The Consultant’s Handbook summary

Say you’re the manager of a company that’s deciding which consultancy firm to hire. How would you feel if the consultants you’d invited for a preliminary meeting turned up not knowing any of the basic information about your company? Not great, right?

That’s why any consulting assignment should always start with thorough preparation.

Whatever field you’re offering your consulting services in, there’s one essential thing you simply cannot do without: trust.

That’s why it’s so important to position yourself as a credible source of professional advice from the get-go.

Consultancy involves a lot of back and forth. Addressing your client’s needs and issues requires plenty of interaction. That usually comes in the form of meetings.

So it’s important to make sure you’re getting the most out of meetings. The way to do that is to have a clear structure that helps you ensure the key issues are being addressed.

The first step to winning an assignment is successfully positioning yourself as a credible source of authority. But you shouldn’t overlook the written proposal you’ll be submitting for your consulting services either.

So what should that proposal look like?

Standing your ground when you know you’re in the right is an important and admirable trait. But you also need to know when to give way and acknowledge that your clients may know things that you don’t.

As you’ve already learned, your job as a consultant is to act in your client’s best interest. That includes speaking up when you think they’re making a mistake.

Few things influence the way people understand the world today more than the internet. That also goes for your clients. Their satisfaction doesn’t just shape your current relationships but also the way your future clients will view you. After all, reviews of your service are only ever a few clicks away.

So what’s the best way of managing client satisfaction? Well, you should start applying the “50:50” rule. That means devoting half your attention to results and the other half to your client’s experience.

Consulting teams aren’t always welcome in the offices of the companies that have hired them. It’s easy to see why. Consultants often recommend significant changes which, if implemented, can result in layoffs. Then there’s a more primal factor – people don’t like outsiders telling them what to do.

That means that anticipating potential resistance and uncooperativeness is an essential part of your work as a consultant.