Primary Consulting Services
What is it that consultants actually do? They help clients solve specific problems. And they do so by using a process. A process is a series of operations required in making a product or furnishing a service. The process of making a hamburger, for example, requires knowledge (how to prepare), materials (meat, bun, pickle, special sauce), labor (cooking, assembling, packaging), and results in a specific output (a hamburger) in a form the client wants. Your consulting process will work the same way.
Consultant's Process
There is a process to producing consulting services. Understanding the mechanics of the process — the required knowledge, materials, labor, and expected results — will make you a better and more efficient consultant.
Consultants who solve specific problems for clients typically follow a four-step process:
Diagnose
Design
Implement
Measure
For example, a marketing consultant would diagnose the client's situation and its cause, design a marketing campaign to solve the problem, implement or help the client implement the campaign, and then measure the results to determine whether the expected results were achieved. The diagnosis may determine that sales are down because business has been lost to a competitor on pricing. In this case, the marketing consultant designs a campaign that stresses value over price, then implements the campaign by developing ads and sales literature. Finally, the consultant determines if sales to the target market — clients that had moved to competitors — have increased.
The exact process for your consulting may be different, depending on what services you offer, to whom you offer them, what results are expected, and whether you solve problems for them or transfer skills to them. However, most consulting processes follow the four steps.
The Consultant's Knowledge
The knowledge required for producing consulting services includes oral and written communication skills, fundamentals of business, and extensive knowledge within your specialty. Your consulting service will also be more efficient if you understand business management and the use of computers and software. Chapter 5 offers numerous resources for developing your knowledge and skills.
The materials you will need for many consulting services are basic: office equipment and supplies, communication tools, reference materials, marketing materials, and any specialized tools or equipment.
Of course, your consulting service will require labor. In fact, most consulting services are labor-intensive. That is, most of what the client is paying for is your time rather than a physical product. You may perform all the labor yourself or get help from employees, independent contractors, subcontractors, associates, or other outside services. In each case, you must understand what the labor requirements of the process are to ensure that the job is being done properly and efficiently.
How do clients know you have the knowledge they need? They depend on your credentials and your references. If you have extensive education in your field, promote it. If you have helped others solve similar problems, get references or referrals from them. Help prospective clients answer the question: Does this person have sufficient knowledge to help me solve my problem?
Result
Finally, you need to define the result you want. Actually, it is not the final step; it is the first one. Until you understand exactly what your client requires, you cannot define the other elements in your process: knowledge, materials, and labor.
For example, before you can develop the specific steps to reach the client's goal, you must decide that the client's need is to increase sales, have a successful event, or reduce employee problems. You cannot efficiently define the components of your process until you have defined your desired output. In our earlier example, you don't select beef as a material until you've decided that a hamburger is the output or end result you want. You can't make “hamburgers” using tofu.
This is where more new businesses get lost than anywhere else. They look at their solution before they've even discovered what a client's problem is.
