The decision to buy something, whether it's a product or a service, requires at least some degree of certainty. You want to be sure that you'll get what you expect.

The same is true when clients are deciding what to do. For example, you probably know (or have heard about) clients who rejected a great sales proposal or decided not to implement a compelling recommendation. In such cases, the clients didn't have enough certainty to take action.

Too often, we take this reality for granted. Instead of being responsive to what will contribute to each client's sense of certainty, we tend to use the same types of proof to support our position in every situation. Just because the use of case studies helped close one important deal, for instance, doesn't mean it will work for all of them.

Your idea of what builds certainty may be entirely different from what a client needs. Your job is to learn how each client processes information. Which forms of communication work most effectively? What kind of proof is the client likely to respond to? How can you combine the variety of options you have to make the most impact on your client's sense of certainty?

You may be the best choice for the work but, to get the job, you'll have to help your clients learn and create certainty about the issues that matter to them.

Enjoy this month's issue, and send me an email if you have comments.

Michael W. McLaughlin, Editor
Author of Winning the Professional Services Sale and Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants
Principal, MindShare Consulting LLC

The 25 Most Influential Business Management Books, according to Time magazine.

In the US alone this year, businesses will spend more than $130 billion battling data breaches and other cybercrime. The cost of combating this problem has grown by 300% in the last five years.

How to Qualify a Sales Lead. Not every opportunity is worth jumping at.

What's happening in the consulting industry in Europe, the Middle East, India, and Africa? Here's a video report from Fiona Czerniawska, co-founder of Sourceforconsulting.com.

InformationWeek study: IT executives are still struggling for relevance among senior business leaders. As a result, CIOs have a tough time creating successful IT programs and initiatives.

The thought leadership consultancy, Alterra Group, has a take on account-based marketing.

Five tips for dealing with a "bad" client.

Google+ on Track to Become No. 2 Social Site in US. I've got 150 invitations if anyone is interested in trying it out.

Small business worker loyalty is declining sharply. This could be an issue for leadership and organizational development consultants to discuss with their clients.

FCC Analysis Reveals ISP Speed Winners and Losers. How does your ISP stack up?

How much you should tip in different situations.

A question I hear a lot is "Who are the top thought leadership marketers among the big services firms?" It would be useful to know what the top thinkers are saying to the market. Unfortunately, the answer usually turns out to be "It depends," or something equally unhelpful.

Researchers at Sourceforconsulting.com have found a better way to answer the question. They rank firms' thought leadership using four categories:

• Differentiation: originality or distinctiveness of its conclusions.
• Resilience: depth of thinking and/or extent of evident research.
• Appeal: extent to which clients will perceive the material to be immediately relevant.
• Commercialization: likelihood the material will encourage readers to take action.

Here's how the major players stack up on each of those four criteria in 2011:

Notice that only one firm, BCG, made it into the top five in all four categories. McKinsey ranked in the top five in three of the categories.

While it's interesting to see how firms rank in this assessment, this evaluation also gives us a good way to think about our own thought leadership marketing. As you outline your next thought leadership piece, consider how it would rate in each of the four categories above. Is your work original, well-thought out, relevant, and likely to encourage your readers to act?

Handling a sales opportunity can be a real juggling act: You've got to forge a strong relationship with the client, sort out the client's issue, conjure up a solution, draft a proposal, and sell the project.

When you are working on so many things simultaneously, it's easy to lose track of the three reasons why clients won't buy from you.

Read the article in The Guerrilla Consultant.

Before hiring a sales trainer, a client is likely to ask the question, "How do you know that your training will work for us?" The reason for the question is simple: CEOs, sales executives, and organizational leaders spend billions of dollars on sales training each year. Sadly, almost 90% of sales training programs have no long-term impact.

In their new ebook, Why Sales Training Fails, Mike Schultz and John Doerr, co-presidents of RAIN Group and co-authors of Rainmaking Conversations, explain the beneath-the-surface reasons why most sales training programs fail to deliver the expected results.

Specifically, they discuss why the underlying concept of sales training works against the goal of achieving improved sales performance. They also show how you can ensure that your sales training achieves long-term gains, not just a brief uptick.

If you're involved with sales training, or about to launch a training initiative, have a look at this complimentary ebook.

With so many organizations offering webinars, it's natural to wonder how this channel contributes to sales lead development. In a study of 500 companies, researchers found that webinars are more effective in generating sales leads for businesses that offer more than a few webinars per year.

59% of the survey respondents who offered six or more webinars per year, for example, found webinars to be a good source for quality sales leads. It seems that the more frequently you offer webinars, the more effective they become in generating leads for you. The message: if you don't get immediate results with your webinars, don't give up too soon.

If you want to learn more about how to produce and deliver a great webinar, listen to our podcast with Roger Courville.

"Credibility is the foundation of leadership."

Next month, I'll talk with James Kouzes, co-author with Barry Posner of the international bestseller, The Leadership Challenge. Kouzes and Posner just published a new edition of their book, Credibility: How Leaders Gain and Lose It, Why People Demand It.

Kouzes and Posner back their work on leadership with over 30 years of original research and data from over 3 million leaders. The new edition of their book offers us a practical prescription for building and sustaining credibility, and improving our ability to lead others.

I'll ask Kouzes about his latest research, how people should be adapting their leadership styles to today's work environment, and how leaders can sidestep some common traps that hinder their ability to lead effectively.

Look for the next issue of Management Consulting News on October 4, 2011.