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10 Secrets of Consulting Success

written by Mike Shur

Recently one of our star regional sales consultants, Heather Ishikawa, had a big win (Go Heather!).  As we like to celebrate wins in Mountain View the clarion call went out far and wide to various and sundry persons rejoicing in this recent success.  And because the win was especially involved another sales professional asked Heather for any advice, tips, tricks, and inside secrets of her success.  Her hope was that a crumb or two would fall from the heavily laden larder of Heather’s experience, insight, and acumen, but Heather, being a true leader and sharer of wisdom, laid forth a rich banquet for all those interested.

A because I keep my eye out for whatever I can use to bring to the ICON community that might be of use or of interest, I couldn’t resist but also share Heather’s advice with everyone here (with her happy permission, of course).

So here they are, “10 Secrets of Consulting Success” that can be applied to any area of practice, any region, and any level of knowledge and experience.  Apply as many as you can to your business every day and you’ll come to see what’s made Heather such a successful part of the CPP family.

Heather wrote:

1. Go where the money is. Allocate most of your time to growing the customers who should be spending money – large companies or consultants that service large companies, organizations that express strong support for training and development, organizations going through a lot of change (mergers/acquisitions)

2. Ask questions.  When talking to customers, don’t stop the conversation after they say what they want to order.  Ask more questions and be interested in learning about what they do and how they plan to do it.  Ask them about what their key training initiatives are, what other assessments they use, how do they use our tools, etc.  Listen, listen, and listen.  The client is telling you what they need and it is up to you to share with them how you can help them.  In order to get to this point, you must find out what is important to them.

3. Talk to the right people.  The people who place the orders are not usually the decision makers and have minimal influence.  Find out who the “right people” are to talk to.  Ask questions like, “do you deliver this training?” or “did you design this training?” or “who manages this program?”  They may be open to sharing the right contact with you.  Then, track this information so that you have a record of the right people to call.  You don’t want to keep calling on the accounts payable and training coordinators.  

4. Educate customers.  Most customers do not know about the various products and services that you offer.  It is our job to educate them on what it is and how it can help them.  When they buy the MBTI® instrument, make sure they know that they are qualified to use the FIRO-B and TKI.  If they are working with leaders, they may be interested in the MBTI Step II interpretative report.  

5. Make offers.  I believe that if I don’t extend offers and proposals then they won’t be accepted.  If a customer is interested in learning about my offerings, I will send them a proposal.  The more proposals that are out, the better my chances are that one might be accepted – if not now than maybe later.  Talk to everyone about your biggest products and services.  You never know who will be interested.  Track that interest and follow-up with them.

6. Customer calls are first priority.  They shouldn’t be scheduled as an afterthought in the day.  I try to have a minimum of 2 meaningful meetings per day (this could mean 10+ outbound calls before I find 2 people who actually talk to me about what they are working on and what they need). Email doesn’t build relationships and eventually appears to be spam. Pick up the phone and make calls (to the right people).  If I have to choose between calling customers and entering data into my tracking system, then the customer calls will always win.

7. Always review your approach.  If I leave a similar message for 16 people and nobody calls me back then, it is a bad pitch.  I am always reworking my pitch.

8. Look for new opportunities.  You may have heard the expression, if you always do what you always did then you will always get what you always got.  Try something new.  For example, I recently sent out a letter to opt out customers about a new program.  I attached a post it note with a handwritten note that said, “ Hi Sally, Please let me know if I can help you arrange an onsite qualification program at COMPANY.  Thanks!  Heather” or “Hi Sally, I hope you are doing well.  Please pass on my information to anyone at COMPANY who might be interested in this new qualification program”.  I received several follow-up calls on this outreach and it stimulated several great conversations and meetings.  Think about your clients.  What could you try that would be different and peak their interest?  In addition, I talk about CPP and our products everywhere I go.  For example, I recently found a potential lead at a “mommy and me” gymnastics class.  I passed on information to my colleague and she was able to secure a meeting with the company my acquaintance worked for.  Who knows where it will lead but, at least she has the opportunity to have a discussion with them. I have also been known to find customers at Starbucks, the airport, the park and the doctor’s office.  You never know!

9. Be persistent.  Try to follow- up with customers on a schedule.  Every XX months call them to check in and see how they are doing.  I set this up in my tracking system so I know who I need to call and I can easily track it as an activity.  When I complete a meeting I enter it in my tracking system and schedule the next one (monthly, quarterly, annually – depends on the customer)

10. Be creative.  Sometimes the solution isn’t a standard product or report.  This is when it is critical for you to work collaboratively to figure out what would work. You have a team and need to work with them to find success.

 This is my recipe. Hopefully it will help you to cook up a great year.