Guerrilla Consulting Speeches and Workshops

Michael McLaughlin is co-author of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants, and publisher of Management Consulting News and The Guerrilla Consultant. He is available for speeches and workshops.

Michael is a consultant and businessperson first, and a professional speaker second. His presentations are based on real-world, hard-learned lessons that your audience will use immediately.

Speech topics will be tailored to meet the needs of your audience. All programs and topics can be customized for content, format and duration.

Representative Speaking Engagements

• Microsoft
• Association of International Product Marketing and Management
• Association of Proposal Management Professionals
• Women in Consulting
• Guerrilla Marketing Association
• Digital Frontiers Conference at Northwestern University
• M² Inc.
• SDForum
• Ragan Communications
• Council of Logistics Management
• Food Marketing Institute
• Grocery Manufacturers Association
• Institute of Industrial Engineers
• Institute of Management Accountants
• International Food Distributors Association
• Internet World
• Marcam Software Annual Users Conference
• National Retail Federation
• National Credit Union Management Association
• 2005 Business Outlook Seminar
• PR21
• Western Bankers Association
• Institute of Management Consultants (IMC)
• Indiana University
• Miami University
• Northwestern University
• University of Michigan
• Vanderbilt University
• University of California

Speech Topics

The Art of Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

For decades, most consulting and other professional service firms were sales-driven, with new projects sourced from networks of business relationships with existing clients. Marketing to targeted industries or client segments was an afterthought, as was the skill of personal selling.

But that well-worn path to success has become more expensive and less effective, as clients have made fundamental changes in the way they buy professional services. In response, some firms spend big bucks on splashy branding campaigns to send messages to the market. For most consultants, expensive branding campaigns are financially out of reach and of questionable value.

To succeed, consultants must rethink how they go to market. This program focuses on applying the time-tested principles of guerrilla marketing to improve the performance of your practice.

During the program, you’ll learn why traditional marketing strategies are failing miserably in today’s market and how to use guerrilla marketing tactics to create an advantage. You’ll also learn how to create a seven-sentence guerrilla marketing plan that will change your fortunes.

Sales Mastery: All Projects Are Not Created Equal

Time is a consultant’s most valuable resource. Use it wisely by selecting the right projects to pursue, and you’ll reap the rewards. Squander your time on the wrong opportunities and you’ll be playing catch up.

It’s tempting to try and outpace the competition by being the first one to write a proposal. Your speed and initiative might score early points with some clients, but you could just as easily misjudge a project and commit to a proposal that will cost you dearly in the long run.

Choosing projects wisely is essential to building a profitable consulting practice. The highly competitive consulting market is filled with firms that will write proposals at the drop of a hat, which gives guerrillas a distinct competitive advantage.

In this program, you’ll learn how to evaluate each opportunity using a systematic process to qualify projects and assess clients, their decision-making process, the probability of winning, your potential profit, and the value of the references you’ll receive once projects are completed.

The discussion also covers the sales process as seen from the client’s perspective. You’ll learn how clients view projects, evaluate risk and separate winners from losers.

When clients call, they want action quickly, and many consultants drop everything to oblige. In this program, you’ll learn how to use time and a project qualification process to clear the fog that shrouds many projects and improve your chances of winning more work with less marketing cost.

“Send Me a Proposal”

The words, “Send me a proposal” are music to many consultants’ ears. Even though they might not enjoy writing proposals, most consultants jump at the chance because they believe that the invitation to write a proposal is a milestone in the sales cycle—an opportunity to get one step closer to a client and a new project.

A great proposal can be a decisive factor in winning a project but it will not, by itself, secure the job for you. On the other hand, a poorly produced proposal can instantly unravel all the hard work you’ve done to persuade the client that you are the right choice for the job.

In this program, you’ll learn how to create and use a well-crafted proposal in the sales process to improve your chances of winning. The discussion will focus on the importance of integrating the proposal with your personal selling process, and will present twelve strategies for doing so. You’ll also learn what to include in every proposal and what to leave out.

Too many sales opportunities are lost because of poorly written proposals. Make sure your proposals support, rather than sabotage, your ability to win.

Other Speech Topics Include:

• Pricing the Invisible – Strategies for pricing services in an equitable, profitable, competitive, and winning manner.
  
  
• Beating “Feast or Famine” – Mastering the guerrilla marketing plan.
  
  
• Why Client Loyalty Is an Oxymoron – Advanced techniques for managing a client relationship for the long-term.
  
  
• You Want It When? – How to lead consultant and client teams for productivity and results.
  
  
• When Projects Go Sideways – Seven common problems that can derail any project and how to deal with each.
  
  
• Change Happens – How consultants can influence change without explicit authority to do so.
  
  
• The Realities of Value-Based Pricing – Is value-based pricing right for you and your clients?
  

For more information and availability, please contact michael@guerrillaconsulting.com

Representative Speaking Engagements

Speech Topics

Download or print this speaker profile (PDF)