There is no shortage of advice for consultants. There are guides for dummies, shelves of books that open “getting fired was the best thing that happened to me” and endless manifestos on how to make a million dollars (hint: write books on how to be a consultant). There is a profound absence of guides for clients.
In talking to clients and potential clients, some common concerns arise. As a consultant I try to account for those concerns, and address them head on in initial meetings.
For example, I try to ensure clients never wonder what I’m doing. For most clients I send a weekly update memo, generally a single page with a bullet points on what I accomplished in the past week and what I hope to accomplish in the next week. I try to make it clear what my fees cover and what they don’t cover (I don’t charge for faxing, long distance calls or other fixed fees that I would pay regardless of who hired me, I do charge for expenses like cabs and meals that I incur as the result of a specific project, I never charge a markup or administrative fee). That sort of thing. Some of what I talk about early in an engagement is in response to frustrations I have had with consultants over the years, and frustrations I have heard from clients (mine and others).
As a client, there are some things you can do to help me as well.
These tips are based on the premise that I want you to think I did a good job. If you don’t think you’re getting good value for your dollar, you are unlikely to hire me again. You are also unlikely to recommend me to your friends; worse, you may suggest your friends not hire me either. None of us wants that, no you, not me, not my mortgage lender.
This is an incomplete list, in no particular order, based on one consultants view –
Give direction. The more clear you can be about what you want, the less likely I am to deliver the wrong thing.
Consult. My job is to give you advice - ask for it. You don't have to take it (I'm paid to offer input, not have it taken), but it doesn't hurt to seek it out.
Give feedback. No consultant wants to send dispatches from remote corners of the empire that junior clerks record and file. Let us know what we’re doing right and wrong, and how we can better serve you.
Ask questions. I work for you, you don’t work for me. Ask me questions, probe my thinking and approach. We’ll both be better for it. But with the answers in hand,
Trust. You’ve hired a consultant because I can do something you cannot, or that you do not have the time to do. Let me. Give me direction, ask a lot of questions, provide positive and negative feedback, and then let me help you.
This seems like a good can of worms to open on a Monday morning –
What are other tips for clients?
And what are other tips for consultants?
