While McKinsey's principles of effective consulting haven't changed, today's entrants in the consulting world are more likely to be those whose fates have been recast by restructurings and downsizings. Gilbert Zoghlin presents a good example in the story of John Seastone.
During 25 years at the Walgreen Company
, John had risen to vice president in charge of the Wags food service division. But when Marriott bought Walgreen's in 1988, it appeared John would have to relocate. Faced with moving his family out of his native Chicago at age 55, he resigned and accepted a substantial benefits package. But opportunities to land another job like he'd had were slim. Reluctantly, he began exploring alternatives.John wasn't thrilled with the idea of consulting. Yet people were calling him after reading of his departure from Wags to seek his help. Still, he resisted, fearing failure and unwilling to accept that he'd no longer have all the resources at his disposal that he'd enjoyed at Wags. "I felt a consulting career would be like starting over," he says.
Nevertheless, he decided to try a couple of projects, which went well. Clients were pleased and paid him accordingly. He became comfortable networking for more work and, gradually, began to enjoy his new role. "I went from holding the corporate security blanket to realizing I didn't need it," John recalls.
John noticed several things he liked about consulting: variety in his work, no pressure to meet corporate objectives (only the ones he established for himself) and opportunities to be quite flexible with his work schedule. On the down side, he found himself lonely at times and had trouble getting comfortable with his fees at first feeling they were too high, then cutting them perhaps too much, and still not sure where the middle ground was.
John also learned a few lessons:
- That he needs to be flexible and can no longer dictate action. "I learned there was no sense in making a recommendation when you know the person isn't interested in making that type of change," John says. "You have to take it slow, find out what makes your client tick, including his concerns and values. Once you learn the direction he's coming from, you can ease into your recommendation and make it acceptable."
- That he shouldn't come on too strong or too slick. John has shifted his appearance from strictly buttoned down to more relaxed sport coats instead of suits for smaller clients and his manner, from aggressively stating his strong opinions to being a better listener.
- That he has to make the phone ring. A few months after leaving Wags, John was no longer getting calls based on relationships he'd built there. So he learned to initiate calls well beyond his old network.
- Humility. He's gotten used to being kept waiting, and to chilly receptions to cold calls. Fortunately, he's having enough success that he can suffer the realities of being a seller, rather than a buyer, of services.
Notice the emphasis on selling in these case histories? Many skilled executives enter the consulting field with much too little appreciation for the amount of time and effort that must be devoted to developing business. Says New Jersey based career management consultant Neal Rist of Manchester Inc., "While consultants need specialized expertise in a particular field, their success is directly related to how well they can sell. It's not what you know, but how well you sell that will make or break your career."
Scary! Doesn't anybody care about expertise? Of course. It's a given, and you can certainly fail if you don't have it. But what Rist is saying is that an inability to bring in business is more often the cause of failure than a lack of expertise. So think about it. Are you excited about the value you can bring to others? Do you enjoy being of service? Can you communicate that to potential clients? Can you picture yourself spending more than half of your time getting the business and less than half doing it?
You may not know until you have your first client. Then, once you have a client on board, you'll find there's something else more important than expertise and sales ability. Its results. Since that's the only thing clients will pay for the second and third time they use you, you've got to deliver the goods. When you do, sales get the biggest lift there is: repeat business.
Consulting observers Ted Nicholas and the late Howard Shenson, authors of The Complete Guide to Consulting Success (Chicago: Dearborn Financial Publishing, 1993), agree vigorously on this point, "Few consultants are the world's leading authorities in their specialty. Instead, they're active, practical, energetic people who put the theory to work and make it pay." It's not what you know but what you can do that counts.
But even results must be supported by sales activities as a significant on going part of life as a consultant. And lest you be tempted to hide under the excuse that promoting your practice is somehow undignified or unprofessional, consider this advice from consultant Gil Gordon of Gordon Associates in Monmouth Junction, NJ, "Lose your inhibitions, study sales methods and internalize the idea that selling is merely need satisfaction.
