by E. Michael Shays CMC FIMC

Around 1983, IMC Executive Director John Hartshorne and I discussed the need for an IMC logo. We contracted with an artist who submitted several designs. Selecting which one to accept was very subjective, but we both decided three lines converging on three lines had a special meaning for IMC.

John always said that "good consulting was a collaborative effort between the consultant and the client to reach a solution." I liked that, and it has been the basic philosophy of my consulting for three decades.

The three lines coming down represent the education, experience, and expertise of the consultant. The three lines coming up represent the education, experience, and expertise of the client. They merge together to create a sound, satisfying and superior solution. That's good consulting.

Later, when I saw the logo placed in front of the Institute's name I saw these three factors coming from me and merging with three factors from one of my colleagues in IMC to raise the bar in both our practices through our membership in IMC.

The collaborative theme between consultant and client came back to me again as I wrote my book "Pricing Consulting Services; How to Set Fees for the Value You Deliver." The reason I wrote the book was to make the point that when we collaborate with the client on what the benefits would be of the work we are jointly proposing, we command higher fees.