A Potential Client's Triggering Event: The Strong Loonie

We often speak about triggering events as the force that inspires potential clients to move from a state of inaction, into a state of action. For our purposes, the optimal triggering event is an external force that drives change, usually with some sort of time limitation.

Yesterday, the head of The Business Development Bank of Canada, Jean-Rene Halde told Canadian business that they need to make changes to survive the high Canadian dollar, and make them fast. He encouraged Canadian business that may have traditionally leveraged a 40% currency advantage for success to "buy new machinery and equipment, outsource what you can and invest in the intangibles...things such as research and development, technical and managerial training, and process re-engineering."

For many consulting firms this is exactly the kind of activity that will drive clients to seek out their assistance. Is your firm benefitting from this new force of change?

Consulting Engineers in Manitoba - FYI

Although APEGM has no PD reporting requirements for most members, APEGM Members in Training must report their professional development activity to the association.

Today we have confirmed with APEGM that Members in Training attending Beyond Referrals events are eligible for PD credits on a one hour=one hour basis.

Thanks to Lorraine at APEGM for clarifying this.

Beyond Referrals and APEGGA

If you are a member of the Association of Professional Engineers Geologists and Geophysicists of Alberta (APEGGA) and receive the Beyond Referrals newsletter, or have attended one of our speeches or seminars please be sure to check with APEGGA about using these toward fulfilling the professional development requirements of your association.

If you're a Beyond Referrals newsletter subscriber, or have attended a Beyond Referrals event within the last year, and are a member of any professional association, you may want to check with your association to confirm if you can use the time as part of your self-directed professional development requirement. Please feel free to contact us at cal@beyondreferrals.com if you would like more information.

CMC-Canada Webinar Wednesday October 10th - Members Only Event

Selling Consulting When You’re Too Busy Consulting
Webinar hosted by Cal Harrison, President, Beyond Referrals

OCTOBER 10th – 8 a.m. ET

The Toronto Chapter and National Office of CMC-Canada/CAMC are collaborating to bring their members a special presentation that has been developed for CMC Canada by Beyond Referrals and is offered to all registered members for a cost of $12.50 (online) or $20.00 (in-person) for this one hour presentation.

As an added bonus, registrants for this October 10th presentation that choose to attend the Beyond Referrals “Selling Consulting When You’re Too Busy Consulting” two-day seminar at The Banff Centre, in Banff Alberta October 27th and 28th, 2007 will be eligible to receive the original early-bird discount of $150 up until October 12th.

As to HOW you see it? There are two options.

1) Online ($12.50) – you can view the presentation in the comfort of your own home or office. Grab a coffee or some breakfast and watch it as a webcast.

2) In Person ($20.00) – if you prefer not to have breakfast alone, register to watch the breakfast seminar at Performance Advantage’s offices (49 Spadina in Toronto). They’ll be coffee, a take-out breakfast from the Tim’s menu and some engaging conversation after the event.

Vist the CAMC web site to register

Selling Consulting When You're Too Busy Consulting Keeps Rolling Along

Way back in the spring we went on a three-cities-in-three-days speaking tour visiting Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary to discuss the issue of selling when you're already busy. That speech spawned a Beyond Referrals newsletter article which was reprinted last week by a consulting e-magazine on the eastern US seaboard, as well as LawMarketing.com - a site with over 100,000 unique visitors each month.

Hopefully this is an indicator that the consulting world is thriving and working at near capacity.

Mission, Vision and Market Position

I'm asked a lot by clients about the relationship (if any) between these three pillars of strategy. Watch for our next newsletter issue in mid-September 2007 for an exploration of these concepts and how they relate.

The Challenges of RFP's

Beyond Referrals has been engaged to write an article for a national Canadian business magazine on the challenges of using an RFP process to select a professional services firm. We'll explore alternatives to the RFP process as well as some mandatory criteria to make them more meaningful, and reasonable, if they must be used. Watch for more information about a publication date later this fall.