There are times when, as a business owner, you need help—this is where a business consultant comes in. American expert Dr Alan Weiss tells us how Australian businesses can benefit from outside consultants and how to choose the right business consultant.
Every business occasionally needs outside help. But most Australian businesses don’t know how to separate the good from the bad and the ugly.
For smaller businesses, an outside consultant can offer objective advice, best practices, models and methodology to gain results more quickly and a permanent transfer of skills to internal staff. But external consultants can create as many problems as they solve.
Poorly trained or inexperienced consultants can end up being damaging for business with reliance on off-the-shelf methods, a lack of sensitivity to the client’s business, culture and environment, and solutions that are not really practical for the client’s business. I’ve been in consulting for well over 20 years and, to my astonishment, I find that about 50 percent of those calling themselves ‘consultants’ don’t really know what they’re doing, but almost 90 percent of those buying consulting services don’t know how to tell the difference.
To choose the best consultant for your needs, try following this advice on key areas to consider:
Referrals: Ask business colleagues you trust for names of people they have used for similar needs, and find out specifically what the results were. (Don’t ask the consultant for references, because they will be hand-selected, glowing and meaningless).
Credentials: Has the consultant ever worked in a conventional job? What are their academic qualifications? How many similar organisations have been clients? Every consultant has to start somewhere, but I’d strongly advise that their start not be with you! They should start in a larger consulting firm, and should also have real world experience.
Chemistry: Meet with the prospective consultant several times before hiring. Ask yourself if you see the other person as a peer and a potential partner? If you don’t respect them, or see them as merely a vendor or subordinate, don’t hire them. You don’t need another employee; you need a business partner for a particular issue.
Demeanour: The individual should look professional and act accordingly. Don’t worry if you get their voicemail because good consultants should be busy. The key is, do they get back to you promptly? Their language should be clear and articulate.
Proposal: The consultant should provide you with a proposal that is based on achieving clear business outcomes, and not on merely delivering technology or methodology. In other words, running focus groups or delivering training programs is simply a task; improving sales results or enhancing customer satisfaction is a business outcome. Achieving the former and not the latter is worthless.
Fees: The consultant should provide a fixed fee for the project. Hourly rates are not as effective, because there is a meter running for as long as the consultant is working. With hourly rates, there is a built-in conflict of interest, since the longer the project takes, the more the consultant is paid. Insist on a fixed fee, or at the very least a cap on the hours.
Every business reaches a point where an outside opinion and/or a breath of fresh air is required. A good consultant is someone you’ll hate to see go when the project ends on time, and who you’ll want to invite back at the first appropriate new challenge. The best advice I can give in choosing a consultant, is to use your judgment: is this someone you would trust with your wallet?
Alan Weiss is a world-renowned speaker, author and consultant based in New York. He is holding a one-day Value Pricing Workshop on Tuesday 7 October at the Hilton Hotel in Sydney. To register or find out more, visit www.alanweisslive.com
—Dr Alan Weiss, Summit Consulting Group www.alanweisslive.com
