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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I have been getting emails from a number of readers who asked me if they should start working on a consulting project as soon as the client gives them the go-ahead — regardless of whether they have a signed contract/agreement.

My response to them is simple: DON’T!

In my many years as a professional consultant, I have witnessed time and time again how consultants get burned when they put the horse before the carriage.

Here’s why you should never begin any consulting work before you have a signed agreement…

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Unless you’ve been hiding under a rock for the past few months, you must be aware that the economy in the US has slowed down — some say even to the point of recession.

Personally, I don’t care if we are “in a recession” or not… what I care about is how an economic slow-down affects consultants (and the consulting industry as a whole).

Incidentally, this is the second “recession” I’ve personally experienced as a consultant… both as a consultant working in a (then) Big-Five consulting firm, and as an independent consultant working in my own consultancy.

So as you can imagine, I have a little perspective on what it takes to succeed in situations like this.

I think it’s no secret that consultants who make it a priority to invest in themselves and their consulting skills (for example, through consulting skills training) tend to do better in any economic situation…

But aside from developing your consulting skills (which is step #1), what else can you do?

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If you’re a consultant that’s been in the management or business consulting business for any significant length of time, you are sure to have heard of this service… and if you’re looking to expand your practice, you might even be using it to prospect for new clients.

After all, it is perhaps the largest network of professionals on the net (over 20,000,000 professionals, according to their own statistics)… that’s a lot of potential clients.

But they’ve just recently “upped” the ante, so to speak, and with that, given us professional consultants a brand new marketing weapon!  (And yes… it’s still FREE)

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