Consulting Blog for Business Consultants

Ever wondered why some people are just wizards at selling consulting services, and some people just don’t seem to make any headway, no matter how hard they try?

Aside from the typical (and totally useless) response of “he’s just a born salesman” (or saleswoman), don’t you wish that there was a system you could follow to produce the same stellar results when selling your consulting services?

Well there is…

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Just found a great article titled “Consulting - How To Get Started” posted on HubPages. It does a really good job of giving you an overview of what a consulting career is like, what to expect, and what sorts of qualifications you need (and where to get them)…

But I think it falls short in a few areas…

Here’s why…

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I just got my hands on a copy of AICPA’s 2Q 2008 Economic Outlook Survey. This is a survey that the AICPA conducts on a quarterly basis to poll how decision makers in various industries feel about the economic outlook in their own organization, the industry, and the economy as a whole.

I really like the information these guys produce…

It can give you an idea of how your clients are feeling about business in general, which in turn helps you forecast (with more certainty than guesswork) how easy or difficult it is going to be to find new consulting projects.

Here’s one very interesting piece of intel I gleaned from this report.

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What’s the most important thing you’d need to know if you wanted to become a great hockey player?

If you said “how to skate really well”, you’re on the right track.

If you don’t skate well, you have no business even stepping on the ice and pretending to be a hockey player!

The same is true of consulting and communication skills.

If there was ever a career where your success hinged on your ability to successfully communicate one-on-one with people of all learning styles and personality profiles, it would have to be consulting.

Communications skills are probably the most important of all consulting skills… just as important as your industry knowledge.

Unfortunately, communications skills are also one of the most commonly ignored and under-trained consulting skills of all!

So how can you tell if you need additional communications skills training? And what sort of consulting training should you look for in this area?

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