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Complimentary eBook: Consult This!
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Consult This: 62 Tips to Consulting Success, by Michael Mclaughlin
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Consultants: FYI
This Month in Management Consulting News
Interview: Al Switzler
One of toughest challenges we face is influencing change in a client's organization. Most change initiatives take longer than planned, bust the original budget, and fail to achieve the desired results. Our guest this month believes there is a better way to change anything.
Al Switzler, co-author of the bestselling books Crucial Conversations and Crucial Confrontations, helped change how we communicate at work and at home. In his new book, Influencer: The Power to Change Anything, Switzler and his fellow authors offer a research-based model for influencing personal and organizational change.
In this month's interview, we ask Switzler how consultants can create a more powerful strategy for lasting change.
We're also featuring articles on the must-haves for every e-newsletter, the secrets of large firm selling, and whether or not to bet that your airplane will land on time.
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Guerrilla Consulting Moment
What is the "best" consulting firm to work for? According to Fortune magazine's 100 Best Companys to Work for, Boston Consulting Group takes the top honor among consulting firms. BCG finished at #11 overall in the Fortune survey.
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The
Guerrilla Consultant -
a newsletter dedicated to applying the principles
of Guerrilla Marketing to the work and lives of
consultants.
You Should See It Coming
Some memories fade with time, but a project that goes wrong can haunt you. We tend to relive those profitless sinkholes, kicking ourselves anew each time.
Even though consultants learn quickly from debacles, in many cases, it's possible to sidestep such headaches entirely by heeding the clues clients give us.
This month, we'll discuss those clues and why it's sometimes better to pack up and walk away from a project than to pursue it at all costs.
Enjoy the article, and
let
me know what you think.
Mike
McLaughlin
Co-Author, Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants Principal, MindShare Consulting LLC
Sellers Are Buyers Too
"Here's one project I wish I'd never taken on. They never even paid me," griped Steve as he waved a three-year-old client invoice at me. "And," he added, "I should've seen it coming." Steve's project "blew up" according to the client and, in a fit of pique, the client withheld his final payment.
Even though he had toiled long hours to deliver a great outcome, when the results fell short, he took the fall. Sadly, such project blow-ups happen more often than most consultants care to admit.
While misfires can happen because of unforeseeable circumstances and self-inflicted blunders, most project failings are avoidable
Prospective clients often send unmistakable signals during the sales process about how they'll work with you and how the project is likely to unfold. Watch for and heed these early clues. They will help you to decide whether you should work with the client or move on to the next opportunity.
Canned Goods
Consultants often walk into initial client meetings with canned questions to "spur a dialogue on the issues." Such questions, the theory goes, demonstrate your analytical prowess while revealing the client's needs.
Naturally, you want to know the client's vision for the future, the obstacles the client sees, and how the project will facilitate the client's goals. But over-reliance on generic questions can set your eventual project on the road to disaster.
When one consultant asked a client to "describe the problem your company is facing," the client laid out the shortcomings of the company's supply chain. The consultant accepted that analysis at face value, and the supply chain shortcomings became the focus of the project. After weeks of effort, the consultant discovered that inaccurate data from the company's accounting system was causing the problem--not inefficiencies in the supply chain.
The biggest drawback to canned questions is that they are rarely adequate for diagnosing complex problems. The answers you get can lead to a false sense that you and the client understand and agree on the definition of the problem. As a result, you might unintentionally end up treating symptoms instead of causes.
There is no magic set of questions to ask in every situation. You have to be a dogged detective. If you and the client aren't pushing past generic questions to the substance of the issues, it's likely that your understanding of the objectives will suffer, and so will the eventual project.
Yeah, Yeah, Whatever
I don't know any clients with lots of time to shoot the breeze with consultants, but some clients are just too hard to reach. That should be a red flag. When your client is rushed, or doesn't have time for you during the sales process, the project isn't a priority. When that's the case, expect trouble down the road.
Once the project gets moving, you'll find access to client executives just gets more difficult. When review of your work becomes complicated, the schedule can slow to a crawl.
| "But over-reliance on generic questions can set your eventual project on the road to disaster." |
When faced with a disengaged client, you have four choices: You can wait until the client focuses on the project, which may be never. You can find your way around that person to a committed sponsor. You can proceed with the project in spite of the handicap. Or, you can walk away.
In my experience, it's rare for a disengaged client to suddenly jump on the bandwagon once a project launches, but it does happen. If you do go forward, just make sure you have a plan for inevitable project delays.
Fussy over Fees
A disengaged client isn't the only warning sign to watch out for. When you find yourself in endless fee negotiations, that's a clue about what's ahead.
Lots of clients understand the relationship between value and fees, and they are willing to spend more as their perception of value increases. Unfortunately, some clients never see that perspective. Instead, they will always haggle over fees, regardless of how fair they are.
And some clients focus on unexpected aspects of costs. I know one client executive who wanted to negotiate an expense cap on seven specific categories of business expenses, but didn't bat an eye at the overall project fee.
It's also more common now to find yourself negotiating final fees with someone other than the buyer. Some clients believe that distasteful fee discussions can strain a professional relationship, so they prefer to let someone else handle the chore.
Don't expect the tendency to fuss over fee details to go away when the project gets underway. It's more likely to show up again and again in challenges about invoices, requests for detailed expense documentation, and slow payments.
Hired Hand
Some clients will specify from the get-go exactly what they want you to do, regardless of what you think.
| "When you find yourself in endless fee negotiations, that's a clue about what's ahead." |
In fact, I've talked to clients who were only vaguely interested in an assessment of the problem--never a good omen. When clients believe they have the answer and only need help putting the solution into place, you are no longer a business adviser, but contract labor.
If it suits your practice, nothing is inherently wrong with taking on such work. But once clients have settled on a solution, their expectations may outpace your ability to deliver. You'll have implied responsibility for ill-defined results with minimal control over how to achieve those results. That's what happened to Steve, and he ended up holding the bag.
The key to success in this situation lies in your ability to influence the project scope and approach so you can create better alignment with desired results. This often means lobbying for changes to the client team composition, the timing of achieving benefits, or tightening project scope.
Without that level of influence, expect to be simply a hired hand and to assume a disproportionate share of responsibility for the project outcome. You are, after all, the expert.
Follow Your Instincts
It's true that some client relationships and projects just don't work out. Yet if you pay attention during the sales process, you will see problems coming a mile away and can stop them in their tracks.
Use sales questions judiciously. Focus on the real causes of the client's problem. Decipher clues from the client's behavior. And don't ignore your own instincts as you decide whether or not to take on the client's problem. Remember, the client isn't the only buyer. You're one too.
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