10 Consultative Mistakes - Mistake #1

Not Understanding Who The "Buyers" Are
In working with clients, whether you are interviewing for that consultative position or discussing a large engagement for your services, consultants overlook the mere fact that there are at least 3 people involved in making the decision.

It used to be - over 10 years ago if I had to place a time frame on it - that the rallying call was to get to the Economic Buyer. The Economic Buyer Comes from Miller-Heiman's book Strategic Selling which basically means, the person who actually releases the funds, the ultimate decision maker.  Sure, Miller-Heiman's book also outlines three (3) other types of Buyers - all very important in the sale, but if you didn't get to this Economic Buyer, the chances of selling your services - explaining the value you bring and the results you will drive - considerably impacted the probability of getting the business (winning).  This is still true today - however - my contention is: decisions are being pushed down the organization.

Depending on the size of the sale, the other three (3) Buyers are as critical, if not more critical today. Why? Because the Economic Buyer in many cases relies on his or her teammates for their ideas, opinions and expertise. Further, these other Buyers - (some people call them recommenders) - actually make the decision, because the Economic Buyer is a leader of an organization, who is usually a Project Manager, Department Head, CFO, CIO, or someone who "owns" the business, knows that the services will have to be successfully implemented by his or her teammates.

The key word is "successfully." 

The services in many cases, will not be successfully implemented without the help of the leader's team.  Therefore the leader (still the Economic Buyer) knows he needs those people's input and actual "thumbs up" or "thumbs down" on the person/firm who is going to help them.

OK, so what am I saying?

What I am saying is, the more critical people to get to, are those who are at the "lower rungs" of the ladder in the organization.  Your job is getting to these people, understanding their needs, the way they are evaluating services/consultants, the way they view you, and understanding their criteria for making a decision.  Andother key piece of information here is: each person actually may be making a decision with criteria that are completely different than the other person.

Let me repeat this; each person actually may be making a decision with criteria that are completely different than the other person.

A Real Life Example - Simple But True
This is a real life example, while it is simple, it is true and it drives home the point.

A consultant we were placing at a large technology firm met all the position requirements outlined by the Economic Buyer.  The Economic Buyer reviewed the CV and qualifications of the person (the paper) and asked to set up an interview and review of the person's qualifications with one of his project teammates.

The person who interviewed our consultant was not someone we knew. When we asked this person if he had a copy of the position requirements written up by his manager he said "No. It wouldn't be necessary."

We asked him, "Well what will you be interviewing him for?"

His response was something that had no correlation to the position description his boss had outlined. It was out of left field.  But it was something that was top of mind to this manager who would have to work alongside our consultant to get the project completed.

Needless to say, in case you have to know, we lost the business, because this person interviewing our consultant, voted "thumbs down."

But the lesson was a valuable one. The person who sends out the request, may be the manager and the buyer with the money (funds).  But the real buyer, the one with the authority to allow the project to move onto the next round of decisions, may be the person sitting further down the org chart.

Get to know these people and what is important to them.  This is the message and is key to avoiding the first of these 10 Mistakes.

Getting Started On Anything - The Best Way to Completion

People I work with often have trouble getting started on a task. Well, why point the finger, or be in denial, I too have this little problem sometimes. Heck, we all do.

Procrastination - A Strong Root Cause
One of the reasons is we focus on how big the project is.  This focus alone stalls us.  On mind says, "It's so big (complex, so hard) that I won't even start, so let's wait."  The waiting is the issue. Waiting until the cliff backs up to us, and then the date the task is due "sneaks" up on us and we are in a rush to complete it. 

Once we begin it, we realize that the task wasn't that big (complex, so hard) after all.  But we do need more time.  And hence, we ask for more time from our manager.

Being Labeled By High Achievers as Reliable or Unreliable
And hence, we begin to get a reputation that we don't want - "undependable" or worse, "unreliable."  Oh, you might not think so, because who would possibly label us or judge us because of one simple matter?  But managers, clients, and colleagues, do.  Especially the more talented ones - they evaluate us in the minds all the time - ALL THE TIME.  They have to because they have realized that they need others to "win" - to show that they can perform - and hence they form a network of reliable and dependable people. You are either on that list or off that list - or transitioning on or off that list.

So, back to the point. How do we get the task completed?

Where or How To Begin An Assignment?
To ensure success, first begin your assignment by determining how critical it is by comparing it to the other things you have to get done.  Compare it with your other assignments against criteria such as; Who will I have to depend on to help me find out this information? Will they be able to get me this information? Can I depend on them?  (There's that word again - "depend") What are the tasks broken down to similar or manageable "chunks?"  Do I have any of these tasks complete already because of other projects I have done that I can reuse?

Ask yourself these and other diagnostic questions so that you can get your mind around the task.

Also - first before starting - write this project down on your Master List of things to do.  The power of writing something on a Master List is not really describable (search Master List in this blog to understand what this is and the power behind it).  The power of writing this project down on your Master List kick starts the engine of productivity.  Second, write the task or project out on a clean sheet of paper (okay, go ahead and use MS-Word).  Then write out ALL the steps and sub-tasks you can think of.  Of course you can use MS-Project - but not right now, because you are in the formulating stage.

To ensure success - divide the tasks and activities into stages and focus -(another key word "focus") on the most important steps and on those most likely to produce first results by the end of the day.

Then launch!  Jump on the first task - get something started and drive to completion. Set a goal to get that one task done by close of business. By begining a task this alone will eliminate the procrastination we sometimes get.

Also, by beginning a task, immediate results or feedback, will reinforce your confidence and motivate you to sustain long periods of activity without results that we often seek. 

Let's face it - we all like results (obviously the more positive the better).  So, the more you can "salami slice" a task or project into measurable results, the better for you.

A Common Error
A common error is to shun an activity or avoid error or to withdraw from a complicated task before completing it.  In order to avoid this common error is - redefine the activity.  Divide up the activity into more manageable chunks. Begin working on what you can right now. Even if it is a modest victory - completing anything is better than not completing anything or not even starting.

Last, review what you have done, to swell up the courage to get started. Look at what you have already done and remember you thought getting those projects or task done was next to impossible. Yet you did it.

Remember what Goethe said, "Whatever you can do, or dream you can do, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Begin it."

Fear of Getting Started

Going from Professional to Contractor to Consultant can strike fear in our hearts.  We tend to stay in our circle - or comfort zone  because of the fear of failure, looking bad, or making mistakes.

We stay in our circle - paralyzed.  If we are not careful - the fear of failure itself - keeps us from trying and can actually cause the fear. Also known as self-fulfilling prophecy.

What is Fear?
Fear is the talk going on in our heads, that prevents you from hearing your intuition, or the positive side of your mind, that tells you that your ought to launch, try something, get on with it.  It is the most common "limiting" emotion we have.  This is the basis for the flight or fight syndrome.  It is rooted in our primordial being (whatever the heck that means). 

Look, I'm not a psychologist.  But I have studied this subject extensively.

Our mind is trying to protect us.  Our primary instinctive is survival - not success or happiness.  We tend to fear what we don't know, and it is this very thing, that keeps us stuck in not taking action.  Not taking action, keeps us in the dark, ignorant if you will, and thus this ignorance, generates more fear. It's a cycle.  Do you get it? Read this again, because it is of primary importance.

Any time we venture out into the unknown, fear appears. And everyone of us has fears.  The fear of death, the fear of flying, the fear of speaking publicly.  But if we can step outside of the chatter that goes on in our heads, we can see that the fear is often unfounded. 

Oh, sure, we should be aware of things that could go wrong. And prepare for these things not to happen or at least understand the "impact" of these things.  But many of the fears we have are little things - the fear of making a mistake, the fear of looking bad in the eyes of others (embarrassment or the fear of ridicule).

The Thing to Do
The simplest and easiest thing to do is to write out your fear. And then underneath it write out the answer to the question: "What's the worst thing that could happen?"  And then, write out a mitigation strategy (action items) of things to both make sure these things do not occur or if they do, what you are going to do to correct them.

Once you have listed out your fear and the mitigation strategies, create a step by step action plan to launch.  Write out the answer to:  "What's the goal?"  And then write out the answer to; "What are the steps I need to take?' And then prioritize the things according to timing (not easiest or most difficult). Ask yourself; "What's the first thing I need to do?"  And then do it.

The Best Approach Psychologically
The best self-image to have when trying something new is to have the self-image of a scientist.  You have to experiment, try new things, test things out and get feedback and then correct based upon the feedback. Look at yourself as a scientist, experimenting.

This can be difficult for technical people, who are used to getting something perfect before releasing it to the world.  It is an opposing or opposite view of doing something. But you must try and cultivate this approach - the approach of experimentation - and build it into your repertoire.

So, understand the thing you fear - is it monetary, physical, or psychological?  It is real or manufactured?  I would guess, that the fear of getting started on something is 95% psychological and therefore manufactured.

Good luck

Consulting Industry - Growing

According to data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), employ­ment in the management, scientific, and technical consulting services industry is expected to grow by 83 percent—representing a gain of more than 800,000 jobs—over the 2008–18 decade. This represents both the fastest projected rate of growth and the largest expected job gain of all detailed industries. And even during the of 2009 through 2011 recession, this industry has proven to be not only resilient, recovering nearly all of the jobs it lost in the downturn, but offers the person who has needed expertise and experience and the ability to convey this expertise and experience, a very nice living.

The source of this information comes from a nice report written by John Mullins.

John Mullins is an economist in the Office of Occupational Statistics and Employment Pro­jections, BLS. He can be reached at (202) 691–6547 or mullins.john@ bls.gov.