Advice To Fledgling Consultants
It’s time I spill some beans on what’s been happening here with myself and my “company”. The last two weeks were filled with tremendous amounts of change - mostly in ways that I never hoped to see but can’t say I didn’t see on the horizon either.
As of last week, both Duane Johnson and Pete Lasko, my partners in this adventure, have decided that the startup environment is, perhaps, not the best environment (at least that’s what I am hoping). The other potential answer is that I am a crazed, maniacal tyrant and pushed them to within inches of their life. Only they can speak the truth, but I know they’re both too nice to ever say something to the negative publicly. I can admit when I’ve screwed up and my previous arrangements are no exception.
Also last week, sensing the end was near, I began my search for new team members to pick up where Duane and Pete had left off. I sent out messages to those I knew were connected in the community and posted to a board or two. I’ve received some very qualified responses and we’re already writing code, if you can believe that. I’m still amazed myself.
As Duane and Pete went on their own, choosing life as consultants, they both sought out a little advice and I offered more than my share. I contrast this with the opening stages of a relationship with my new developers. It struck me that there was some good advice in there and thought I would share it.
What makes me qualified? Consider this. In the past 3 weeks I’ve managed to sell my time as a strategist, marketer, podcaster, designer, and developer. I have no formal training in any of these segments but I’ve got the burn marks to prove my experience. I’ve also been doing it in one way, shape or form since I was 16. (P.S. If you think I should be more focused and working on my own thing, cut me a check). I recall talking to Jimmie on the elevator Monday (he’s always telling me “If you can sell anything, it’s yourself”) and I realized that I had sold almost every skill I had in the last few weeks and thought it was pretty great just how diverse that really was.
What’s the point? The point is that in selling to those different audiences, I’ve had to engage many different types of customers and learned to prepare my words to make the process quick, easy, and successful. So…
Today I offer my advice to dledgling consultants (end well-entrenched ones as well):
Trust Your Gut
It's important that you actually like the client you're about to work with. If you've got misgivings or trust issues with the client, you're going to have lots of problems going forward. It's not much different than not trusting your boyfriend or girlfriend in that regard.Do your research. Find out about them, who they are, what they’ve done before, who they’ve worked with. Find out anything you can. Don’t be paranoid about looking behind the scenes, it’s better than being offensive to their face.
If you feel that you don’t trust the client, you’re going to be quite inclined to “lawyer up” from the beginning and that will quickly make most conversations very difficult to complete.
Make The First Move
I'm always blown away, as a client, when a consultant takes the initiative to prove their indispensiblity to me. I'm not suggesting you should build applications or design full interfaces (unless it's really that easy for you).Consider the pack. The rest of them are floating around the ring waiting for the client to push out an offer. They often say that whoever offers first loses. That’s often true, when you view it as a one-time opportunity. If you’re seeking to build retainerships, you’ve got to think beyond the first day.
Avoid Microbilling
Nothing annoys me more as a client than someone micro-billing. Unless you're a lawyer and the industry norm is to bill in 6-minute increments, try to avoid staring down the clock on every encounter. Besides the perception of the client, it's quite frankly, really annoying to manage.When planning your rates, account for the conversation ahead of time. It’s a universal, omnipresent truth that your clients will need to talk to you about what they’re doing. You’re not working yet, you’re actually trying to figure out the work. Once you start contributing your expertise, it’s more than fair to start the clock.
Once again, the goal of this is to not create an environment where your client feels pressured or rushed to tell you things. Them skimping on explanations or assurance-checks will only bite you in the arse in the long run.
Always Over Deliver
It is often said, "Under Promise, Over Deliver". Personally, I try to avoid downplaying what I will do for a client or how I will ultimately help them. I don't under promise, I tell them what I'm doing.When it comes to over delivery, you have many different ways to accomplish this. Sometimes it’s the small flourishes, other times it’s alternative models and methods. Find some way to give more than just what you talked about initially. It’s a wonderful mental challenge for yourself and ultimately establishes yourself as a solution provider, not just a service provider.
Solution providers get referrals.
Build Retainerships
One of the most important lessons I've learned is that you always need to be building relationships (networking is just the beginning of this process). The majority of the clients I have had over the years have come back to me for assistance over and over again - sometimes with years in between calls. Why? I make an effort to keep in touch.The truest sign that you’ve made yourself indispensible is a retained relationship with your client. It’s not about the cash, it’s about the committment. It means you’ve proven that you provide solutions - the kind that really make a difference in a business. Of course, there’s the other meaning - that they need a lot of stuff done and want a better deal - but focus on getting it for both reasons, ideally.
I repeat - seek relationships as often as possible.
So that's it for my unsantioned advice for now. Your mileage may vary. No guarantees. Use at your own risk.
Do you have your own experiences and approaches worth sharing? Let me know.