Content submissions for the August issue are due by July 13. Please consider contributing articles (maximum 500 words) to connector@imcusa.org, and happy reading!

1. Ask Yourself “How Would I Recruit, Hire, and Use a Consultant?” A Tough But Valuable Exercise...
2. Get to Know the Competition
3. Book Review
4. Members on the Move
5. Member Benefit of the Month
6. Podcasts for Consultants
7. Another Satisfied IMC Flash Opportunity Customer
8. Winning the Devil’s Bargain
9. Free Resource for Consultants
10. Calendar of Events
11. Inaugural ConsultingWorld a Resounding Success
12. National Business Awards Program Calls for Participation
13. Selling Consulting When You’re Too Busy Consulting

Content submissions for the August issue are due by July 13. Please consider contributing articles (maximum 500 words) to connector@imcusa.org, and happy reading!

Ask Yourself “How Would I Recruit, Hire, and Use a Consultant?”
A Tough But Valuable Exercise...

1. How/where would you find a consultant? From the associations? From the magazine ads? From referrals? The yellow pages? A directory? The Web? Or...?
2. How would you sort out amongst 3-6 consultants? Checking references? Reading materials? Going to their websites? Asking for submissions or proposals? Getting them to do a preliminary analysis? Over the phone or in person? Would you scope out the assignment or ask them to do this? List of accomplishments? Other....?
3. How would you structure the financial relationship? Time? Results? Retainer? At will? Chunks? All at once? More than one consultant? Measures for success? Incentive? Trial?
4. What guidelines would you provide for working with your folks? Wide open? Limited? Single reporting point? Share freely? Authority? Communications?
5. What would make you want to get rid of a consultant fast? List 3-5 top factors.
6. What would make you want to broaden or continue the relationship with the consultant? List the top three.
7. How would you handle alerting the consultant to special sensitivities? Political, people, personal...up and down the ladder.
8. How do you think you will value and determine how you personally will enjoy your communications with each consulting applicant? Dreary? Fun? Timewaster? Invaluable? Crisp? Fuzzy?
9. What is the single biggest reason you would hire yourself over all others?
10. What is the single biggest reason you might disqualify yourself? (And what might you be able to do about that?)

Get to Know the Competition

Book Review

Submitted by Michael E. Cohen CMC

Title: Never Eat Alone
Author: Keith Ferrazzi and Tahl Raz
Date Published: February 2005
Theme of the Book: The author is a former partner and Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Deloitte Consulting, a CMO and CEO in the hotel and media industries, and is currently the CEO of Ferazzi and Greenlight, marketing and sales consulting firm. The book emphasizes the great importance of establishing relationships, and presents a wide range of intriguing approaches for doing so, illustrated by personal experiences of the author. If you can get by the annoyance from the author’s frequent name dropping, arrogance and self-serving comments, the book has a lot of useful nuggets on the value gained by networking and how to do it. The book is especially valuable for consultants starting out, but there are useful ideas for even very experienced consultants.
Why this book made an impact (major takeaways): Three things that especially stood out for me are the value and necessity of risk taking in establishing relationships, the value of doing things for others with whom you wish to establish relationships, and the proposition that networking is a neglected skill in the management curricula in MBA and other business programs. The futility of glad-handing approaches practiced by many marketing professionals is described. Now if you are like me, you won’t be able to or be comfortable in applying many of the networking approaches the author presents. But you will be able to apply others. The book is very easy to read, and on balance, is a very worthwhile management book for consultants at all experience levels. The book has received a lot of attention; there are 135 reviews on Amazon. I wish I had known and applied some of the principles earlier in my career.

Have You Read Any Good Books Lately? We want to know which books related to the practice of consulting are the ones you found most valuable in advancing your capabilities as a professional management consultant. If you read 10 to 15 business books a year, probably one or two stand out as having significant impact. Which books were like this for you in the past year? Send an e-mail to connector@imcusa.org with the subject line “Favorite Books” and include:

Title:
Author:
Date published:
Theme of book:
Why this book made an impact (major takeaways):

Members on the Move

On May 7th, Tim McInerney, DBA, CMC, FACHE, became board certified in healthcare management and a Fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives.

On June 9th, Crystal Jurczynski presented at the 30^th Annual National Conference of the Independent Computer Consultants Association. Crystal, an IMC Chicagoland Board Member, shared “Secrets of Web site Persuasion.” Her highly-interactive presentation featured numerous examples of influence in action on real-world Web sites.

Cerulean Associates’ Managing Director John Avellanet was a guest on the international My Technology Lawyer and Tomorrow’s Business radio programs. Additionally, John has been named to the international IT Compliance Institute’s Educational Advisory Board.

In June 2007, Peter McAliney CMC PMP, NJ Chapter member and Chenery & Company, Inc. President, published a book with Pamela McGhee entitled Painless Project Management, which is ideal for consultants and their clients who want to get a handle on good project management skills.

Do you have news? Received an award? Doing research? Spoke at a meeting? Used an interesting product? Let your colleagues know! Submit an update to connector@imcusa.org. Please limit your text to four to five sentences and include relevant links.

Member Benefit of the Month

This month’s feature…The American Small Business Coalition (ASBC) is a powerful organization devoted to connecting federal agencies and federal contractors with each other. IMC USA members receive free membership in the ASBC that gives them access to ASBC resources in 17 states and four countries (not just Washington, DC). Get connected directly to the largest and fastest growing market for management consultants, including engagements in homeland security, healthcare, transportation, finance, commerce strategy, IT, marketing and other specialties and sectors. To register as an IMC Alliance Member, go to http://www.theasbc.org/ and click Join Now. Fill out your personal information and select the Basic Membership. Under “How did you learn about the ASBC,” select “Other” and then enter IMC in the box labeled “If you heard about us…”. Click Register and on the next page, select “invoice me.” ASBC will register you and not charge you (the first 6 months are free for IMC members).

Podcasts for Consultants

Here are three sources of professional and useful podcasts for management consultants:

• Management Consulting News Podcasts
• AMA Edgewise
• David Maister’s Masterclass

Another Satisfied IMC Flash Opportunity Customer

Winning the Devil’s Bargain

Free Resource for Consultants

Download your free copy of Michael McLaughlin’s Consult This! 62 Tips for Consulting Success, a short e-book that offers a range of ideas for you to consider as you work to become a better consultant.  

Calendar of Events

Wednesday, July 18, 2:00 p.m – 3:00 p.m. EST
Private Capital Markets – Part 2 (Get Smart)
IMC USA Webinar (IMC USA members save $70!)
Study of various value worlds available to business owners allow the consultant to gain the knowledge necessary to assist business owners in positioning their companies for transition, sale or value creation. Fundamental finance concepts are introduced, including discounted cash flow, net present value and cost of capital, relative to the private business owner. Case studies are used to illustrate the major topics. Utilizes and based upon the text Private Capital Markets by Robert T. Slee; published by Wiley. For more information, visit the IMC USA Academy for Professional Development at http://www.imcusa.org/.

Saturday, October 27 – Tuesday, October 30
Confab (Get Smart, Get Known, Get Business)
IMC USA members receive a $100 discount!
Silver Legacy Resort and Casino
407 N. Virginia St., Reno, Nevada
IMC USA’s annual conference celebrates its 30^th year in 2007! Confab continues to be a force in the industry for consultants can gather to learn and share knowledge, as well as network with their peers. This year’s program recognizes a changing market and addresses how to move forward with clients’ and consultants’ best interests in mind. The four-day conference will be a can’t-miss event for hundreds of consultants, exhibitors and industry leaders. For more information, visit http://www.confabusa.org/.

Monday, November 26 – Friday, November 30
The Million Dollar Consulting College (Get Smart)
IMC USA members receive a 20% discount!
Hyatt Regency Newport
One Goat Island
Newport, Rhode Island 02840
For more information and the meeting agenda, visit http://www.summitconsulting.com/.

Inaugural ConsultingWorld a Resounding Success 

ConsultingWorld is one of IMC’s two annual conferences, with Confab, now in its 30^th year, coming up at the end of October. Although at the risk of oversimplification, since both conferences can support your capabilities and success as a management consulting professional and there is some overlap, each conference is designed to address two important aspects of your practice: where your consulting business is going and how you will get it there:

One way to think of this is that ConsultingWorld gives you the perspective to understand where your clients are headed and informs your strategy to best serve them. Confab provides you the hands-on tools and tactical resources to map out your practice for the coming year. Both conferences provide tremendous opportunites to network and learn from each other, as well as become part of the conference communities.

National Business Awards Program Calls for Participation

In order to participate in the business awards program, a company must register its profile as a supplier in the directory. Winners will be announced and notified by DiversityBusiness.com and honored during our business conference that will take place April 2008 in Orlando, Florida.

Selling Consulting When You’re Too Busy Consulting

Creating a selling process may take a lot of time, but managing one does not. This article is about the realities behind “I’m too busy to sell.

Have you ever wondered what other management consultants are doing to sell their services when they’re busy?

This past April in Vancouver, Calgary and Edmonton I met with consultants and gained some new insights into their challenges, and shared some solutions for balancing selling and delivering. The following is a summary of those presentations along with some of the comments I heard about consulting in these hot markets.

“I’m Too Busy To Sell” – What This Really Means
When I hear this from a client I never take it at face value. This can mean a lot of things, so before you determine how your firm can sell when you’re “busy,” you need to take an honest look at what you really mean when you say “I’m too busy to sell.

Let’s begin with the obvious. Maybe it’s true – you just can’t add another thing to your day. While that may be fine in the short-term, in the long-term you know it’s a recipe for professional burnout and revenue shortages. You need to make changes. If you’re burning the candle at both ends to deliver super-profitable work then build in down-time at the end of the project. If you’re working hard because the work has slim profits and you need to deliver a lot of it, then you’ve got a margin challenge, which is an indicator of a positioning problem. You will have to identify which problem you have so you can take the appropriate action.

The next option is that you may simply decide to choose other more desirable activities over selling. I’m a big fan of work-life balance and think that smart consultants should be rewarded with profit margins that purchase family summer homes, baseball season tickets, and the time to enjoy both. But the sales and profit have to come first. Making time to sell will ensure that it does.

Third, sometimes “I’m too busy to sell” really means “I hate selling.” By deferring to the holy grail of “billable hours” consultants can avoid the guilt (and the attention of their managing partner!) of not doing a task they should be doing. If this is you, then I suggest you start with eliminating your discomfort with selling. It can be done.

The fourth interpretation is the most common and it translates to “I don’t know how to sell” or “I don’t know what I should be doing right now.” This speaks to a lack of meaningful selling process in your firm, as much as it speaks to the lack of selling skills in the individual consultant.

So maybe it’s possible that your time problem is really a knowledge or process problem. If so, better days are just around the corner. The next little bit of information is your place to start.

Selling Does Not Take a Lot of Time
Learning to sell takes some time. Setting up business development processes and infrastructure takes time.

But the act of selling does not take a lot of time.

Once you adopt this as your mantra, the sell or deliver conflict goes away. You will never again be “too busy to sell.” You’ll also notice that once you have acquired the skills essential for selling consulting, and set up the infrastructure and processes, the other reasons hiding behind “I’m too busy to sell” often go away as well.

Good selling yields higher margins meaning more time to manage your business or be with your kids. Good selling makes people comfortable selling, and good processes mean consultants always know what to do when they have time.

So if selling does not take a lot of time why are sales cycles in management consulting so long?

Selling Does Not Take A Lot of Time – But Buying Does
Buying professional services is a journey for a potential client. They begin at a stage where they do not know you exist, and progress through stages of uncertainty and preparation to a final stage where they are signing your contract and writing a deposit check.

Potential clients can fly through these stages in minutes but that is very rare. More commonly they take weeks, months, or years to progress through the buying cycle.

Do you know how to treat buyers at each different stage? If so then you will optimize your time spent on each opportunity. If not you will waste valuable time achieving very little.

Let’s look at an example.

Hi. I’m A PC.” “And I’m A Mac.”
You all know this commercial. It’s the one where the unobservable characteristics of different computers are illustrated using two different people.

So now instead of two people representing two different computers in a television commercial, think of four different people standing in a line with each one representing a different stage in the buying process.

Each has a very different perspective on buying and therefore must be treated differently.

The earliest stage buyer (let’s imagine the one on the far left) has no clue why they might want to hire your consulting firm and probably knows very little about how you help your clients. This person needs you to help them understand how clients are better off after they work with your firm. 

The late stage buyer on the far right is someone that is hiring a consultant right now. This person understands why they need to do this, they want to do this, and they want it to happen quickly.

The late stage buyer on the far right wants to hear about process, deadlines, deliverables and the people on your team, but if you started speaking about those things to the early stage buyer on the far left you would instantly be branded a pushy sales person instead of a respected consultant.

If you have ever felt uncomfortable selling it’s likely because you said or did the right things – just at the wrong stage in the buying process.

Have you ever wished you could take back the time you spent writing a proposal for a potential client that never acted on that proposal? This is the type of inefficiency that comes from using the right sales tactic at the wrong time.

(One of my clients described this as “pulling a Freddy Fender”. I assume he was referring to Freddy’s big hit, “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.”)

The View From The Trenches
Selling while your practice is busy is a hot topic in western Canadian consulting circles right now. This was evident by the strong attendance at the three presentations as well as by the most common question I was asked over the three days – “What tactics should I use to sell when I am busy?

That’s a fair and reasonable question – but one for which I do not have a universal answer. The answer will always be contingent on the situation – to whom are you selling, and where are they in the buying process. And without an understanding of a potential client’s buying process, and how they require differ things from sellers at different stages of that process as described above, there can never be an intelligent answer.

The Internet is loaded with advisors promising us how we can “cold call our way to millions,” or “build a practice on referrals alone”, or “ride the wave of search engine optimization.” Ad agencies will tell you that paid media is the way to go. While all of these are legitimate tactics, they are useless at worst, or inefficient at best if we (i) we rely on them exclusively; (ii) we use them at the wrong time in the buying process or (iii) don’t understand how to weave these disparate tactics into an holistic selling process. The utility of these approaches will be maximized by applying them at the right time, in the right way, for the right buyer. They will be minimized by using them all the time, or at the wrong time. 

What’s Up On the Web
Another issue discussed heavily by busy consultants seems to be the notion of increasing Web traffic. Let me provide some background on this.

Your Web site is the first place a potential client visits, once they have heard of you and determined that your firm may be relevant to them. It’s not a place to close deals with clients. Clients go to your site because they have heard about your firm, and want to learn more about your expertise transforming firms like theirs. Increased traffic on a consulting Web site is primarily an outcome of other awareness raising events like speaking, writing, etc.

However, if you want to use your Web site as the first point of introduction to your firm, then there is no better tactic than an online campaign. There is no doubt that online tactics drive Web traffic much more efficiently than traditional media. And that can be as simple as a well-written e-mail to a potential client you have never before met.

The caveat here is that while online consumer advertising and e-mail list rentals are quite well developed, I have not seen the same level of quality and availability for B2B campaigns.

First – Learn To Sell. Then – Get Help Selling.
Related to all of this, and the question that I am asked frequently is: “Can consulting firms outsource selling?” The answer is no. Consulting firms cannot outsource selling.

Selling will always have to be owned and managed by someone in the firm. What can be outsourced though are parts of the selling process like online advertising and even telephone introductions and appointment setting.

But how effective the outsourced components will be, will always remain a function of the quality of the model that guides them and unifies them into a selling process instead of a series of unrelated selling tactics.

Cal Harrison, MBA, is president of Beyond Referrals, one of North America’s leading business development advisory firms dedicated exclusively to management consultants. Copyright Beyond Referrals 2007.