This has happened twice in the past year: I reach an agreement with a prospect on a project, only to be told that "the management team" or "a project review committee" has decided not to go ahead. How can I keep this from happening?

There are two likely sources of this outcome. One is that you were really not talking to the fully qualified buyer. If someone does not have the authority to "issue the order" to start your engagement, then you should find the person who does. However, the model of a single qualified buyer may be flawed. It may be that the person was qualified as an individual but that, in your case, the decision does not rest with a single individual. If "the management team" is making the decision, you need to be addressing the team, or at least the most influential members of the team, with your proposed value and approach.

Tip: If a board of directors or management team is making the decision to retain you, see if you can get some time in front of the entire group before the decision is made. This gives you some sense of who members are as individuals, their decision style, how they interact, and (hopefully) their disposition to using consultants and their attitudes about the situation or problem you propose to address. In addition to collecting market intelligence about the organization, issue and decision makers, it may be appropriate for you to presell or discuss your proposed approach or value with the board. Don't leave it to your prospect as an individual to convey your message to the decision making body as a whole.

© 2009 Institute of Management Consultants USA

I am a Gen Y consultant and I don't really have a brand other than myself, which I am OK with. Why do I need a company brand when the client is buying my services mostly for me and not my company?

Perceptions brand value vary, and nowhere more than when considering how generations look at brands. Ther are three major types of brand for a consultant. Each may resonate differently depending on your type of practice and relationships with your clients. First is professional, often designated by a degree, license or certification. An MBA or PhD, for example, may be prized or denigrated, depending on a client's perceptions of the value of academic degrees. Professional certifications and government licenses are generally recognized as validating experience, knowledge and practical accomplishment (e.g., MD, PE, CMC, ATR for pilots).

Second are institutional brands. For most of the later 20th century, who you worked often for carried more weight than who you were as an individual or your academic or professional pedigree. You've heard the expression, "No one ever got fired for hiring XXX"? Many consulting firms used to be, and some still are, strong brands. However, following a series of ethical and management lapses in large firms, including more than a few consulting firms, a company name alone no longer automatically carries the weight it once did.

The third brand is the personal brand. Although the rise of social networking and the "always on and public" style of Gen Yers is described as overly narcissistic by Boomers and some Gen Xers, there is something to be said for making a name for yourself beyond just your profession and institution. Because we are more mobile, staying at one company, and often one career, only a short time. Your most enduring brand may just be your personal one. Although a personal brand changes as your circumstances and interests change, it is more under your control than when the professional/institutional brands affected by company scandal or professional ethical lapses.

Tip: It is never to soon to begin forging a personal brand. Certainly, it takes more time and effort than did an institutional and professional brands. Once you took a job or achieved your certification, you were all set for those brands. Creating and maintaining a personal brand takes more forethought and effort. Make it a priority to have other people know you first as you, rather than classifying you as the ___ (insert certification or degree here) who works for ___ (insert organization here).

© 2009 Institute of Management Consultants USA