Consultant proverbs

A consultant's thinking should be at a degree of freedom more than that of the client's. Question the client's assumptions.

A consultant's insight is demonstrated as much by good questions as by good answers.

Organisations are perfectly designed for the results they achieve. So start by assuming that nothing is happening by accident!

Put effort into managing your clients' expectations - it will build good relationships.

Remember that you are not a supplicant! Sometimes you have to say "no" to the client.

Manage the context. It is easy to concentrate on the content of a project, and totally overlook the environment in which it is taking place.

Build client confidence in the early stages of a project by looking for quick successes and making sure the client is well informed about progress

When you aren't talking, you aren't screwing up! Consultants sell by how they listen as well as what they say

The description of your services has to be so clear that a client can describe it to one of his or her colleagues

Speak the simple truth. Being truthful is simple, but keeping the message simple requires time and effort

When in slide show mode in PowerPoint, you can blank the screen by pressing B and restore by pressing B again.

Never make speling mistakes.

It's very easy to be a busy fool in selling. Activity is not the same as success.

You have to sell the problem before you can sell the solution

Make sure you invest sufficient time in pre-proposal sales activities. Consultants spend ages writing proposals, but by then buyers have often pretty well made up their minds who they want to do business with.

The client is often right!

In consultancy, the person is the product. Make sure your "product packaging" is good - you never get a second chance to make a first impression.

In consultancy you sell and deliver promises. Winning and maintaining the trust of clients is therefore vital.

Murphy's law of time for consultants: things always take longer - whether consultant tasks or client decisions!

Often you realise how much you needed a holiday only after you have taken it! Get yours booked in and make sure that you take it.

Remember a sales meeting provides a client with a sample experience of what it is like to work with you and your practice

Clients find it useful if you tell them what you have considered and rejected, as well as what you recommend

You will be kept waiting. Always have something to read or do while waiting at an airport, station or client's reception area.

Getting the structure right is crucial for excellent presentations and reports

Arguments about solutions are often because you have not clearly defined the problem.

Guest Tip of the Month: Remember a good consultant establishes the terms of engagement in detail before they start work. Ill defined project goals, definition and criteria are the number one source of disputes.

Whether you win or lose a sale, always do a win/lose review with the client.

Take pleasure in your work.

Do win/lose reviews with clients when they have taken the buying decision

Celebrate Christmas

You can't change the past, but you can learn from it.

Don't be afraid of silence

Take responsibility for your own learning and development. Zero self investment leads to zero self improvement.

Check the "properties" (File menu) of a Word document before sending it to a client.

The problem is not that all of us need help from time to time - it is when we don't ask for help when we need it.

The tough part of strategy is deciding what you are NOT going to do

If you don't know where you are going, any path will take you there

Difference may be simply difference - not perversity!

Chinese proverb: if you don't change direction, you'll end up where you are headed

You will be kept waiting (at the airport, railway station, the clients reception) so use this time to catch up on your business reading

No man is a fool in his own estimation. However foolish it may look to you, the reasons why people do things is because it makes sense to them!

Consultants are often long on analysis and short on action. So, if not you, who? If not now, when?

Change means leaving things behind, but dont forget to honour the past.

Distance lends perspective to the view. An outside consultant should be able to separate the wood from the trees.

You can't change the past, but you can learn from it.