Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

Sniping at the Big Firms

If you listen to critics who grouse about the big professional services firms, you might be tempted to conclude that large firms succeed because of their substantial "advantages" in the market. But too many critics discount the success of large firms and lose sight of the valuable lessons any consultant can learn from the big players.

Look at many of their balance sheets and you'll find a solid base of capital, few liabilities, and enviable cash flow. By most other performance measures, too, large firms are thriving. Revenue and profit per employee are strong, gross margins are holding steady, and the backlog of sold work is to die for. They must be doing something right.

This month in the Guerrilla Consultant, we look beyond the stereotypes and discuss how and why large firms manage to turn in consistently strong business performance.

Read this month's issue.

Who Reads Your Press Release?

If you've just mailed out carefully prepared, printed press releases about your business, think about this: According to a study by Speaker Magazine, only 2 percent of the recipients will take the time to read it.

Send that same press release by e-mail, and the open rate could get as high as 50 percent. And if you use press release wire services, like Business Wire and PR Newswire, expect journalists to be watching. More than 75 percent of journalists surveyed scan these news sources for ideas.

Beyond Bullet Points

If you missed the first edition of Cliff Atkinson’s book, Beyond Bullet Points, be sure to check out the expanded second edition. Atkinson redefines how we use presentation software (Microsoft PowerPoint in his case), by offering an innovative approach to creating a persuasive presentation structure. He also shows readers precisely how to use his concepts with presentation software.

The new edition of Beyond Bullet Points includes seven new presentation examples, an expanded explanation of key concepts, and many new tips and techniques. The book also includes a companion CD, an updated Story Template and Storyboard Formatter, and PDF versions of ground rules and checklists.

You might also want to read our past interview with Atkinson:

Cliff Atkinson Goes Beyond Bullet Points

How Much Do Consultants Earn?

As a new year rolls around, you may wonder how your earnings stack up against those of others in the industry. To get a handle on comparative earnings, we took a look at salary ranges for consultants from several different sources.

Naturally, there are problems with any reported averages, but the data should give you a sense of where salaries are headed. For purposes of deriving average salaries, a consultant’s role was defined as encompassing all aspects of the consulting process, from problem definition to solution implementation.

The average annual salary, excluding benefits, for US-based consultants is reported as $146,000. The high point in the salary range is $219,000.

As you would expect, the average salary shifts when you target specific geographic areas. For instance, in the San Francisco Bay Area, half of the consultants earn between $127,000 and $271,000, with average salaries reaching $180,000 annually.

Keep in mind these salaries are for employees, not business owners or partners.

Companies Have Bad Habits Too

Most of us know someone who needs to break a bad habit. And most people know why they need to change. But that clear understanding by itself isn’t a predictor of success in kicking a bad habit.

David Maister, one of the world’s leading thinkers on the issues facing professional services firms, believes that organizations suffer from the same problem as individuals—they know what they need to do and how to do it, but often fall short when executing their plans.

This month in Management Consulting News, we ask Maister how consultants can close the gap between knowing and doing.

Read our interview with David Maister.

Also in the January 2008 issue, Alan Weiss reminds consultants that the first sale is always to the person in the mirror. We’re also featuring articles on how to use an e-newsletter and a narrow marketing focus to strengthen your visibility, how to sell in a bull market, and the 2007 year-end results for the MCNews 12 Index of Professional Services, which tracks investor sentiment about the professional services industry.

Read this month's issue.

Stuck in the Middle?

Ask 1,400 middle managers around the globe to describe their companies and the response you're likely to get: mismanaged.

Managers in the middle feel squeezed. Almost a quarter of them are searching for new jobs, and money is a large part of the motivation for jumping ship. But that's not the only reason. Managers don't feel appropriately recognized for the work they do, and they don't see a career path in their current positions.

When these factors are combined with the stress these workers experience trying to balance their work and personal lives, turnover is inevitable.

This reality is an opportunity for senior executives to engage with mid-level managers on a range of issues about the workplace, compensation, recognition, and professional development. Your clients can take some simple steps today to keep their best managers, or they can stand by and watch as management recruiters help these individuals find new career opportunities.

Source: Accenture