Sales Effectiveness Report

I recently read about the Watson Wyatt 2008 Report on Sales Effectiveness and Compensation and it had some interesting information. Included was a finding that by shifting 2 hours per week from administrative tasks to selling related tasks an additional $90,000 - $120,000 could be realized by effective sales people.

I first found out about the study from the Top-Consultant.com e-newsletter. It's UK based and a great source of global consulting related information and services .

I suggest you subscribe to it if you are in the management consulting industry.

Good Branding Gone Bad

The title of the article in the February 2008 issue of Psychology Today caught my eye. “Becoming Your Own Brand” spoke directly to the advice I give many of my management consulting clients. As I read further I was enchanted by the words of Judith Sills, the author and PhD. “Your brand” she states “is the professional identity you create in the minds of others”. Perfect. An article I can forward to my clients.

But wait. There’s a hitch. A bit of sidebar advice has derailed her argument.

“Don’t make your niche of expertise too narrow” she suggests. As an example she suggests that describing your expertise as “business practices” leaves a lot of industries open while describing your expertise as “international shoe industry business practices” limits your options.

It certainly does limit your options. And that’s a good thing.

What she fails to recognize is the advantage that limiting your options offers the professional. By focussing on narrow areas of expertise and well-defined markets, it allows professionals to allocate their scarce marketing efforts in the most efficient manner possible. And more importantly, narrowly focussed experts are very attractive to clients who see that expertise as relevant and valuable to their firm.

This is why true, narrowly focussed experts, attract clients from around the world and command premium fees while generic business practice “experts” grind out reports for low margins and long nights, always struggling to chase the next client, rallying around their marketing mantra of “broad expertise”.

There is no such thing as “broad expertise” and the author makes the common undergrad mistake of attempting to position a generic skill set as a “distinctive and desirable” market position.

This critical flaw in an otherwise commendable article makes for another good start, and predictable bad finish, in the race to advise professionals on branding and market positioning.

Top Five Most Read Articles of 2007

Today I was sent an e-mail by the editor at Rain Today about their recent "Best Articles of 2007" special issue. Turns out their fifth most popular article on business development for management consultants was written by us at Beyond Referrals and deals with selling when you're too busy to sell (sound familiar?). It was the fifth most read out of about 250 articles they posted last year.

If you care to read it you can find it at Top Five Articles Issue.

"Everywhere Used To Be Like Alberta"

I am fortunate enough to speak to many consultants in varied practices across North America and what I began hearing as a whisper late in 2007 is now being discussed openly. Things are slowing down. Consultants are still working but the notion of actively seeking new engagements is now at the forefront, instead of the background.

As recently as early in 2007 everywhere I looked in North America, the consulting field was "just like Alberta" - Canada's larger than life, "boomingest" province. Busy, and no worries.

But in 2008, even before this week's stock market crash, and surprising semi-recovery, the consulting industry is starting to look a lot more modest. In case you were just thinking it, I can tell you that others are saying it.

So if you were "selling consulting while you were busy consulting" things will be fine. If you ignored your pipeline for the last few years you better get cracking.

Offshoring Professional Services

Local lawyer Harold Buchwald wrote an interesting article today for the Winnipeg Free Press on the use of lower cost offshore lawyers, by North American firms. You can read the article by clicking here.

RFP's And Professional Services: A Massive Procurement Failure

The above was the original title of the article written by us for CA Magazine which currently appears in their first issue of 2008. The kindler, gentler souls at CA Magazine retitled it "A Decent Proposal" but if you've ever wondered about the real costs, or effectiveness of the RFP process as applied to professional services firms, this is the article for you. Feel free to forward the link to your favourite purchasing deaprtment. And hats off to PMAC who have invited us to present the article at the Purchasing Management Association of Canada (PMAC) national conference in Newfoundland on Thursday May 22, 2008. I'm sure it will generate some long overdue discussion. Again congrats to them for opening the floor to this type of presentation.

http://www.camagazine.com/4/1/8/5/3/index1.shtml

Don't Forget Your Intro, Your Business Card, And Your Newsletter

During the holiday season there are tremendous opportunities to meet new people - and potentially new clients. In previous seasonal articles we passed along some pointers that we'd like to share with readers again.

When you're hitting the holiday reception circuit make sure have these things all in place:

You are prepared to eloquently answer the inevitable party question "So...what do you do?"

You have a pocketful of business cards.

You remember to offer your newsletter to relevant people you are introduced to.

You remember that your goal at networking events is an introduction and possibly a new newsletter subscriber - you are not closing deals here. That will only make you lok and feel, like a selazy salesperson.

Your memory will fade, your business card may get lost, but your newsletter will show up and inspire readers to action, every month.