The Weekly Brief
Memos written for consultants Aug 2014 - June 2024.
Stop wasting time with budget-buyers and start influencing top table executives.
You're wasting your time trying to have value conversations with budget-based buyers. Budget-buyers are middle managers with a limited amount of money to spend on a project. They're the ones who want to know how many days the job will take and what the daily rate
The value of staying in touch
Staying in touch with past clients is essential for consultants, but it can often be neglected due to a lack of time. Here are four reasons staying in touch must be a top priority: * It leads to word of mouth referrals, which are key for new business. * Reaching out to
Do you ever feel like you’re not a “real” consultant?
It’s called feeling like a fake* and that's far more common than you might think. So, this week I wanted to share a coaching tool which can be useful if you feel unsure. It’s also useful for anyone who wants to improve their performance. The tool
The reality of value-based selling
I decided to write a much shorter brief about this. It’s always tempting to write more. To explain more. Like those 350 page business books … that could have be a 10 page article. This is my take on value-based selling Applied this to your consultancy expertise and experience. Let’
A checklist of 9 reasons clients hire external experts and services
The biggest threat to you winning a project might be the client's own internal resources. I've even seen times where a consultants proposed strategy and ideas are 'borrowed'. Then implemented by the client's own team. That's one good reason to
Here’s a horrible task to think about.
Here’s a horrible task to think about. Going through 10 years of emails and deciding what to keep. I’ve just finished doing that. The amount of digital detritus was incredible. Sorting through all the old emails threw up some useful insights though. For example this snippet from a
Practicing the ‘in-the mud’ work improves results ...
Last week I was reminded how often ideas for consultancy growth can look very good on paper … but in reality don’t translate into business results. It’s a bit like the big fat strategy reports produced by the largest consultancy firms. Insightful perhaps but lacking the ‘in-the mud’ details
How often do you let your clients off the hook?
How often do you let your clients off the hook? Here's an example of what I mean from the field of sales consulting... This is what a nicey-nicey sales performance conversation sounds like … “So let me check that I understood what happened correctly … You secured the meeting with
Are you naturally a “can kicker” or “wheel greaser”?
Two phrases I recently heard made me think about influential stakeholders. Some take steps to avoid decision making. Others won’t stop until a decision is made. And, without being political, you may see this playing out at the highest levels. What are the phrases? 1. “Kicking the can down
10 things to work on with your sales coach.
These are the game changers ... 1. Delegation to have more client development time. 2. Mindset to win a bigger project. 3. Provocative questions to ask with ease. 4. Emails that get to the point and prompt action. 5. Productive lifetime relationships. 6. Plan for an exceptional client meeting. 7. Stop