncovering needs, and working closely with people they don’t yet know well. Too often the first conversations go awry when they don’t need to.

The same skills you use to get to the root of your clients’ problems and develop solutions to help them meet their goals are the ones you can use to uncover prospects’ needs and propose winning solutions. You just need to recognize what you need to do and bring these skills out at the right time and in the right way.

3. Communicate the Value: Great consultants understand the value they provide to clients. They craft compelling solutions based on their clients’ unique needs, and communicate that value to clients clearly and articulately.

Selling is no different. You must learn to lead discussions that influence direction and outcomes, and you must advocate your services and communicate your value. Just like when you advocate new ideas to your clients when you work with them, you must be persuasive, confidence inspiring, and empathetic all at the same time when you sell to them.

4. Plan for Success: It’s been said that if you don’t know where you’re going, then any road will get you there.

Great consultants have a clear process that they follow. Each project has a specific objective, timeframe, budget, and resource allocation. Rainmaking is no different.

Like consulting, selling is a process, and it’s waiting for you to master it.
Make the Transition from Consultant to Rainmaker.

To help you figure out what that selling process should look like and to make the transition from consultant to rainmaker, RainToday, a research and educational organisation specializing on helping consultants to land new clients, has just released a free report, entitled, “Forget Everything You Know About Sales and Begin to Sell Without Selling.”

This report will give you a proven process you can use to start bringing in more new business now. Plus, you’ll learn:

How to avoid being “salesy” (which will actually lead to more sales)
A proven process that will get you started bringing in more new business today
How to uncover the full set of your clients’ needs (most sales advice only gives you half the story)
Whether or not cold calling is dead
The best kept secret in leading successful sales conversations

Download the RainToday free report, “Forget Everything You Know About Sales and Begin to Sell Without Selling” and enjoy a fatter bottom line, sexier projects and greater clients.

How a Dedicated Sales Force Can Destroy Your Chances Of Selling Your Consultancy Services

2010-06-09T17:21:00.004-07:00

Commando Consulting, June 2010

Lots of consultants start their practices and then dream of the day when they can become "real consultants" and relegate marketing and selling to some commissioned peddlers. This way consultants can get busy delivering their unrivalled, astonishing and marvellous services and don't get burdened by the "subhuman" task of selling.

Sadly, at this moment, the service has just become a commodity, and is treated by the market just like plumbing, printing or any other service that is sold through commissioned sales forces.

So, this month we take a closer look at the dynamic of selling consulting services in a toe-curlingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, How a Dedicated Sales Force Can Destroy Your Chances Of Selling Your Consultancy Services.

Some Erroneous Yet Commonly Used Ways Of Establishing Consultants' Salaries

2010-05-11T21:33:00.004-07:00

Maliciously Delicious Hello And A Happy Limerick Day To You.

Do you know that Limerick Day celebrates the birthday of writer Edward Lear (1812-1888) and also, celebrates Limerick poems. Limericks were popularized by Lear in 1846 in his Book of Nonsense".

Here is a great example from Roger Morris. It also serves as a preamble for today's main topic...

There was a fat turkey named Sam,
Who gobbled whenever he ran.
He came out of the bush,
Presenting his tush,
And was shot up the arse by a man.

Today, traditional HR is the big fat turkey that tries to gobble up everything on its way and defiantly shakes its arse at everyone who tries to stop it.

When we look at consultants' compensation, we have to look at HR from a new perspective, and it's our job to shoot this pompous, outdated HR turkey up the arse and put it out of its misery once and for all.

And this is what we discuss this month's mind-menglingly exciting episode of Commando Consulting, entitled, Some Erroneous Yet Commonly Used Ways Of Establishing Consultants' Salaries.

Enjoy the article and leave your comments if you're so inclined.

Seven Distinctions for Outstanding Consulting Firms

2010-04-13T09:14:00.004-07:00

Do you know that giraffes can kick attacking lions' heads clean off with one single kick, basically decapitating, not to mention humiliating, "decrowning" and pissing off, the king of the animals?

Well, history has produced a number of headless kings, so one more or one fewer doesn't make a dickybird of a difference.

The reason why I mention this nipple-tinglingly exciting fact is because in today's competitive world, it doesn't take much for competitors to decapitate consulting firms. Maybe not literally, and some consultants end up with their heads intact, but rather by swooping in and taking away their best clients.

So, consulting firms have to be on guard over creating good reasons for their best clients to stay with them.

This article was triggered by a discussion I have had recently with a senior partner of a large law firm. They have reached a plateau in their growth, so decided to hire a consultant to help them to gain momentum again and go to the next level of success.

There was one snag. They ended up hiring a consultant who was a retail expert, and gradually started turning the law firm into a retail shop. Christmas sale, monthly specials and coupon books. It sounded pretty frightening.

So in today’s article we take a closer look Seven Distinctions for Outstanding Consulting Firms.

"Unjerking" Your Clientele For Stress-Free Business Part 2 of 2

2010-03-13T05:27:00.002-08:00

Last month we discussed 14 ways bad clients can encroach on consultants' boundaries and wreak major havoc in their lives.

This month we discuss another 13. The list may not be full, but it can give you some starting points to start "debugging" your clientele...

14. They expect you to go the "extra mile", but they are not willing to make "extra investment" for it: It has become expected of certain businesspeople - except taxi drivers, bus and train driver and pilots - to go the extra mile. How silly is that?

Imagine you fly from Toronto to London, and as a good measure of going the extra mile, the plane turns around over London and drops you off to Frankfurt...

Continue reading the March 2010 issue of In this month's Commando Consulting, entitled, "Unjerking" Your Clientele For Stress-Free Business Part 2 of 2.

"Unjerking" Your Clientele For Stress-Free Business Part 1 of 2

2010-02-10T20:11:00.002-08:00

So much for the curse of good ol' King Tut. Despite reports that all 22 people who were present at his exhumation kicked the bucket, 21 were still happily kicking 10 years later.

And this is exactly the same disease that ails so many consulting firms. Let's say Rampaging Rabbits Consulting Group has 22 problematic clients that constantly pay late and are prone to scope creep, but the partners have decided that tolerating shitty clients is financially better for the firm than getting rid of them, and losing the revenue.

Well, financially it may seem better to keep problematic clients, but considering the psychological havoc they wreak on your people, and that emotionally drained and frustrated people hardly ever do their best on client work, you may want to reconsider the firing of bad clients.

Quite often the biggest progress we can make in business is when we remove the obstacles we have got used to dodging over the years. We have the potential to do great, but some fiendish obstacles slow us down.

In this month's Commando Consulting, entitled, "Unjerking" Your Clientele For Stress-Free Business Part 1 of 2, we discuss how to remove some of these roadblocks.

Three Ways Of Positioning Consulting Firms

2010-01-13T11:08:00.000-08:00

Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in 1926 in Soho, London. Ten years later there were only 100 TVs in the whole world. Somehow the word was spreading about the new phenomenon with the speed of a somnolent sloth.

So, how does this relate to management consulting firms?

Almost a century after Claude Hopkins wrote his marketing masterpiece, Scientific Advertising, only a handful of consulting firms really understand marketing, and how to position themselves in the marketplace. And even fewer practise proper market positioning.

This month we take a closer look at how consulting firms can position themselves in the marketplace. So, follow the link to read Three Ways Of Positioning Consulting Firms.

Seven Potential Conflict Sources Between Clients and Consultants

2009-12-14T11:37:00.004-08:00

When you ask your doctor what you need to do to feel good, she will tell you to eat well, have a reasonably low-stress or even stress-free lifestyle and exercise.

Nevertheless, out of every $20, $1 is spent on fitness and $19 is spent on cocaine.

Why do people do that?

Simple really.

You snort a little cocaine and a few seconds later you feel like Superman, ready to take over the world.

But fitness. Ahhhh.

You bust your arse for two weeks and nothing happens. Not a sausage. You haven’t lost one single inch from your waist, and your triceps muscles still look like jelly, no matter how hard you try to flex them.

The truth is that people desperately crave instant gratification. They yell...

“I want it all and I want it now!”

And with the proliferation of the Internet, they amend their old mantra to...

“I want it all, I want it now, and I want it free!”

Of course.

And sadly, this instant gratification mentality has penetrated the world of consulting faster than a speeding bullet.

So, consulting clients in search of financial quick fixes soon discover the cocaine of consulting...

Read full article...

If you like the article, you can also come back here to discuss it.

Hidden Dangers Of Dodging Your People’s Personalities In Your Consulting Firm’s Profile

2009-11-11T08:46:00.001-08:00

Have you heard that in Baldwin Park, California, it’s illegal to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool?

It seems it’s similarly illegal, or at least perceived to be illegal for consulting firms to add style, spunk and personality to their marketing materials, including their websites.

Look at the websites of 10 random consulting firms.

Is there any personality in them besides the standard business-like drool in a faceless me-too structure?

In many cases there is nothing. Not even a sausage!

It seems many consulting firms try to carefully conceal their people’s personalities, their consulting profiles, so potential clients often can’t find out anything about their business personalities and consulting psychology until it’s too late.

And some people call this business-like.

It’s also often positions these firms as commodities because they can’t stand out in the market.

So, what can be done here?

This is what we discuss in this month’s Commando Consulting, entitled...

The Hidden Dangers Of Dodging Your People’s Personalities In Your Consulting Firm’s Profile.

Do We Need Feedback Sheets In Consulting At All?

2009-10-20T06:20:00.003-07:00

When it comes to consulting, the world is split into two.

Some people believe feedback sheets are important, so clients can provide honest feedback to consultants without feeling awkward of giving feedback in person.

And some people say consulting relationships must have enough mutual trust and respect built into them that people of either party can go to the people of the other party and express their honest observations.

The problem with feedback sheets

The existence of feedback sheets creates an “us and them” dynamic. It assumes that whatever consultants do, they do it TO, FOR or AT clients.

By giving a one-sided right to the client to comment and criticise on the consultant’s performance, we also enter into a superior-subordinate relationship.

And the client mentality is...

“Do it FOR me and I can judge you.”

So, what happens is that instead of focusing on the project and improvement in the client’s condition, consultants focus on receiving great evaluation marks from their clients.

They need good evaluation for future work and use the client as a reference. And it happens far too often even when nothing is achieved.

There is one snag though.

Let’s say your client hires you to help to develop a marketing plan for the next years. The client hires you because he doesn’t have the expertise to do it in-house.

But this lack of expertise automatically disqualifies your client from criticising your process.

What do you think would happen if new recruits started criticising Marine or Navy SEAL training for its harshness?

Can you really let the rabbit carry the rifle?

And while clients can “evaluate” (what a retarded word in this context) consultants, consultants can’t evaluate their clients. They have to accept comments from all Tom, Dick and Harry just because they pay the money to their consultants.

It comes from the age-old dogma that clients are always right.

Yes, dear, you are in charge. You and the kids.

Life without feedback sheets

This is a different dynamic altogether. In this scenario consultants work WITH clients in close collaboration. There is one team and one goal, and client and consultant regard each other as peers.

The only difference is that some team members are on the payroll and receive salaries whereas some others are with the company on a temporary basis and receive fees.

There are clearly defined objectives to be achieved and there is a jointly developed plan to achieve them.

Yes, there is always healthy work friction between team members, but it’s not about personal issues. It’s about getting the work done in the highest quality.

And what replaces feedback sheets?

Open communication. Anyone can approach anyone and voice her frustration. In this situation the junior consultant, Miss. Jones has the right to approach his client whom she calls Mr. Smith, and ask him not to call her Honeybunny just because she's a junior consultant and Mr. Smith is a multi-millionaire CEO in his 60s.

As a consultant, you also have the right to bring issues to your client, that is, the main sponsor of the project...

“Joe, I’d like to let you know that we all work hard to put a rush on this initiative but your HR manager usually takes as 5-7 days to respond to basic emails and this delay slows all of us down and the timely completion of the project is jeopardised. What do you suggest?”

Notice that you’re not ratting out the HR manager. And you go to Joe only after having asked the HR manager to respond a bit more quickly, so he doesn’t keep the team waiting.

So what to use instead of feedback sheets?

I believe in using Before Action Reviews and After Action Reviews. These concepts are borrowed from the US Army.

In the military there are not feedback sheets. There is constant communication.
The Before Action Review sets the parameters of the project and briefs team members on what to do.

The After Action Review debriefs the team on what was done, how it was done and how it can be done better the next time.

Reviews are project reviews not personal performance reviews.
If someone fails to give his best and brightest during the project, he is dealt with according to the client’s or the consulting firm’s disciplinary process.

Also, look at elite athletes. They don’t have feedback sheets on their performance. They practice like clockwork, and improvement is unavoidable.

What do you think about feedback sheets in consulting?

Working With Clients With Quantum Leap Projects

2009-10-17T05:09:00.002-07:00

Have you come across consulting prospects who are seeking your help to achieve some quantum leaps in their success, but right now they can’t pay you the kind of fees the value of your help would justify?

Imagine a start-up client that projects $20 million in next year’s sale, and hires you to help to pull it off. The buyer wants you to help to design and build a sales system that is capable of achieving the $20 million, and is scalable as the company grows.

If, as an advanced consultant, you do value-pricing, what do you base your value contribution on?

Your value is clearly $20 million because this is the goal the client wants to achieve with your help. So, you’re addressing the seizure of a $20 million opportunity.

But if you try to charge a fair $2 million for the work, you have a problem.

This company is not making money right now, and can’t pay you. Not even $20. And most owners of such companies would never get a loan to pay you. No. They would expect you to work for future money.

And here opinions differ. Some people would jump in and work for free for future money.

But the problem is that the client has no skin in the deal, and while you’re working hard, the client, unbeknownst to you, may just change direction, leaving you high and dry.

While it’s tempting and exciting to work with “quantum leap” clients, I think we’re better off by working with clients that plan incremental improvements and are able to pay us for our help and support to achieve that increment.

Let’s say, you have a client with $10 million annual sales, and, with your help, the executives plan $13 million for the next year.

Great.

Your value is $3 million, so, within five years, this will be an estimated $15 million. This is vital because clients benefit from your help even after your disengagement. During your engagement you start a process of improvement, which can be maintained after your disengagement.

So, if your lowest option of contribution is an annual retainer for $150-250,000, then both you’re well compensated and your client gets great value for a fair investment.

I compare this situation to shooting. Helping a novice to shoot 9 bull’s-eyes out of 10 shots is hard. But the situation is drastically different with someone who can shoot three bull’s-eyes and six 9s out of 10 shots, and want to move up to five bull’s-eyes and four 9s.

The former is a quantum leap and the latter is incremental improvement.

What I’ve also found is that clients that are seeking incremental improvements are better grounded in reality, whereas quantum leap seekers and often “pie in the sky” organisations.

What is your experience in this area?

Does Pay For Performance Work In Consulting Firms? Part 2

2009-10-13T14:52:00.003-07:00

This month we continue our journey from last month into the land of pay for performance, and further examine whether or not we can get peak performance from people if we pay them for the performance as by commissions or by performance bonuses.

We look into the three types of people you find, and how the different types respond to financial rewards.

So, if you have a dilemma about how to pay your people or how to get higher performance out of them, then you may want to read this month's issue.

And contrary to what compensation consultants promote, it's not money that improves people's performance.

And if you like what you've read, you can return here to discuss the topic a bit further.

But first, go and read my recent masterpiece.

When Consultants Are Forced To Become The Chasers Of The Quick Buck

2009-09-14T08:07:00.001-07:00

There's been a long argument among experts whether or not performance-based payment is appropriate for consultants.

Some say since the consulting profession is unregulated and anyone can enter it, the only way to keep the incompetent charlatans out is by paying consultants for results.

But is that really the best way to go when consultants get hired mainly for their objectivity to tell their clients how things really are.

Would pay for performance systems cloud consultants' objectivity so they would joint their clients in pursuit of the quick buck, even if it takes some questionable methods.

Well, this is what we discuss in our September 2009 article, entitled "Does Pay For Performance Work In Consulting Firms? Part 1".

Hopefully you find it valuable.

Do Professional Associations Really Regulate The Profession?

2008-10-02T21:31:00.002-07:00

There was an interesting article in the 17 September 2008 Vancouver Sun, entitled “Rogue Nurses Leave Quietly”.

It turns out that between January 2006 and November 2007, as a result of participating in various criminal activities, 45 nurses cut a deal with their professional and licensing association, the College of Registered Nurses and quietly quit their profession.

Simply said, the College failed to discipline 45 nurses who broke the College’s ethical code. The College failed its basic mission: To regulate the profession.

These nurses were involved in various nasty acts, including...

Stealing narcotics for their personal use
Physically and emotional abuse of patients
Administering incorrect medication
Mismanaging blood transfusions.
Physically attacking elderly residents
Being drunk on shift

These nurses made an agreement with the college to quit nursing, and in return the College didn’t press charges against them. Basically, they got away with their crimes.

The only trace of their criminal act is a brief listing in the College’s newsletter, BC Nursing.

And some really quit the profession, but six of them re-registered and continues working as nurses.

And this is not even a one off case. On average, 40 nurses per year leave the profession due to misconduct, but without disciplinary hearing.

The only reason the College must publicise these misconducts is if the cases go to formal disciplinary hearing. But, despite the 40 cases per year, the College hasn’t held such disciplinary hearings in years.

So, here you have it...

A friend of mine jokingly says that the people who know their stuff actually do it. People who know it less teach it. And the ones who are hopeless to achieve even the lowest level of competence, they form associations, organise certification programmes and try to regulate the profession they are hopelessly incompetent at.

In my view all these regulation bodies are all about shameless money grabbing.

In 1998, when I came to Canada, the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists (APEG) almost took me to court because I “dared” to call myself an engineer in some formal correspondence.

I was told I had no right to call myself an engineer in British Columbia, unless APEG permits me to do so. And it turned out all it would have taken me to obtain this mystic permission was by becoming a member and paying my membership dues. So, then I learnt that this is how almost all professional associations operated. You pay and you can purchase titles and positions.

That's a rather loud and clear message about credibility.

Over the years, I’ve come across only a handful of truly professional associations that don’t merely “regulate” the profession, but actually help and support their members in the quests to become masters of their chosen professions. Two of them definitely are the IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers) in the UK and BCRPA (British Columbia Recreation and Park Association) here in Vancouver.

I also believe that it’s not the associations that regulate members, but members regulate themselves through their own core values and ethical standards.

And when scumbags join these associations, they carry on as scumbags. Well, member scumbags. Nothing changes.

I bet many of the naughty characters at Arthur Andersen, Enron, WorldCom, etc, were members of various professional associations to buy their titles. But at the end of the day they gave in to the temptation of wrongdoing due to their own personal values, and not even the code of ethics of their respective professional associations could hold them back from cutting corners.

Then the question comes up: Do we really need these “professional" associations?

I suppose, by now you know my answer. Well, hell... no.

Writing and Submitting Consulting Proposals With Clients' Businesses In Mind

2008-09-13T06:50:00.002-07:00

Many consulting firms make the mistake of skimping on marketing to save money, and rejoice when they count how much they've saved. But this joy is rather lost-lived when they realise that if they don't market, they have to engage in the ultimate money-wasting activity: Responding to request for proposals and battling it out on price with purchasing and procurement departments and being treated as fungible vendors.

In this article we discuss how consulting firms can improve their processes of writing and submitting client-centred proposals to real buyers and avoid the dreaded bid-judges of purchasing departments. If you like the idea, then check out the September issue of Commando Consulting in which we discuss Writing and Submitting Consulting Proposals With Clients' Businesses In Mind.

Commando Consulting January 2008: Offering Paid Initial Consulting

2008-01-10T17:11:00.000-08:00

Over the many years of consulting it's become a common practice for firms to offer free initial consulting before engagements to let prospects "taste" what they have to offer. It's also become an expectation and many prospects expect a bit too much for nothing.

What can be done? I think the answer is to adapt the "start small and build on it" mantra. That is, starting with a small but paid engagement, and then clients can decide whether or not they want to go to the next phase at a higher investment option. So, let's take a closer look at...

Offering Paid Initial Consulting.

Commando Consulting: October 2007 - Five Signs of a Smart Client Acquisition Strategy

2007-10-12T05:16:00.000-07:00

As the world of consulting is becoming more and more competitive, consulting firms are basically forced to step beyond haphazard and reactive client acquisition techniques, like word of mouth (hope and pray they come) or the local country club. They have to step up to proactively fill their sales funnels with both short- and long-term opportunities. And this change hits medium-sized consultancies the worst.

Large firms and most solo consultants have always had proactive client acquisition programmes to create leverage, and most tiny firms (between 2 and 10 people) are likely to carry on with their current "fly the seats of their pants" approach. But it's middle-sized firms with an ear count of 100 plus that have to make drastic changes to their operations.

They don't have to, but without systematised client acquisition programmes they will be forced into the stressful world of competitive bidding. And we know that bids, issued by the purchasing and procurement departments, focus on price not on value. So, let's see how to avoid these nasty bidding wars by considering the Five Signs of a Smart Client Acquisition Strategy.

What To Avoid At Presentations

2007-10-02T06:31:00.000-07:00

Many consulting firms still live and die by throwing presentations to win engagements. I've just bumped into some good points about what to do and what to avoid at presentations.

Rainmaker advisor, Ford Harding has some advice on what to avoid, entitled 3 x 5 Presentation Don’ts.

And Suzanne Lowe has a great blog entry on Five Biggest Professional Service Presentation Don'ts.

So, if you get your engagements through presentations, it may be a good idea to check out what these experts have to say about improving the quality of your presentations and to avoid the typical traps many of your competitors may be making.

What The Urban Dictionary Says About The Big 4

2007-09-28T20:28:00.000-07:00

In case you haven't read it yet, you may want to check out Michelle Golden's blog entry on the Big 4 accounting firms over at the Verasage Institute.

The Good Practice Of Turning Down Ready-To-Buy Prospects?!

2007-09-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

Over at Ford Harding's blog I bumped into a great story entitled The Amazing Flip. It tells the story of a firm that basically requires prospects to sell their opportunities to the firm. The firm's default setting of sitting down with prospects is "No," unless prospects can sell their projects to the firm.

It doesn't specifically show from the article, but I can assume that the firm is fully booked with top-notch clients. So, the universal truth is really true that nature abhors vacuum, and if we chase away bad prospects, the n we automatically give way to great prospects and great clients.

The problem I see is that in most consulting firms, rainmakers are not allowed to turn down business. Since so many firms operate on the hooker's mantra of "We do anything for anyone for money," this can be a hard proposition.

In my employment years I was fired twice for rejecting inappropriate prospects. They were either verbally abusive or went a bit too far on haggling. My sales managers told me my job was to turn every hunk of warm meat with a wallet into paying clients.

However, if we consider how much bad clients can cost a firm , this proposition sounds rather practical. Ron Baker at the Verasage Institute rightly says: "Bad clients drive out good clients."

My personal belief is that no clients are better than bad clients. If we have no clients at all, at least we know where we stand and can make alternative plans for the mortgage payment and putting food on the table. But if we are flooded with obnoxious, belligerent ambiguous clients, we never know what can happen next. I've had my fair share of them and probably you too. So, let's be more selective of whom we accept as clients.

Anyway, this is a great article, so go an read the The Amazing Flip.

What Is Bullying Costing Your Consulting Firm?

2007-09-09T21:52:00.000-07:00

The Workplace Bullying Institute has just released it's 2007 survey on workplace bullying. It seems the issue is much more serious than most of us think. The findings are both interesting and sad. Well, we've always known that most managers, due to the traditional promotion process, are not suitable for managing, and this survey just proves it. 72% of bullies are incompetent managers bullying their people.

What makes these figures even sadder is that so many consulting firms tolerate bullying because it comes from either "high-performing" prima donnas or "respected" managers in important positions. Even many of those consulting firms that pontificate that people are their most important assets tolerate bullying.

Why is it tolerated? Because it doesn't have an entry in the accounting system, so firm leaders don't relate bullying to financial loss. But obviously there is. And the price is pretty high.

And a recent article in Fast Company magazine, entitled "The No Asshole Rule: Building a Civilized Workplace and Surviving One That Isn't" explains the staggering costs of tolerating even only one bully in the workplace.

Running The Risk Of Stealing Your Firm's Clients

2007-09-04T04:55:00.000-07:00

Fellow VeraSage member, Michelle Golden at Golden Practices discusses a very interesting practice that could seriously impact consulting firms ' profitability, but due to lack of trust in associates , and very often among partners, most firms shy away from this approach.

The essence of the practice is that you let your people work so closely with your clients that they could actually steal their clients from your firm if they left your firm. It tells a lot about trust in your associates and their intention of investing their careers in your firm.

Working With Consulting Firms

2007-08-07T04:46:00.000-07:00

I've discussed it several times in various articles, but I think it's worth repeating. Many large firms have their own methods of milking their clients to maximise billable hours, but as the years are ticking by and clients are becoming smarter and smarter about these financially abusive practices, it's getting harder and harder to pull it off.

So, the best bet is to stop doing it rights now and start listening to clients about what kind of relationships they're seeking with consulting firms.

I've recently come across blog entry, "Can Clients & Consultants Work Together?" Part 1 and Part 2, where the author outlines some specific issues that infuriate clients.

The danger is that these are widely accepted practices and many firms may not even realise they are doing it. It's like people who swear a lot. They don't even notice it but everyone around them does.

Anyway read both Part 1 and Part 2, and see which point may apply to your firm, and what you can do to eliminate it.

[Commando Consulting] June 2007 Issue: Who Qualifies Your Prospects? Sales Or Marketing?

2007-06-10T20:56:00.000-07:00

We all know that every engagement starts out as a sales lead, and then it's up to us to properly qualify those leads. And at this point we're about to reach a fork on the road of converting leads top paying clients, and we have to decide how we want to qualify them. And here lies a big problem too. Most consulting firms don't have Ideal Client profiles, and try to run after each and every opportunity almost indiscriminately.

And as the saying goes, the man who chases two rabbits goes to sleep hungry. And as a former rabbit farmer, I can only confirm this statement.

And what happens when consulting firms operate on an "Any business is good business" basis? These firms often end up with lots of low-margin clients. All the associates are busy beyond imagination, but it's barely enough for the firm to stand still.

What usually happens to client acquisition at many consulting firms is that, as a part of marketing, partners define the ideal client profile, and then as the rainmakers go out to make rain, and since they want to meet and exceed financial projections, they accept any client who offers money. And it's even worse in false consulting firms where there is a dedicated commissions-based sales force. That creates an instant discrepancy between sales folks and the rest of the firm. So, the poor rainmakers often make acid rain that burns holes on the firm's purse and money starts leaking away.

Also, sales folks don't have time to fiddle around with ideal client profile and similar nonsensical minutiae. They want to make instant sales and see money in their own piggy banks... Right now.

And because of the difference between the sales folks or rainmakers and the other people involved in client acquisition, they assess opportunities drastically differently.

Sales folks usually use the broadly-used BANT system. BANT is short for Budget, Authority, Need and Time frame. The problem with this model is that it is 100% financially-focused and pretty self-centred. Qualification is set up from a rather ambiguous perspective...

Why Real Talents Hate Tracking Their Working Hours...

2007-05-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Over at the VeraSage Institute we've been discussing the stupidity of internal time tracking for associates on an almost non-stop basis. Internal time tracking is one factor that turns consulting and other professional knowledge firms into manufacturing plants, churning out "one size fits all" type solutions, thus screwing up their own profit margins and bit by bit turning the industry into a commodity.

Then the other day I was working with a Vancouver-based firm exactly on this time sheet elimination project. The managing partner has bought into the time sheet-less concept but he was concerned about the other people's reaction.

Before we went into the room to meet the troops, I asked him to make a note on each person's comments regarding time sheets.

Then we went in and I asked associates to express their views for or against time sheets and tracking effort time.

I've always known that most people are fear- and scarcity-driven, but this was amazing.

The main reason why the rebels rebelled against the elimination of time sheets is because they fear that they may do some work and, since they can't account for the time and effort, they wouldn't get paid for that piece of work. To me this was strange because they were on annual salaries plus bonuses, depending how the firm as a whole was doing.

When the groups session ended, the managing partner and I sat down and I asked the partner to evaluate each associates performance. What emerged was profound but not exactly surprising.

There was a direct correlation between loving time sheets and low performance. peak performers were jumping with joy at the notion of eliminating time sheets. The no-hopers insisted on keeping time sheets.

The partner looked at me rather surprised. Then it hit me... Holy sausage, man!

If you haven't read The Flow from Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, then read it now. Here's the essence. This is how Csikszentmihalyi defines the state of Flow:

"Being completely involved in an activity for its own sake. The ego falls away. Time flies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz. Your whole being is involved, and you're using your skills to the utmost."

Can you imagine to interrupt "Flow work" every 6 minutes to fill in your time sheet and account for your time and effort? If Newton, Einstein and other great inventors had been forced to account for their times, we would would still be living in caves.

Now let's look at the Flow diagram and see what's happening here.

Apathy: Low skill low challenge
Boredom: High skill low challenge
Anxiety, stress, fear: Low skill high challenge
Flow: High skill high challenge

Who are the people who insist on keeping time sheets? People in the Apathy and Boredom areas. David Maister calls these people cruisers and losers.

And who are the people who hate time sheets? Yes, the people who operate in the Flow. David rightfully calls them dynamos. They are the people who have excellence in their DNA's and do their best work every time they touch something because they learnt this behaviour from their parents. They don't need time sheets and micromanaging. They are naturally conscientious of their work, and are proud and inspired to do great work.

And what about the anxiety part: In my experience, this area is shared between dynamos as they're stepping up to the next level of performance but haven't yet mastered all the newly needed skills, and cruisers and losers who are anxious about to be found out.

Back to this partner. When he realised how much time and effort it takes to "manage" low performers, after assessing their contribution to the firm, the decided to offer them a better opportunity somewhere else.

Then I asked him what had blinded him to these people's poor performance so far. he said: The time sheets. These people have put in plenty of time and - seem to have [my comment] - exerted large amount of effort to do their work.

I think they exerted large amount of effort to cover up their low performance. So, here it is again. Get rid of internal time tracking for your people, and you automatically weed out the ones who you can do without without any negative effects.

And the time sheet-less culture will attract more people who like working in the "Flow." And who are the people who like operating in the "Flow?" They are the real talents. These are the people who were born on this planet to do what they do. Let them do it, and let them bring joy and profit to your clients and your firm.

Commando Consulting May 2007 - Does Your HR (Human Repression or Human Remains) Department Keep Talented People Out Of Your Firm?

2007-05-09T13:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the answer is 99.9% "yes."

Conventional wisdom says that consulting firms should rely on their HR departments to hire talented people, but they hardly ever do. What they do, with amazing accuracy though, is bringing in people with impressive resumes who look great on paper, but when the rubber hits the road, that's all they most often have: Impressive resumes.

Now imagine if you will...

The Courageous Coffin Carving Corporation, a premium consulting firm helping funeral homes to be more profitable, is looking for a marketing manager. The company's current annual revenue is $45 million and the purpose of hiring a new marketing manager is to bring in new clients and help to take the firm's profitability to the next level. The forecast is to increase sales by $20-25% in the first year of the new marketing manager.

Joe, the VP of business development, following protocol and conventional wisdom, contacts Pam the HR manager: "Pam, we need a new marketing manager."

"Fine Joe, I'll hire one for you." - says Pam.

With that, Pam puts a normal ho-hum ad in the local paper. Marketing manager wanted: You must have an MBA in marketing and must be familiar with the Maximizer contact management system.

And here's where the first flaw lies... I could even say, this is the wasp's nipples...

Interview With Service Marketing Thought Leader, Mike Schultz

2007-04-04T19:12:00.000-07:00

This morning I had the privilege to have a great telephone discussion with Mike Schultz, the founder partner of Wellesley Hills Group, a Framingham, Massachusetts-based consulting firm specialising on helping professional service firms to better market and sell their services.

But Wellesley Hills is more than a plain, pedestrian, garden-variety consulting firm plodding through life project by project. It's really a think tank.

Mike is also one of the co-conspirators behind RainToday, an online knowledge repository for professional service firms.

The topic of our discussion was Mike and his partners' recent research study, entitled "What's Working in Lead Generation."

The report categorises professional firms into four groups in terms of their ability to generate high quality sales leads: Excellent, good, fair and poor.

One big difference between the two opposing ends of the scale is that 91% of the excellent firms know the decision-makers by name, so their first contact may be cold, but they have the advantage of being able to address the buyer by name.

In case of the fair and the poor group, only 13% of them know the names. Most of their contacts are made with nebulous entities like "Dear Sir", "Dear Madam" and "Dear President." of course, if you are not addressed by name, why should you respond.

The other distinguishing factor is that firms in the poor and fair groups are prospecting for instant sales.

The other interesting finding of the report is the three most effective ways of generating quality sales leads are...

Making warm phone calls to current contacts
Speaking at conferences and trade shows
Running your own in-person events

And the top 3 ways to generate quality leads are

Client / partner referrals
General Referrals
Cold Calling / telephone prospecting

And here is the kicker. Another study from Mike, entitled How Clients Buy, proves that direct mail is the most effective way of getting butts to seats. Yet what do you hear from most consulting firms? "Direct mail doesn't work in our industry." And they repeat this idiotic phrase like demented parrots in spite of the fact that several of their competitors are successfully using direct mail.

They blame the direct mail method, although the problem lies in their own inability to properly apply it to their businesses.

The other important point is to understand and apply the two-step lead generation process. First we have to offer something valuable and only then we can expect people to give us their money.

And here lies the difference between hunting and fishing...

When hunting, people chase their preys and kill them individually. The approach works if you try to feed only your family. But if your job is to hunt enough to feed a town of 100,000 people, then you've got a problem. In order to generate your "quota", you have to hire an army of hunters and manage them, buy them weapons and ammunition, not to mention that you have to share the catch with them.

On the other hand, fishing is drastically different. I used to be a fisherman, so gained some - about 10 years - first-hand experience. I would select a good location on a certain river or pond, and would start "feeding the location." I would feed the location to entice a large amount of fish. And the combination of the environment and the bait defined what kind of fish would come. I had a clearly defined "Ideal Fish" profile in mind.

And you know what? The fish came. After a few weeks of feeding, there was a preponderance of fish at the location. I would just sit down, cast my hook and pull out the fish. There was no chasing and no struggle. The process was pretty effortless. But it needed the foresight and the patience of only feeding but not fishing the location for a few weeks.

But it didn't work for everyone. Why? Because most people didn't have the time to feed the location. They wanted instant gratification. So, they were chasing the fish from location to location.

Similarly, this kind of magnetic lead generation, based on attraction, doesn't work for many consulting firms because they are too busy chasing and hunting prospects, a large percentage of whom are suspects. And every hunter knows that when you're chasing animals, they run away from you. Thus, when you chase prospects, they run away from you.

So, if you want to improve your lead generation and leave the dreaded feast and famine behind once and for all, then check out What's Working In Lead Generation.

Where Client's Ego Can Lead To...

2007-04-01T20:10:00.000-07:00

The other day I was watching Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares. The world-renowned Chef Ramsay tries to sort out a disaster-ridden restaurant, the La Parra de Burriana, on the Costa del Sol in Spain, run by a British guy called Laurence.

There are some major problems with the restaurant, but all the problems can be traced back to the owner's inflated ago. The basic scenario is that Laurence knows everything better than everyone else. The restaurant is on the verge of bankruptcy but Laurence still refuses to change his way of running it.

He has a 72-item overcomplicated menu prepared in a totally braindead way, and what makes the situation even worse that guests don't really like what Laurence and his "servants" cook in the kitchen in a rather haphazard, fly-by-the-seat-of-their-pants manner.

Before opening, Chef Ramsay prepares an emergency menu in case Laurence's menu fails. Well, it's failing but Laurence refuses to switch over the Gordon's menu.

Instead of efficiently cooking fish and veggies in proper pans, Laurence uses a big dirty hot plate. And everything he cooks on it comes out less than appetising.

The guests are coming and the disaster is about to unfold. meals go out raw and messed-up.

Finally, when the shit seriously hits the fan, Chef Ramsay gets the go-ahead from Laurence on cooking and serving his emergency menu. He demonstrates to Laurence that cooking in pans is easier, quicker and more hygienic than cooking on the hot plate.

Yet, Laurence needs some heavy-duty convincing to buy into some of Gordon's "Best Practices", including but not limited to reducing the menu to a manageable level.

Eventually the egomaniac Laurence realises that Chef Ramsay is in his corner, trying to turn a losing restaurant into a winning one.

Do you have clients who're vehemently defending the status quo, although the status quo is taking them down down down?

They are like the charismatic, courageous military curmudgeon, Major General Ambrose Everett Burnside. He rather had his Union army slaughtered than admit his mistake and change tactics.

A short while ago I had a prospect who kept repeating her firm was the best in her area of expertise. After a few repetitions my red flags went up.

"Being powerful is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you aren't." - Former British Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher once said.

Similarly, when a prospect keeps repeating how amazingly successful her firm is, you can small the rat. After 14 years in business, she absolutely refused to do any other "marketing" than cold calling. So, after we decided not to work together on her firm's marketing, she hired a call centre in Pakistan, and now they are harassing the whole north America with their pitch...

"Hello. You don't know us, but we're leading HR experts. Do you want to hire us?"

How lame is this? And she's likely to spend the rest of her life cold calling to drum up some business.

So, be careful with egotistical prospects regardless of the amount of money they would pay you. It's just not worth. As clients they deteriorate rather quickly, so you'd better stay away from them.

The Gengis Khan of Client Acquisition...

2007-02-26T19:44:00.000-08:00

Larry Bodine has a brilliant post on his blog about client acquisition at law firms, entitled Gengis Khan Principle: Why 10% Generate 80% of the Business.

And the situation is pretty much the same in consulting firms. There are many content experts who refuse to get involved in client acquisition, so they're in the mercy of rainmakers as to what kind of work they get from them.

And while rainmaking is fine, I believe constant and consistent lead generation is even better. The aim is not to turn interested people into clients right away, but help them to climb into your funnel and the automated lead nurturing system guides them until they have projects and are ready to hire your firm.

But for now, follow the link to read Larry's article on the Gengis Khan Principle: Why 10% Generate 80% of the Business.

The Proverbial Grand Canyon Between Leadership And Talent

2007-02-13T08:03:00.000-08:00

We all know that the smaller the gap between management and front-line consultants, the higher the overall morale and enthusiasm of people will be. Yet, we can see quite a few consulting firms that remind us of the disaster Bob Nardelli created at Home Depot, and for which he was eventually booted out.

Some details have recently appeared in the New York Times.

Nardelli created a great example of elitism at Home Depot. One aspect of this elitism was that he offered catered free lunches for top management in the executive lunch room, while the “grunts” would eat downstairs in the “grunts’ eatery” on their own dime.

In contrast to Nardelli’s pompous elitism, the new CEO, Frank Blake has already started changing the culture into one that appreciates talent and promotes company-wide relationships regardless of rank and position.

Read the New York Times article and learn from it. How many Nardellis do you have in your firm? How much longer are you willing to tolerate their behaviour just because it brings in money.

To Market or Not to Market... This is the Question

2007-02-02T07:05:00.000-08:00

Larry Bodine's LawMarketing Blog has a new great post on marketing professional services. He uses it mainly for law firms, but the same concept applies to management consulting firms as well.

Realistically, just as many law firms are pretty poor at marketing their services, so are many consulting firms. And this poor marketing comes from two problems.

They don't believe that marketing is a significant part of operating the firm
Therefore, they never invest in hiring a good marketing person

And as a result of this negligence, many otherwise brilliant consulting firms suffer from the dreaded feast and famine cycle, and they seem to spend more time in the famine cycle.

So, read Larry's post, Can You Beat this 25-question Sales Training Quiz?

Leadership in the Military

2007-01-12T15:53:00.001-08:00

Tom Peters has just posted a brilliant entry on his blog in which he compares commercial leadership and military leadership. While many people believe that the military is about command and control, it turns out that it's commercial leadership that's about command and control.

In the world of commerce any idiot can be appointed as a top executive or even president or CEO. Or any president can appoint his imbecile son or daughter as vice president.

But in the army it doesn't matter who is whose son or daughter. They have to start from the very bottom and earn their promotions bit by bit.

Just read Tom's post, and think about how this militaristic leadership style could work for you.

Compensating Partners In Consulting Firms

2006-12-23T17:54:00.000-08:00

There is an article on CNN Money, entitled The real CEO pay problem. It talks about how insanely corporate CEO's compensation have grown over the years. It seems that even CEOs whose companies are losing are awarding themselves with astronomical salaries, bonuses and stock options.

It seems that 4-star generals must be pretty incompetent in their work in comparison to CEOs when considering the pay difference between generals and privates. It turns out that the average 4-star general's pay package is merely 6 times larger than that of the average soldier.

So, what's happening in corporations?

The average CEOs compensation is 250 times larger than the average worker's pay package.

The other interesting fact is that the typical CEO performs only 28 minutes of productive work per day. The rest is basically "strategic naval-gazing."

I have a sneaking suspicion if army generals were performing at the same ridiculously low level as most CEOs do, by now bin Laden or Castro would rule the world.

The interesting fact is that in the army, the higher a person goes in the pecking order, the higher his responsibility becomes. But in the corporate world, the higher people go, the more untouchable they become to their peers, and the more unaccountable they become to their companies' strategies and visions.

Pursuing Stardom Or Personal Excellence

2006-11-15T20:30:00.000-08:00

Ever since Edward Bernay invented his "science" of public relations in the 1920s, many people have jumped on the PR bandwagon to turn themselves into celebrities. The waves they ride on can be summarised by a comment from Bernay, “While most people respond to their world instinctively, without thought, there exist an 'intelligent few' who have been charged with the responsibility of contemplating and influencing the tide of history. A highly educated class of opinion-molding tacticians are continuously at work, analyzing the social terrain and adjusting the mental scenery from which the public mind, with its limited intellect, derives its opinions."

I've just read about two upcoming violin virtuosos. The Scottish woman, a Menuhin Institute (The proverbial Harvard fro Violinists) student, openly admits that her priority is to make music not to become a star. She wants to explore her talent and achieve whatever she can possibly achieve by becoming the best she can be. So, she spends all her time practising, bettering her play day by day.

The other woman, another upcoming virtuoso from Vancouver, has decided to take a different direction. She also practises a bit, but her main focus is to become a celebrity. So to achieve her goal, she works hard on her image and hires the best PR agencies and spin-doctors to turn her into a celebrity.

Some people are obsessed with becoming celebrities and winding up at the Oprah show. Some “just” want to do their best to achieve mastery in their professions.

Who do you think laypeople recognise as the greatest violin virtuoso ever lived? Niccolo Paganini.

But who is the virtuoso “the industry” recognises as the “master of masters”? A Hungarian guy called Joseph Joachim, who is totally unknown for most laypeople.

The world of classical music is similar to professional firms. Some firms do everything they can to become celebrities by blowing their own trumpets and manipulating their markets. The others focus on doing high-quality, honest, and ethical client work, so happy clients could spread the word.

Many firms maintain fairly large PR departments for the sole role of seeking out opportunities where the senior partners can perform some uncensored self-aggrandisement. And of course all this is done at the expense of client work and internal standards.

The objective is no longer doing world-class work, but using various channels, screaming to the world that, “We are a world-class firm doing world-class work.”

And here we can think of Arthur Andersen and some other firms. They threw a hell of a lot of money at the wall of branding and some stuck. Actually, in the case of Andersen, quite a lot stuck. They built a nipplepiercingly brilliant brand. But they did it at the expense of internal standards. They did it by violating their values to their clients and their people. But that wasn’t important because the game was to become a celebrity. The idea of becoming a world-class accounting firm was pushed to the back burner. (Actually it was probably pushed off the cooker altogether as an unimportant topic.)

And Andersen had its moment of fame for a short while. And then it’s gone.

I reckon the same will happen to the violinist from Vancouver. The media, using the standard manipulation tricks (read “Trust Us, We’re Experts” by Sheldon Rampton and John Sauber) will help her to achieve her goal, and turn her into a celebrity. But will she ever become a world-class violinist other violinists recognise, respect and want to play with? That's yet to see.

A Swiss skier, Pirmin Zürbriggen was the candidate for the gold medal in the combined slalom at the 1988 Calgary Winter Olympic games. All he had to do was to complete his second run. But as he took off, he started pushing the envelope… Pushing… pushing and more pushing. Then he fell and blew his hopes for the gold medal.

And the question came up: Considering that he was already 99.9% of the champion, was it necessary to push so hard?

Later on there was some speculation about his action, and a ski instructor who knew him said that Zürbriggen didn’t ski for the gold medal or world championship title. He skied to bring out his personal best. For Zürbriggen it was not about merely achieving certain goals (win the gold medal) but achieving his maximum potential.

And this is the question you have to ask yourself regarding your firm. Are you seeking a celebrity status or are you building a world-class firm?

Do you want the media recognise you as a world-class celebrity, or do you want your clients and peers to recognise you as a world-class master of your chosen profession?

The media recognition is like a shooting star and it’s good for your ego, but the peer and client recognition last for a long time and good for your heart (Not to mention your piggy bank). You also know that whatever you’ve earned, you’ve earned it in return for your contribution, not as a result of manipulation.

Time Management Considerations For Professional Service Firm Managers

2006-10-15T09:44:00.000-07:00

Although professional firms should get out of the “trading time for money” mindset, time management within the firm still remains a crucial issue. The objective is to deliver more client value per hour, and harvest higher profit per hour.

So this month’s newsletter we look a bit deeper into this fiendish time management issue for firm managers, and how they can make time more profitable.

So here are some thoughts for this month, entitled...

Time Management Considerations For Professional Service Firm Managers

Hopefully you find it valuable.

Consultant = Court Jester

2006-09-20T17:06:00.001-07:00

I’ve just found a very interesting entry in David Maister's blog, called Passion, People and Principles. The entry is entitled The Dream Job?, It’s basically an excerpt from “Lear’s Fool: Coping With Change Beyond Future Shock” by D. Verne Morland.

It compares the role of a court jester to that of a consultant. Just think about it. Consultants are supposed to be those respected outsiders who can overstep the “corporate mark” and can make disturbing and provocative announcements to improve their clients’ condition.

But instead, many consultants are too busy stretching assignments and inflating billable hours by doing what’s beneficial to them almost regardless of whether or not it’s beneficial to their clients.

This article will give you both a good laugh and maybe (I hope) a few minutes of serious pondering upon our roles as consultants.

Of Sailors and Mountaineers: The Inherent Dangers of Internal Competition

2006-09-17T10:57:00.000-07:00

I’ve just realised that I made a pig’s ear of the last newsletter issue. I uploaded everything correctly to the server, and then sent a test message to myself to test the link to make sure it works. And then I went back and sent out the announcement.

And what happened? I sent it out to my test list, which is my own email address. So, I received it in due course but no one else.

Having rectified the problem one week later, here I send the link for the latest issue: Of Sailors and Mountaineers: The Inherent Dangers of Internal Competition.

Hopefully it reaches you this time and you find it valuable.

One little favour from you if you are in BC, Canada. A friend of mine is looking into employing one new person who can be employed on a government subsidy basis. The government pays one half and she pays the other half of the wages. Do you know how this systems works? Could you email me some pointers, so I can direct my friend in the right direction? Thanks a lot.

Thoughts?

Comparing Consulting To A Military Mission

2006-08-26T10:57:00.000-07:00

Imagine an army that, as a result of being led by an idiot, has been wiped out except one man. At that moment the general at headquarters calls in a "military consultant" to save the day.

The consultant accepts the "consulting gig" based on what the general told him.

Then he discovers some disturbing facts. From his fact-finding, he discovers that there is only one single soldier left of the whole army. He is pretty beaten, thirsty, hungry, dead exhausted, disheartened with headquarters' blazing incompetence, barefoot, butt-naked and has an empty rifle in desperate need for a major overhaul. So, basically there is no hope in hell to win the battle.

"Well, general, based on what you have, you have no chance to win." – says the consultant.

"We don't care" - Yells the general. "You’re the expert. You either win the battle for us or we'll sue you for breach of contract, and do everything in our power to ruin your reputation."

"But you misrepresented the situation in the first place" – says the consultant.

"Never mind. You're the expert. Figure something out, or we'll take you to court for incompetence, negligence, misrepresentation and breach of contract" – says the general from headquarters.

So, there is one more reason you have to create an Ideal Client Profile.

New Complimentary e-Book From Patrick McKenna

2006-08-18T21:37:00.000-07:00

David Maister's co-author in First Among Equals, Patrick McKenna has just released his new e-book, entitled The First 100 Days: Transitioning a New Managing Partner.

The book uses examples mainly from law firms, but pay attention to the business structure not to the content. A professional service firm is a professional service firm.

So follow this link and download your complimentary copy.

Website Reality for Professional Service Firms

2006-08-15T20:11:00.000-07:00

Now here is a bit of reality check for professional service firms.

The July issue of Consulting Magazine has just published a study on the websites of professional service firms, and how well or poorly they live up to their objectives of helping the firm to acquire and retain clients.

The survey was compiled by Edwin Hastings and Bob Buday of the The Bloom Group. They pay particular attention to the lead generation aspect of websites.

Follow the link to download the report and compare the findings with your own firm’s website. You may just get surprised or even shocked.

Also read the complementary article in Consulting Magazine

And here read the study itself.

Pricing for Perceived Value Is Not Pricing for Achieved Results

2006-08-14T18:55:00.000-07:00

This interesting difference has come up just recently with a potential client. When I explained value pricing the prospect asked me, “So you get paid a slice of the profit you create.” Since this question comes up every now and then I’m prepared for it, so I could explain a touch better.

I use the university analogy to distinguish between value and results.

Value is what the university offers in its courses. The courses give students an opportunity to take their lives to a higher level and be successful. The value the university delivers is the ammunition to success. And each student gets the same value. That is, the university delivers the same value for every student.

But some students don’t do their assignments, that is, they are not ready and willing to receive the value the university delivers. But that’s not the university’s problem. Some students freely choose to forego the delivered value and go partying or do other things.

Both president Bush and Rintin Eaglebottom got their MBAs from Harvard. Harvard delivered the same value to both of them, and they both paid for that delivered value. But they received and applied value differently. Hence the difference in results. Bush has become US president. Where is the other guy? Hell knows.

They both got the same opportunity (value), and they used that opportunity differently to crate different results.

Providing a professional service is the same. You offer the value and only clients, the real decision-makers, can turn that value into results. So, you get paid for the value you offer, not for the results clients choose to derive or not to derive from your value, because you can’t control what clients make of the value you deliver.

It was not Harvard that put Bush into the white House. Harvard gave him an opportunity to achieve great things in life. He applied his education and talents to get there.

But the university can’t create results. Similarly, professional service firms cannot create results for their clients. They have to do their own push-ups to get stronger and fitter. Collaborating with clients is like lovemaking. You do it with your partner, not for-, at- or to your partner. And you are accountable to each other to give your best, so it becomes a memorable magical event.

Entitled Rethinking Pricing: Merits of Value Based Pricing, Mike McLaughlin of Deloitte Consulting and author of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants has just done a great podcasts.

You can listen to the podcast here.

Free Report from RainToday

2006-08-13T06:56:00.000-07:00

Rainoday, a brilliant online portal for professional servicefirms, has published a new report entitled, "The One Piece of Advice You Can't Sell Without?"

This is a compilation of pieces of advice from a small group of highly successful professional service practitioners who reveal bits and pieces of their own sales methodologies.

The contributors are...

Alan Weiss, author of Million Dollar Consulting
Keith Ferrazi, author of Never Eat Alone
Mike McLaughlin, author of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants
Mike Schultz, Publisher, RainToday.com
Paige Arnof-Fenn, CEO of Mavens & Mogels, columnist for Entrepreneur
Paul Dunay, Director of Global Field Marketing, BearingPoint
Sam Reese, CEO of Miller Hieman sales training company
Seth Godin, author of Small is the New Big & Purple Cow
and some others

You can download the report here. Enjoy.

The Craft and the Business of Your Firm

2006-08-05T06:26:00.001-07:00

I've heard it from so many professionals that they love what they do but hate the business aspects of their practices. The doctor loves doctoring but hates marketing. The lawyer loves lawyering but hates dealing with hiring issues. The IT consultant loves IT consulting but hates fiddling with the money and taxes.

One of the reasons that the Rolling Stones is a successful band is that, besides playing good stuff, the y are also shrewd businesspeople and manage their money really well.

Hopefully this article will give you some inspiration why it's a good idea to pay attention, above and beyond the craft of your business, to those "business things" as well.

One More Nail in the Coffin of Time-Based Billing... Hooray

2006-08-05T05:34:00.000-07:00

I've recently come across a brilliant article about value pricing. This article was written for accountants but I think every professional service firm and solo practitioner can benefit from it. One aspect of getting away from time-based billing is to abolish the use of time-sheets inside the firm.

In my opinion time sheets are not to be used to measure people's performance and paying them for the amount of time, but they are to be used to track how many hours the firm invest in a project, so after completion, the project team can debrief and assess how profitable the project was. You can correlate your total fees against the number of project hours, and see how profitable the gig was. So, if necessary, next time you can adjust your approach.

In the meantime, enjoy the article.

The RFP Torture Cycle

2006-07-27T05:37:00.000-07:00

I'm a long time enemy of the RFP system. In my view the RFP is a retarded process stupid companies use to hire competitive(ly cheap and mediocre) contractors and consultants who look good on paper, but often don't have significant value to contribute to the company.

One of the reasons for this is that successful, well-marketed professional firms don't even eneter the RFP torture cycle, and refuse to become fungible vendors for these companies.

Larry Bodine, who specialises in marketing for law firms has written a briliant blog entry on this topic. In this entry Larry shows how Pfizer put 103 law firms through its RFP torture cycle, and then selected 24 for the work.

And the good news is that with good marketing professional firms could easily avoid this disastrous process. But this requires systematic marketing which is an insurmountable task for many professional firms.

Contact Us for More Information

2006-07-16T09:31:00.000-07:00

The other day I had a discussion with the owner of a mid-sized IT consulting firm. At one point I asked him about the firm's website and pointed out that, in my opinion, there wasn't enough information on it. He said, "Anyone, who is interested, can contact us for more information."

Then I asked him why they didn't put this "more information" on the website? He said what so many people mistakenly believe is to be true: Nobody would read it anyway.

Now my contention is that if your stuff is so dumb, dull and boring that no one is interested in reading about anyway, then why don't you quietly slit your wrists and bleed to death without ever annoying anyone with your services which you yourself don't like that much anyway?

So, how many people contact you for “more information” on a monthly basis? – I asked.

IT Manager: About 100-120

Tom: And how much time does it take to provide the “more information” for them?

IT Manager: About 15-25 minutes per caller.

Tom: So, on a monthly basis this is between 1,500 minutes, that is, 25 hours (100 callers times 15 minutes) and 3,000 minutes, that is, 50 hours (120 callers times 25 minutes)

IT Manager: Yeah, roughly.

Tom: What is your average billing rate doing IT consulting work?

IT Manager: We can average it to $135 an hour.

Tom: So, every month you sacrifice between $202,500 (1,500 hours times $135) and $405,000 (3,000 hours times $135) potential revenue just because you insist on personally dispensing the kind of information that could be made available on your website on a self-serving basis. That's between $2.4 million and $4.8 million on an annual basis.

IT Manager: _________ [Big gulp and bulging eyes staring at the piece of paper with the calculations]

Tom: Would this money make any difference to your firm?

This is important. People don’t call you for more information because they are worried that there is a hard-nosed hyped- and psyched-up “used car” salesperson at the other end of the line from whom there is no escape.

Prospective clients know that many professional firms’ only “marketing strategy” is hoping and praying, and when people show up doing their best to take their money. This is why it’s vital to make every possible piece of pertinent information available without the need for contacting your firm.
And as a side effect, you also benefit from this approach by being able to do more client work.

Thoughts?

Specialist or Generalist, This is the Question

2006-01-17T08:44:00.000-08:00

The specialist vs. generalist debate comes up very often in relations to premium professional service firms (PPSF). I've always believed that deep generalists with a broad range of knowledge are more valuable advisors than narrow specialists. Yes, specialists are better at their content, but generalists are better at matching their content to the context of the business.

Just look at web design. Many people can do web design. But only very few people, with good business background, can do web design that actually seamlessly meshes into the context (big picture or and strategy) of the business and supports it.

And here we can use a military example. The difference between an army and a commando.
The army is a group of specialists in a highly compartmentalised environment. There are the heavy horses, the fighter planes, the archers, the submariners, musketeers, guided missiles, etc. What it means is that you can't just transfer a soldier from one unit into the other without extensive and expensive training. All in all, army soldiers are specialists.

On the other hand, in a commando everyone can do everything. Everyone can shoot, do first aid, dive, skydive, operate the radio, throw a knife and dig trenches. Commando soldiers are cross-trained generalists.

When it comes to warfare you have two options.

Option 1: You line up your army of specialists (archers, fighter planes, etc.) against the other army and march into each other's volley of fire. Yes, you may win but it will be a Pyrrhic victory.

Option 2: You hire a small commando of deep generalists and send them into the night before the day of the battle. They infiltrate the enemy's camp, kill the generals in their sleep, and come home by breakfast. You can rest assured there will be no battle. Neither on the next day nor for a long time. No army goes into battle without generals, and you can actually scare the whole army shitless by taking out its generals. Now there is no strategy, no direction. You have lots of tacticians (specialists), like captains, sergeants and privates who know how to operate a machine gun, fire cannons and launch missiles, but no one can tell them which direction to shoot. That's strategy.

Similarly, when it comes to "battle" in the battlefield of commerce, you have two options. Either you hire an army of specialists and hope that their skills match the challenge your competition throws at you, or you hire a few generalists who are more agile and responsive to whatever the competition throws at you, thus have a better chance to protect you.

So, specialist or generalist, this is the question. If the kind of help you need is more tactical, you're better off with a specialist. But if you require strategic help, then you're better off with a generalist.

What Farmers and Service Professionals Ought to Have in Common, But Usually Don't

2006-01-11T08:23:00.000-08:00

You may find it surprising comparing service professionals to farmers but I believe for demonstrating this specific example it is brilliant. Besides, being a former rabbit farmer myself, I'm biased. I want to talk a little bit about principles versus practices. Or putting it differently learning the trade itself versus learning the tricks of the trade.

In the business world many people are looking for the shortcuts to achieve certain results. Many professional firms want to be market leaders and innovators, but upon presenting a new idea, their first question is, "Where else have you implemented this idea?", "Who else is doing this?" or "Can you prove the validity of this concept to us?"

By definition new and innovative ideas don't have metrics, so they cannot be proved. Metrics are only good for slapping dreams in the face and stabbing visions in the heart. They are useless when we are creating something valuable, something worthwhile. Do you know couples who evaluate each other's "performance" based on the "metrics" of their newborn babies? And in a sense a good professional firm is like a family.

What was Edison's metrics for the light bulb, Bill Gate's metrics for Windows, General Patton's metrics for beating the shit out of the Nazis or Stephenson's metrics for the steam engine? Nothing! These people just dared to boldly go ahead, while others were too busy analysing facts and determining metrics to accurately measure the desperate maintenance of the stinking status quo.

And this is where the problem lies. Many service professionals believe that there is a safe and secure shortcut to become innovative. As a farmer I knew that it would take a full month for the mamma rabbit to deliver the baby rabbits. I couldn't rush the mama rabbit to deliver the babies. I had no guarantee that the baby rabbits would survive and grow up, so I could take them all the way either to the market or the dinner table. I knew one thing: Without regularly "dating" my mama rabbits with George, the daddy rabbit, taking good care of them and then their babies, I would have had nothing to take to the market. And even worse, I would have had nothing to put on the dinner table and would be condemned to eat chicken.

So, I had to invest a lot of work and quite a bit of money on blind faith and believing in my expertise to be able to do the best for these bunnies to grow up in a healthy and happy way. There were no guarantees. Every farmer knows that. Maybe some day farmers – I have already started – will teach at business schools, and then more business people will understand that there are no guarantees besides death and taxes.

The other thing we have to consider is that farmers operate on principles (because that's how nature works), while professional firms try to invent their own artificial principles that often go against the fundamental grains of nature. Here in Canada the papers are full of ads that firms are seeking people with all sorts of fiendish credentials, experiences and qualifications, and they guarantee to pay minimum wage for all this expertise. So, they want a Ferrari for the price of Yugo.

* Yugo used to be a car manufacturer in Yugoslavia hell-bent on making the world's cheapest cars. It failed and went bankrupt a few years ago.

Yet, when I ask service professionals about their practice development activities, most of them say the same: There is no point in investing in it - be it up to date technology, marketing initiative or skill building for associates - because what is the guarantee that it works. It is like a sport team's members say, "What is the point in wasting money on hiring a coach. He can't guarantee results anyway. So, let's save our money."

But what is the underlying message here? Something like this, "We are bunch of hopeless idiots, and that there is no coach in the whole universe who could make something of us."

I can bet my bottom dollars that the more guarantees professional firms are seeking in the process of becoming the best they can be, the more they fall behind with no hope in hell to ever crawl out of the mediocre bunch. In his book, Good to Great, Jim Collins writes about people who have a DNA-level urge to do their best regardless of the circumstances. And they do. The rest are seeking guarantees, investors and other people who are willing to make financial or other sacrifices, so these fools can be successful. I've recently been asked by an HR expert to help her to start her business on a joint venture basis. I asked for a modest monthly retainer and equal revenue split, stipulating that as money starts coming in, she can gradually recoup the initial retainers from my share. I wanted the retainer as a sign of commitment on her part. She flatly denied. She offered no retainer and a maximum 20% revenue sharing. What's the point in taking 100% of the risk for 20% of the reward? I walked away, and months later she still doesn't have a business. She clearly proved her level of belief in herself and in the potential of her business through her actions. It was basically none.

So, what are you willing to put on the line to demonstrate that you're serious about your firm and you actually believe in what you're doing?

Imagine this situation: Novice farmer goes to the farm shop and asks the owner: "Hey I want to joint venture with you on a lucrative opportunity. I’m a farmer. If you give me all the equipment, seeds, fertiliser and everything I need for farming for free, then I’ll give you 25% of the money I make on the harvest. Believe me, this is a great opportunity."

Then the shop owner asks: "Have you ever done any farming?”

"No" – The "farmer" says, but I have a triple Ph.D. in farming, and I know how to do it. And this will be great opportunity for you.

Then the shop owners says: "So, you expect me to invest my assets and take 100% risk on an venture that is most likely to fail simply because you've never done it before? And in return for my 100% risk and 100% investment I get 25% of the reward? Is this what you mean?"

"Well, yes. If you are as good as you say, you would have the courage to take the risk on me." – Says the "farmer".

"Well, if you are as good as you say, you’d have the courage to take the risk on yourself, punk." – says the shopkeeper.

What kind of farmer are you?

Are Voice Mail Systems Harming Professional Service Firms?

2006-01-11T07:43:00.000-08:00

The problem is that voice mail systems are now so rampant in professional firms that we have almost forgotten what it's like to talk to a real person. Technology consulting firms are famous for this. You simply can't contact a live person, but when you leave a message, it can take days until someone calls you back. Responding to clients' requests is just not a priority.

The biggest complaint clients of professional firms have is the lack of connection and responsiveness. While most firms and practitioners are wired up to their eyebrows with all sorts of fiendish electronic gadgets, most of them are mysteriously unavailable for their clients. When most firms are contacted, callers end up on the firm's complex voicemail labyrinth with no hope in hell to ever find the way to the people they are calling.

The "electronic receptionist" sends two messages to your callers:

You are so busy that you have no time to answer the phone
In spite of being so breathtakingly busy, you are still not profitable enough to employ a real person to answer the phone. So, what is the ultimate message here?

Can this happen because you run a high-volume low-margin operation?

Can this happen because you make a lot but keep very little? Make sure that - almost - always the same person answers the phone at your front desk.

People get used to a specific voice, and expect to hear it every time they call. Although conventional wisdom says that familiarity breeds contempt, I believe lack of familiarity breeds contempt. If I call a firm, and a different person answers the phone every time, that makes me think that the firm has atrocious staff turnover, which is the result of a stinking culture. And a stinking culture can only provide stinking service.

And if the firm provides stinking services, then I don't want to be the part of that. What's the logic in being this firm's client in the first place?

And huge part of your perceived value comes from your responsiveness. And let's face it, since these clients are paying you, they deserve answers to their questions between two official meetings. Remember, you are working with this client from the beginning of the project until completion. That means they can rightfully expect access to you.

Multitask Or Not To Multitask – This Is The Question

2006-01-11T07:28:00.000-08:00

I've always had mixed feelings about multitasking. To me it means doing many things in a half-arsed way. It's a little bit like making love with one's spouse while giving him/her a good beating. And sadly many professional service practitioners live by this erroneous method in every aspect of their lives.

Just think of it. Have you noticed that you go out for lunch with a colleague, engage in an interesting discussion, and during your discussion your colleague keeps checking his PDA for email messages, his mobile phone for incoming calls and his pager for calls, while graciously ignoring you? I think that's plain retarded. I don't think anyone is so important that s/he can't have an hour of peace of mind without technological interruptions.

Many professionals believe that the ability to multitask is really just a matter of intelligence, and for smart people multitasking is really no problem. After all they have the brains for it.

So, what do we see?

Well, so-called type A people use multitasking in every single area of their lives. Interestingly type A people also have an increased chance of suffering heart attack and they also happen to be the most ineffective people in their work. Everything they do, they do it in second gear, with the handbrake halfway on and with only two cylinders firing. Their work often needs to be re-done... properly.

So, what is the logic in multitasking if nothing gets properly done? Also, I've recently read an interesting article in Time magazine about the really false impressions of multitasking.

Researchers Gloria Mark and Victor at the University of California at Irvine tracked 36 information-technology office workers and recorded how they spent their time, minute by minute. The researchers found that the employees devoted an average of just 11 minutes to a project before they got interrupted by an e-mail, a telephone call or a knock on their office doors. After the interruption, on average, it took them 25 minutes to return to the original task. In extreme case people weren't able to continue on the same day.

The workers in the study were juggling an average of 12 projects per person. One described it as "constant, multitasking craziness." The five biggest causes of interruption in descending order, according to Mark:

a colleague stopping by the worker
being called away from the desk
the arrival of new e-mail
the worker switching to another task on the computer
a telephone call

So, I personally believe that even the thought of multitasking can have a serious negative impact both on your work and your life, including some of your best relationships.

A Basic Flaw in Full-time Employment

2005-04-28T09:07:00.000-07:00

Full time employment today looks like this: I expect you to achieve these and these goals and I also want you to spend 40 hours in this office.

It is the same as expecting a military general both to win the war and suffer 40% casualties.

If those associates can reach their weekly goals in fewer than 40 hours, then what is the logic in pushing them to do even more just to fill the time.

Imagine professional marathon runners. Would you expect them to run two full marathons every day just fill up eight hours. That is retarded.

Sooner or later associates will learn they have no chance of winning anyway, and all you achieve is chronic underperformance. They will fill up the allotted time with menial tasks.

You have probably heard the phrase that a slave with two masters is free. Associates who are accountable both for filling up time and achieving certain results are accountable for nothing.

So, if you expect your people to achieve results, then give them freedom and let them figure out how to do it. Unless you are an idiot who regularly hires kindred spirits, that is, other idiots who need full-time micromanaging, give your people credit and trust them they willingly do their best without your standing over them with whips and chains.

Oh, and one more thing. If you say you can’t trust them, then look at yourself how trustworthy you yourself are. Trustworthy people usually have a reasonable amount of trust in others, which is really the reflection of their self-trust. You may have noticed that the greatest flakes are also the greatest sceptics. The most unreasonably demanding clients are the worst providers to their own clients and customers.

The Lunacy of Putting the Client First

2005-01-17T13:56:00.000-08:00

As far has consulting goes back in history, the conventional wisdom has always been putting clients first. Some authors even talk about the rubrics of “becoming slaves to our clients”. Sadly, this lunacy goes as far back as consultants’ putting their own families’ needs behind their clients. How many businesspeople do you know who jump up from the dinner table to take business calls? I know far too many. Many of them are on the verge of divorce.

The other day I went out for Christmas lunch with an accountant friend. I thought we could chat a little bit about non-business stuff, but I was wrong. Besides eating, she spent most of her time checking and responding to emails and messages on her magic mind-fryingly complex (yes, that Blackberry thing) mobile phone.

She openly admits that her life revolves around her clients. But when I put it to her, “So, you are actually the prisoner of your business”, she quickly responded, “but I love my work and care about my clients”.

Then I said, “But you may also love your family and care about your kids”.

Finally she admitted that her business had been kidnapped by some over-demanding clients, and she spends all her waking hours figuring out how to please these idiots. And yes, her personal well-being and family had taken second place behind her business.

But this is just one example.

Just look at most consulting firms’ brochures, websites and mission statements. They are all about putting clients first.

Listen to rainmakers at the Big Five accounting firms. They promise the best and the brightest talent for every single prospect to win the deal. It is interesting that every single person in the firm is the “best and the brightest”. Not one second best. Not one second brightest. I wonder why there are so many lawsuits against them all over the world for negligence, misconduct and pedestrian, garden-variety incompetence. Hm.

However, here lies a big problem.

Your long-term success is the function of your skills and talents, not your client list. My accountant friend also admitted that she hadn’t attended a seriously valuable workshop or conference for years because she was so busy taking care of clients.

Then I summed it up, “So, strictly speaking, you had been busy doling out obsolete advice and self-deludingly calling it ‘taking care of my clients’. How would you like being at the receiving end of such a service? You think you are getting the best service, but your service provider knows that she is misleading you with obsolete information, but she just doesn’t give a damn?”

The knife and fork fell from her hands and her jaws dropped. At this point she understood what I was talking about. (Yes, people call me a provocateur for a good reason and I frequently piss people off, but if that makes them think and re-evaluate what they are doing, then so be it.)

Yes, we know we must be responsive to our clients, but it doesn’t mean that we are on call 24/7.

When mothers with young kids or babies board a plane, the stewardess tell them to take care of themselves first and only then take care of the kids.

Or, here is another situation to explain why this client comes first concept is idiotic.

Even in the 21st century there are childbirth situations where only either the mother or the newborn can be saved, but one of them surely dies. It is almost always the mother who is saved. I spent part of my life as an embalmer, and saw this happen a couple of times. It is always the baby who is sacrificed. It is just plain survival instinct going way back in history. The mother can bear more babies, but without the mother the baby surely dies.
The dynamic in consulting is the same. You can always find good clients, but finding good consultants is a lot harder when you start losing them to stupid management and clients.

One key element here is to make clients understand that the value of your service doesn’t lie in instant access to you 24/7, birthday cards and Christmas gifts. Not even in the poundage of deliverables.

Now you may say it is nice to think of your clients with some small gifts. Yes, no doubt. But consider how many clients you have and understand that sending them gifts can add up to a serious time and money. And every minute and every dollar you spend on buying, wrapping and sending gifts is taken away from time and money you can invest in learning new skills and passing them on to clients in the form of new value which in turn can improve their lives.

My accountant friend is a great schmoozer with her clients, but her skills are seriously out of date.The fact is that you need lots of time and money to take care of yourself mentally, emotional and physically to be in the best possible condition for your clients. You also have to learn new skills within your industry and stretch your thinking by learning from outside your industry.

The other day I read a great article in Pig International, and in a few days I turned the idea into new value (a process) for a client. When I told the client where the idea had come from, and why I read that magazine (learning best practices from seemingly irrelevant sources), she was pretty surprised but agreed with the concept of running with an idea and adapting it to various industries. This is a way of avoiding myopic affects of conventional wisdom. How do you use information from outside your own industry? Do you use it at all? If not why not? And when do you want to start?

It is important that you build your new skills from a broad range of sources. Look, North American colleges and universities churn out 1.93 business graduates every single minute. Yes, you are reading it right. You may not want to become one of this nothing-unique-nothing-distinct crowd.

So, what to do if you have a firm with several consultants? Simple. Put your people first, so they can put their clients first. The sad fact is that when there is a dispute between consultants and clients, most firms fire their consultants and then do some hard-core arse-kissing and boot-licking for disgruntled clients (who are ready to desert your firm anyway). Have you noticed that the best clients always have pretty high tolerance for mistakes?

But there is a problem here. When you lay off one consultant, some other s will follow soon. Morale will suffer, after all it is not easy to convince proud professionals to do some arse-kissing for - most often jerk - clients. And in my experience if clients have problems with a consultant, they are likely to have problems with other consultants too.

So, make sure when push come to shove, you protect your own people like a junkyard dog, not a problematic client.

The problem is that most firms tolerate too much from clients just because clients pay. So, it is only fair to say that far too many consultants work like whores: “I do anything for anyone for money”.

So, putting clients first. No. Be selfish (not self-centred) enough to put yourself first. Without taking care of yourself, and your people, your firm can’t take care of clients.

The age-old adage says, “You can’t give what you don’t have”. So, before you start running around giving clients more value, maybe you had better sit down and take inventory of what is the “more value” you can give.
Do you have that value at all or are you just rubbing off your own frustration, busy-ness, exhaustion, low patience and low energy on them?

Birthday cards and 24/7 access to you don’t represent value worth paying for. They only add to most consultants’ already hectic-beyond-belief schedule. But from the clients’ standpoint they are just eye-candy.

And the other thing is that you have to get clear on priority between clients and your own family and your own life. Just one hint: How many of your clients do you expect to show up at your funeral? As a former gravedigger, I participated in many burial ceremonies, and I can tell you the majority of the crowd is friends and family, not clients. So, with that in mind it may be a good idea to put your own and your family’s life first while you are alive. After all, your business is just a vehicle to giving you and your family a better life. Make sure you just own your business but you do not become your business.

Defining the Characteristics of Value- or Result-Based Consulting

2004-06-29T17:33:00.000-07:00

In traditional consulting emphasis is placed on number of hours worked and poundage of deliverable generated. There is one problem. They hardly ever contribute to the improvement in the client’s condition. Here is an alternative with a different focus.

People from different backgrounds and different organisations are thrown into the melting pot together. Cultures may clash, expertise may collide, experiences may conflict, tempers may rise, but the end result synergistically combines many different perspectives, which is drastically higher in magnitude than the sum of the individual parts.

Diversity and conflicting views are overcome by focusing on a shared objective, usually related to creating both a qualitative and quantitative lasting positive impact on the client’s condition.

By focusing on outcomes, as opposed on tasks and deliverables, the initiative becomes an investment in a specific outcome, and the project’s benefits are directly measurable. There is a drastic difference between spending money on a sales workshop and making an investment in an initiative to increase sales by 20%.

Predefined off-the-shelf (you do it for me) methodologies are replaced by highly customised approaches and implementation (you do it with me). You are no longer an outsourced labourer, but a partner, a collaborator.

Tight time frames and close team work assures that formality and bureaucracy are cut out as much as possible.

Each member of the implementing team is empowered and encouraged to make decisions which under normal circumstances would require several signatures from high above.

The emphasis is not on developing rigid anal retentive plans but creating dynamic, agile and flexible models which enable team members to evaluate various scenarios and turn on a dime if necessary with the agility of a butterfly and deal with the challenge and opportunity with the impact of a tank.

This approach achieves two things. Higher level of improvement in the client’s condition and higher level of satisfaction both for the client and the professional.

What an Oxymoron - Delivering Value for Clients

2004-06-27T11:09:00.000-07:00

It is so interesting. Service professionals all over the world are hammered over and over again for not delivering value for their clients. Yes, it happens, but let us also look at the other side of value creation.

Delivering value is like delivering a package. You deliver the package but the addressee is not there to receive it. So you leave a message about when you will re-deliver it, and then re-deliver. The addressee is not there again. Then you get totally pissed off, and return the package to the sender.

A few days later the addressee screams the speaker out of your phone, complaining that you failed to deliver the package and demands all sorts of compensation from you.

And this happens to so many service professionals. They create tonnes of value but clients fail to recognise that value, let alone actually implementing it, and then complain that hiring this consultant was a waste of money.

Actually most consulting projects go sour due the clients’ sloth and inherent cowardice to take action on the consultant’s advice.

Last year a woman hired me who had just been downsized from her company and wanted to start her own consulting show. After one month she quit my programme because “you didn’t make any money for me”. She nodded to everything I suggested, but failed to take action on it. She said she could get more valuable street-smart business advice from her husband (who is a loyal employee with a secure paycheque) for free.

Shortly after our disengagement, she went back to work for the same hated boss in the same hated business culture as a subcontractor (a.k.a. outsourced labourer) for a bit more than her former hourly rate, but minus the benefits and vacation.

Her big dream of being her own boss and creating her own future is gone by the wayside.

Will all clients ever understand that coaches, consultants and other advisors cannot make money for them directly?

So, when we talk about delivering value for clients, maybe we should also take a look at whether or not they are ready, willing and able to take our value, and what they want to use it for.

Otherwise we can deliver value until we are blue in the face, but clients just keep complaining that they are getting nothing for their money.