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| The Trouble with Testimonials |
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 I once read a story about a professional speaker who relied solely on testimonials to market his business. The story may be a myth, but it goes like this.
Whenever this professional speaker had a qualified client lead, he would place a large stack of his testimonials in a box and mail them to his prospective client. The selling power of those testimonials was so strong that the speaker didn't do anything else to bring in new clients, or so the story goes.
I admit that I read testimonials in marketing communications, but it's a rare occasion that a testimonial moves me to buy. And in some cases, a testimonial makes me run in the other direction.
Mostly everyone agrees, though, that testimonials are an important part of a marketing program, and consultants use them a lot.
The trouble with testimonials is that they all sound pretty much the same. And most of them are too short to say anything of substance, so writers often resort to platitudes.
With a little effort, it's easy to put more punch in your testimonials.
To begin with, make sure the author of your testimonial is fully identified. It always seems a little flaky to me when the author of a testimonial is someone like Sandra J., CFO of a leading financial services organization. If you can't disclose the identity of your endorser, the testimonial probably won't help you much.
If you want to add more weight to an endorser's opinion, be sure that person is willing to be contacted by your prospective clients, with advance notice, of course.
And, please, resist the urge to publish testimonials from your own employees. Few things are less client-focused than having your consultants wax on about their state of bliss at the opportunity to serve the firm's clients.
You'll rarely--if ever--read a bad testimonial, so look for ways to make yours stand out.
Enjoy this month's issue
And send me an email if you have comments.
Mike
McLaughlin
Editor
Management Consulting News is a publication of MindShare
Consulting.
P.S. Don't miss the next session in our Path to Profit webcast series. This month's program, The Art of Follow-On Selling, focuses on a systematic strategy and specific steps to accelerate your success in selling follow-on work.
Follow the link to learn more about The Art of Follow-On Selling.
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| Interview:
Eric Abrahamson |
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  Studies have found no significant connection between more strategic planning and better performance.
This month, we're joined by Columbia Business School Professor Eric Abrahamson, who believes our drive to be neat and orderly can make us less productive.
Abrahamson's latest book, A Perfect Mess, argues that we might be better off if we let some mess into our lives--and businesses.
Read
our interview with Eric Abrahamson 
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| The
Writing on the Wall, by Alan Weiss |
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 Totally Immersed...or Totally Devoted to Woo
I asked a newer consultant what value he brought to the marketplace. He said, "I have developed a unique method of assessing executives which involves customers as well as colleagues and is computer expedited."
That statement has nothing to do with value. It is an explanation of his methodology. This is a blatantly obvious trap that I can use to trip up even veteran consultants. Its subtlety is zero on any scale.
It might as well have a sign saying, "Trap ahead." But people fall in, anyway.
Read
the article
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| HR Consultants' Thought Leadership |
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 by Fiona Czerniawska
While the market for HR-related consulting is a large and established one, it is currently undergoing something of a crisis, with clients demanding a more innovative, specialised approach to issues, and consulting firms struggling to adapt to these changes.
This may be why the proportion of thought leadership (reports, articles, white papers, and books) which focuses on human resource issues fell in 2006.
Read
the article
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| Reality Bytes |
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We're Spending Money on This?
Does your web site help generate leads for your practice? That was one of the questions asked of more than 700 professional service providers in a study conducted by MindShare Consulting (publisher of Management Consulting News).
Given the amount firms invest in their sites, it's surprising that 62 percent of survey respondents reported that their web sites were either not helpful in generating leads for their practices or they weren't sure if their sites were supporting the sales process.
The study also reported that this poor return on investment occurred even though most survey respondents consider the web to be important or very important to their marketing strategy.
According to almost 40 percent of the survey respondents, a web site can be an effective tool for supporting a consultant's sales and marketing efforts. This may be a good time to take a look at your web site to find opportunities for improvement.
Where Do Sales Leads Come from?
According to researchers at RainToday.com, the top four methods that professionals use for finding sales leads are:
- Client/Partner referral
- General referrals
- Cold call/telephone prospecting
- Conferences, events, and trade shows
In their extensive benchmarking report, The Future of Lead Generation, RainToday authors asked 700 professional service firm leaders about their lead generation activities, including what works, what doesn't, and what they are planning to do in the future.
At no cost, you can download an Executive Summary excerpt from the report, which includes six lead generation insights for 2007. Follow this link to RainToday.com to receive your complimentary excerpt of the report.
Don't Try This at Your Client's Office
Harvard University researchers opened a potential can of worms for managers when they concluded that a nap after lunch may reduce the risk of heart attack.
The research report, which was published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, studied 23,000 Greek men and women ages 20 to 86 for an average of six years. The research subjects, who grabbed a 30-minute nap, three times a week, had a 37 percent lower death rate from heart disease.
You'll probably avoid raising your client's blood pressure if you take your naps somewhere other than the office.
Note to Management Development Consultants
According to Boston-based consulting firm, Novations Group, almost half of US employers plan to spend more time and money on training and developing supervisors and executives next year.
The survey, which drew responses from more than 2,000 HR executives, found that out of eleven categories of training, two were ranked as the highest priorities: management skills and executive development.
Look for organizations to search for consultants and trainers to help meet their training goals for this year and beyond.
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| Coming
Attractions: Ross Dawson |
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 "...in the face of powerful driving trends, it is clear that traditional approaches to providing professional services are under threat."
Few industries, including professional services, are immune from the transformative power of new technologies and the business strategies and practices those technologies bring.
Next month, we'll discuss the seven mega trends impacting the professional services business with Ross Dawson, bestselling author of Developing Knowledge-Based Client Relationships.
Join us as we talk about the opportunities and potential pitfalls of emerging trends with one of the industry's most insightful analysts.
Watch for the next issue of Management Consulting News on April 3, 2007.
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