WHAT MAKES A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT GREAT? Part I of III
WHAT MAKES A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT GREAT? Part I of III
If asked what is a consultant? The answer can be relatively easy. A consultant is any person who applies his or her experience or knowledge to help achieve a goal. A contract consultant is an individual who typically works for himself but he also may be associated with a consulting firm. He is a person who for a fee gives advice or provides a service in a field of specialized knowledge or training. Most consultants carry their own tools and equipment. The consultant can work alone or in conjunction with the client's staff.
The consultant can play a multi-faceted role. He can, for example function as an advisor, a fixer, a boss, a generalist, a stabilizer, a listener, an advisor, a specialist, a catalyst, a manager and a quasi-employee. The actual work that consultants perform for one company to another may vary greatly, i.e. tax account to office decoration. However, the typical underlying reasons that a consultant is hired are universal. A problem exists and the owner or manager of the company has decided to seek the help of an expert.
Bringing in an expert can save time, effort and money. It has been estimated that approximately seventy percent (70%) of all companies call upon consultants at one time or another. Many companies claim that they receive a higher return for their invested dollars by using consultants for specific tasks.
Most companies have experienced the problem of needing short-term technical expertise. Perhaps the company's existing staff is already working to capacity. In many cases, the engineering skills required for a project can be satisfied with a full time employee. When they can not fully justify bringing someone on board full time, their answer is to hire a consultant. By doing so, the businessman solves his immediate problem without permanently increasing his payroll and payroll taxes.
A consultant can be hired when the company may not have any one on staff capable of solving the specific problem. At such times, a costly learning curve on the part of the engineering staff is associated with the project. One example is using a consultant as a viable alternative during the development stages of new products. Hiring a consultant with experience in a given area can then cut days, weeks or even months off a project schedule. In addition, he can help the staff avoid mistakes they may otherwise make. When the project reaches a certain point, the permanent staff can then take over.
A consultant can deal directly with owners and upper management. In this role, a consultant can provide an objective third-party view point. Critical objectives can then be identified and advise given in confidence.
A consultant is a viable alternative in assisting in feasibility studies or in proposal preparation. Perhaps the manager cannot justify shifting the duties of existing staff members. Another time that consultants become useful is when a company is just starting a business. Consultants can begin the development of the company's new product while full time permanent technical staff members are being hired.
The essence of management consulting is to help a client obtain information and advice which leads to real and lasting solution of a problem.
Consultants think, analyze, brainstorm, cajole and challenge good organizations to become even better by adopting new ideas.
All of the above sounds good, however how does one differentiate between any consultant and the truly gifted consultants. In regulated industries, such as the medical and legal professions, recognized experts bestow the title upon the individual. This indicates that the individual completed certain courses of study and was tested and found to possess sufficient knowledge to merit the title. In many other fields, titles seem to have no relationship to experience or knowledge. Just about any one can hang out their shingle and call themselves a consultant.
This is an excerpt from the book Consulting: A Job Or A Lifestyle – ISBN: 1598000640.
WHAT MAKES A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT GREAT Part I of III - To learn more about this author, visit Atul Uchil's Website.
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THE CONSULTANT
If asked what is a consultant? The answer can be relatively easy. A consultant is any person who applies his or her experience or knowledge to help achieve a goal. A contract consultant is an individual who typically works for himself but he also may be associated with a consulting firm. He is a person who for a fee gives advice or provides a service in a field of specialized knowledge or training. Most consultants carry their own tools and equipment. The consultant can work alone or in conjunction with the client's staff.
The consultant can play a multi-faceted role. He can, for example function as an advisor, a fixer, a boss, a generalist, a stabilizer, a listener, an advisor, a specialist, a catalyst, a manager and a quasi-employee. The actual work that consultants perform for one company to another may vary greatly, i.e. tax account to office decoration. However, the typical underlying reasons that a consultant is hired are universal. A problem exists and the owner or manager of the company has decided to seek the help of an expert.
Bringing in an expert can save time, effort and money. It has been estimated that approximately seventy percent (70%) of all companies call upon consultants at one time or another. Many companies claim that they receive a higher return for their invested dollars by using consultants for specific tasks.
Most companies have experienced the problem of needing short-term technical expertise. Perhaps the company's existing staff is already working to capacity. In many cases, the engineering skills required for a project can be satisfied with a full time employee. When they can not fully justify bringing someone on board full time, their answer is to hire a consultant. By doing so, the businessman solves his immediate problem without permanently increasing his payroll and payroll taxes.
A consultant can be hired when the company may not have any one on staff capable of solving the specific problem. At such times, a costly learning curve on the part of the engineering staff is associated with the project. One example is using a consultant as a viable alternative during the development stages of new products. Hiring a consultant with experience in a given area can then cut days, weeks or even months off a project schedule. In addition, he can help the staff avoid mistakes they may otherwise make. When the project reaches a certain point, the permanent staff can then take over.
A consultant can deal directly with owners and upper management. In this role, a consultant can provide an objective third-party view point. Critical objectives can then be identified and advise given in confidence.
A consultant is a viable alternative in assisting in feasibility studies or in proposal preparation. Perhaps the manager cannot justify shifting the duties of existing staff members. Another time that consultants become useful is when a company is just starting a business. Consultants can begin the development of the company's new product while full time permanent technical staff members are being hired.
The essence of management consulting is to help a client obtain information and advice which leads to real and lasting solution of a problem.
Consultants think, analyze, brainstorm, cajole and challenge good organizations to become even better by adopting new ideas.
All of the above sounds good, however how does one differentiate between any consultant and the truly gifted consultants. In regulated industries, such as the medical and legal professions, recognized experts bestow the title upon the individual. This indicates that the individual completed certain courses of study and was tested and found to possess sufficient knowledge to merit the title. In many other fields, titles seem to have no relationship to experience or knowledge. Just about any one can hang out their shingle and call themselves a consultant.
This is an excerpt from the book Consulting: A Job Or A Lifestyle – ISBN: 1598000640.
WHAT MAKES A MANAGEMENT CONSULTANT GREAT Part I of III - To learn more about this author, visit Atul Uchil's Website.
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Dave KurlanDave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Linda RichardsonLinda Richardson is the Founder and Executive Chairwoman of Richardson, a global sales training and performance improvement company. As a recognized leader in the industry, she has won the coveted Stevie Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sales Excellence and she was identified by Training Industry, Inc. as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Training Professionals.” Ms. Richardson is credited with the movement to Consultative Selling and is the author of ten books on selling and sales management, including Sales Coaching — Making the Great Leap from Sales Manager to Sales Coach, and Stop Telling, Start Selling. She teaches sales and management at the Wharton Graduate School of the University of Pennsylvania and the Wharton Executive Development Center. Linda is a frequent speaker at industry and client conferences, has been published extensively in industry and training journals, and has been featured in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Nation’s Business, Selling Power, Success, and The Conference Board Magazine. Learn more about Richardson's sales training and performance improvement solutions at http://www.richardson.com web - Visit Linda Richardson's Website |
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John PowerJohn Power, founder of Biltmore Franchise Consulting, has extensive experience developing and marketing franchises and business opportunities. He has been in and around franchising for over twenty years. From 1980 through 1990 he conceptualized, organized, and developed the American Video Association. He grew AVA to 2,000 national members, before selling the company it 1990. It was later merged into another home video marketing company. From 2000 to 2005 he worked as a contract marketing and human resources consultant to several local and national companies. In 2005 Mr. Power began working as a franchise development consultant on a full-time basis. Since that time he has helped more than three dozen companies initiate and develop their franchising program. He notes that there are many companies interested in developing a franchise program, and who need his specialized assistance. Mr. Power is a “hands-on” franchise consultant. He said, “I am the ‘nuts and bolts’ person who tends to the details for my clients.” Mr. Power holds a B.S. degree with a major in Marketing. See: www.biltmorefranchise.com You may contact Mr. Power at: jpower@biltmorefranchise.co - Visit John Power's Website |
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Dianne CramptonDianne Crampton is an executive leadership coach, team culture consultant, author and president of TIGERS Success Series, Inc. Dianne has been helping CEO's and Executives connect their employees to their core values and goals for over 20 years using the trademarked TIGERS team culture process, which stands for trust, interdependence, genuineness, empathy, risk and success. To download a free white paper on behaviors that build strong teams and behaviors that will predictably tear them down go here. Dianne's contribution to the 2010 Pfeiffer Consulting Journal (an imprint of John Wiley and Sons Publishers) entitled TIGERS Hearted Teams is available in November 2009. Her new book TIGERS Among Us: 5 Winning Business Team Cultures And Why, Three Creeks Publishing will release in March 2010. To receive publishing discounts, subscribe to the free TigerTracks Newsletter here. - Visit Dianne Crampton's Website |
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George LudwigGeorge Ludwig is a recognized authority on sales strategy and peak performance psychology. An international speaker, trainer, and corporate consultant, he helps clients like Johnson & Johnson, Abbott Laboratories, Northwestern Mutual, CIGNA, and numerous others improve sales force effectiveness and performance. Though it's George's strategies and processes that help corporations increase productivity and performance, it's his tremendous energy and dynamism that spark the transformation. Again and again, clients remark on his amazing ability to unleash human capacity and inspire men and women to break out of their comfort zones. The result is a whole new type of salesperson. His customized presentations teach achievers to make stunning advances in their lives. From helping salespeople realize cherished dreams to helping corporations exponentially accelerate revenue streams, George Ludwig leaves audiences and individuals empowered, emboldened, and clamoring for more. George is the best-selling author of Power Selling: Seven Strategies for Cracking the Sales Code and Wise Moves: 60 Quick Tips to Improve Your Position in Life & Business. - Visit George Ludwig's Website |
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Stephanie RobeyStephanie Robey is President and CoFounder of Pivot Positive, LLC - an Internet marketing business focused on helping people start work at home ventures. Previously, she was employed at The Search Agency with over 20 years experience in graphic design and 10 years experience in online marketing. She was responsible for launching the Conversion Path Optimization (CPO) unit where she and her team have conducted hundreds of optimization tests for online companies across multiple verticals. She is a successful entrepreneur having started and sold 2 companies and remains on the board of directors of the third, PhotoSpin.com Stephanie began her career in the direct marketing realm creating and producing direct mail for many of the major cable television companies and directly attributes her understanding of Internet marketing to those early offline experiences. Stephanie is a graduate of San Diego State University with a BFA in Graphic Arts and also holds an Executive MBA from the Graziadio School of Business and Management at Pepperdine University. Read Steph's Blog Meet Steph and Dave Sign up for our Free 7-Day BootCamp: Self Employed & Rich - Visit Stephanie Robey's Website |
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Atul Uchil Video - Atul UchilDo not sell products, services or commodities. Just establish strong relationships with clients and achieve the coveted status of a trusted advisor. Then, your clients will elect to buy services and/or products from you. Never try to sell them.
I know that this sounds deceptively simple. Almost as if one could just sit around and wait for things to happen. Establishing and maintaining trusted client relationships without trying to sell them anything, requires a lot of patience and a constant struggle against the temptation to start selling.
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