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| Welcome |
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Have
you ever been snared in the presentation trap? It’s
easy enough to walk into, according to Jeff Thull, one
of our featured authors this month. Thull says too many
of us waste time creating presentations that clients
don’t care about, and he suggests a simple way
to avoid the trap.
If
you’re looking for new sources of revenue, Alan
Weiss notes that subcontracting is a profitable and
overlooked option. No need to reinvent the wheel, though.
Before diving into subcontracting, have a look at Weiss’
article for the dos and don’ts.
And
if you want a fresh look at negotiation, Eric Patten
and Kerry Patterson continue their six-part series by
focusing on how consultants can negotiate with clients
and still want to work with them after the negotiations.
We
also have an interview with Ford Harding, author of
Rain Making and Creating
Rainmakers. Harding discusses what it
takes to be a rainmaker, whether it makes sense to be
a specialist or generalist, and if cold calling works.
And
there’s more. We continue our series on writing
compelling marketing letters, and we’re joined
by Jim Stroup, a consultant and author, who wants to
help you take some of the anxiety out of negotiating.
Enjoy
the issue. And send me an email
if you have comments.
Mike
McLaughlin
Editor, Management Consulting News
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| Interview:
Ford Harding |
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Ford Harding has worked with consultants and others,
studied what makes them successful, and published his
results in three outstanding books. One of them, Creating
Rainmakers, has just been updated and
re-released.
In
our interview, we discuss what makes a rainmaker, whether
a consultant should be a specialist or generalist, and
if cold calling works for consultants.
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| The
Writing on the Wall, by Alan Weiss |
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 Creative
Ways to Find Business or How to Ensure Bread Is on the
Table
One
of the elements I stress to people who enroll in my
mentoring program is that it’s important to pay
the bills! Ideally, that means launching a career with
sufficient savings, investment, or loans, but such careful
planning isn’t always possible (especially for
those of us who have been fired, which I can clearly
recall!).
One of the most overlooked answers is subcontracting,
which I’ve found that even seasoned consultants
engage in to maintain cash flow during times when their
own pipelines are dry, or if their work tends to be
seasonal or depressed by some industry event or downturn.
The
best way to subcontract is to let people know that you’re
available. This is a tight labor market in all professions,
and quality help is desperately needed. I receive at
least three inquiries a week from principals of small
and medium-sized consulting and training firms who want
to know whom I can recommend for subcontracting work.
Some hints for subcontracting:
- Don’t set a daily rate. Negotiate for your
fee. Don’t forget—you’re in demand.
- Don’t be too picky. Be willing to work in
all geographies.
- List yourself as generally as possible. “Sales”
expertise will gain far more inquiries than will “financial
sales telemarketing.”
- Learn. Make yourself more valuable as a result
of your experience working for others.
- Maintain the highest ethical positions. Do not
compromise your contractor, and do not attempt to
make personal inroads into an account you’ve
been assigned.
When
you’re subcontracting, don’t stop your own
general marketing efforts. Continue to write, place
ads or appear in listings, speak at high potential events,
network, remain active in trade associations, and do
interviews.
Therefore,
it’s best to seek subcontracting work which is
not overly lengthy or intense. If you’re working
forty hours a week for eight weeks as a subcontractor,
your own pipeline is going to get that much drier unless
you’ve already created a strong “gravity.”
It’s far better to work three or four days a week,
and use the other time for your own aggressive marketing.
You
need a subcontracting strategy, of course. But once
you have one that allows you to continue your own marketing
efforts, you’ll find that this might be an ongoing
part of your growing practice.
Beware of these risks:
- Get references and referrals for your contractor.
This is a partnership, not a servant relationship.
- Ask for a deposit paid in advance. Do not allow
yourself to be paid when the contractor is paid or
at the end of the assignment. Many contractors are
terrible at collecting their own money.
- Establish a clear agreement on expense reimbursement,
including what, how, and when, so that there are no
unpleasant surprises later.
- Be clear on how you represent yourself. Are you
a member of the contractor’s firm or are you
an independent who is allied with them?
- Be careful about tax implications. If one source
of business is your sole business income, and you
take direction from that contractor regularly, you
may find yourself considered an employee by the IRS
with severe tax implications. (There is an article
about this on the IRS Web site).
- Never subcontract full time, or you’ll have
no opportunity to build your own business, which is
the only way to really acquire wealth.
To
diversify your subcontracting “portfolio,”
it’s ideal to have several firms which call on
you. In that way, no matter what the economy, someone
is likely to need you because their specialty is doing
well. Moreover, you’ll be able to learn the business
form a varied group of successful marketers. (If you
were already a successful marketer, you wouldn’t
need them!)
Look
at subcontracting as a temporary earnings alternative
that you intend to wean yourself away from over the
ensuing year. That means that you can’t get too
comfortable subcontracting, but that’s hardly
a threat since you’re only going to make enough
money to augment your income, not to support you. I’ve
known quite a few people who used subcontracting to
support the investment in their own full-time, eventual
business.
In
turn, remember that subcontractors whom you hire should
be thinking the same way. Never become too complacent
that an excellent delivery person will be with you forever
or will never want a raise. In this market, like any
other, you get what you pay for.
`````````````````````````````
Alan
Weiss, Ph.D. is the author of twenty-five books, including
Million Dollar Consulting,
which appears in seven languages. He runs the unique
Million Dollar Consulting™ Colleges three times
a year. You can reach him at www.summitconsulting.com,
where you can also download hundreds of free articles.
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| Got
Prozac? |
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If
your clients seem a little grumpier than usual, here’s
one explanation. A survey of 1,000 US workers found
that less than half (47 percent) were happy, which is
down from 54 percent a decade ago. The same group also
reported sharply lower productivity and poorer
health than past survey respondents.
Granted,
some people in the survey suffer from clinical depression
and seek medical treatment, but others may just be worn
out from the demands of the always-on workplace. When
only half of workers say they consistently finish their
daily work, there’s a problem. If it hasn’t
happened already, it won’t be long before these
trends show up on the corporate earnings line.
Too
many businesses operate work/life balance programs only
when it’s convenient. The problem: figuring out
the ROI of work/life balance programs. The consultants
who can quantify the relationship between those programs
and employee productivity—assuming the business
case works—will be busy for years to come.
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| Crucial
Conversations: Negotiating & Contracting |
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by
Kerry Patterson and Eric Patten
You’re
in the middle of a complex negotiation and the guy seated
across the table from you is really beginning to get
under your skin. If you looked up the words “pig
headed” in the dictionary, you’re sure his
picture would be next to the definition.
You
thought you’d finally come up with a proposal
he’d support. But now that he’s spotted
what he thinks is another weakness in your position
he’s pushing for still another concession on your
part.
Little
does he know, you can be pig headed too.
Read
the article
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| Is
Corporate Blogging a Self-Cancelling
Term? |
|
Probably
not, given that Ford Motors, Dell, Sun Microsystems,
GM, and plenty of other companies are now blogging.
Since more than 50 million adults in the US alone are
now reading blogs, it’s no surprise to see the
titans of commerce dip their toes into the blogosphere.
Add readers from other countries and you’re talking
about a huge target audience.
What
makes this audience even more appealing to corporate
marketers is their profile: more than 40 percent of
blog readers have an annual income greater than $75,000.
So with blog traffic growing at 50 percent since last
year, the topic is bound to be on your clients’
minds.
If
you want a crash course in corporate (as opposed to
personal) blogging, have a look at Debbie Weil’s
new book, The
Corporate Blogging Book. Weil’s
work is original, thoughtful, and, most importantly,
practical.
Whether
you’re thinking about implementing your own blog,
or helping clients navigate the ins and outs of blogging,
Weil’s book will be a handy reference.
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| Coming
Attractions |
|
 “And
when all else fails, don’t use a slide.”
– Gene Zelazny
Since
1961, Gene Zelazny, the Director of Visual Communications
for McKinsey & Company, has helped countless professionals
clear the clutter from their visual communications.
His original book, Say
It with Charts, defined a visual communication
style that is as fresh today as it was twenty years
ago. Next month, we’ll ask Zelazny for his latest
thinking on what it takes to create a great presentation
in a world of skeptical audiences.
Look
for the next issue of Management Consulting
News on September 5, 2006.
|
You
can work for six months or even two years to land
a piece of work, and at the last minute something
happens and you lose it.
