Guerrilla Marketing for Consultants

The R&D Priority

Research and development efforts remain a strategic priority for many executives, even these days, according to a recent McKinsey & Company survey. McKinsey's researchers asked survey respondents about the relative importance of R&D in their companies, the changes those companies have made to R&D spending and strategy in 2009, and the expected results of the changes.

Forty percent of respondents report that their companies are actively seeking to reduce R&D costs. About 34 percent of the executives say that R&D budgets are lower in 2009 than they were in 2008.

Furthermore, in response to the uncertain times, a majority indicate that their companies are changing their approach to R&D. Many are taking on shorter-term, lower-risk projects, or focusing on minor changes to existing products.

This cautious behavior is understandable, but it may lead your clients to overlook longer-term opportunities to innovate--and to emerge from the downturn in a stronger position.

Naturally, clients will look to protect shareholder value, and R&D costs can be an obvious target in any attempt to shore up the bottom line. But it may be worth helping clients figure out if the short-term gain from R&D cuts is a reasonable trade-off for potential long-term value.

Getting the Most out of Employee Assessments

When it comes to hiring decisions, managers often use standard assessment tests to add clarity to an applicant's profile and suitability for the job. In fact, according to a study of 400 organizations conducted by researchers at Aberdeen Group, nine out of ten employers that use assessment tests rely on them for the candidate selection process.

However, Aberdeen's researchers found that top-performing organizations make a wider use of assessment testing and extend the practice to their post-hiring programs, especially for learning, development, competency management, and succession planning. The study points out that employee performance, retention, and productivity can be significantly improved with the effective implementation of a post-hiring assessment strategy.

The biggest obstacle to success in such an undertaking is the need to clearly identify the competencies, behaviors, and performance attributes an organization seeks to measure. Because every organization has a slightly different way of looking at human resource management, many of the vendor-supplied assessment templates need substantial revision to be most effective.

That tailoring effort requires managers to re-examine the organization's roles, performance standards, and career paths. Managers can do that more quickly and achieve better results when an experienced outside consultant helps facilitate the process.

The study found that organizations can achieve an 18 percent improvement in employee performance and a 10 percent boost in retention with the use of assessment tests. Given that potential value, this is a discussion worth having with clients.

Are Layoffs Over?

Even though the economic recession continues, according to a recent study by Watson Wyatt, many executives believe they have already made most of their sweeping changes,  layoffs.

"Many companies are putting the drastic cuts behind them and are now focusing on smaller, more sustainable cost-cutting actions," said Laura Sejen, global director of strategic rewards consulting at Watson Wyatt.

According to the survey of 245 large US employers, 52 percent have done layoffs, up from 39 percent two months ago. However, the number of companies planning layoffs has fallen from 23 percent to 13 percent. Additionally, 56 percent now have a hiring freeze in effect.

For consultants, this means that many clients have done the obvious, though painful, work to rationalize their cost structures. Now, expect organizations to turn their attention to other, more complex decisions like rationalizing product offerings, rethinking new initiatives, and optimizing their sales strategies.

As in any downturn, companies cannot cut their way to success. Even though cash is tight, many organizations will find this to be an optimal time to invest in new ventures. Now is a great time to think about your clients' businesses and ask yourself, what are the two or three near-term growth opportunities my clients should pursue?

When everyone else is slashing, be there with ideas about growth. You'll catch your client's attention, and probably win some work too.

What Are You Here to Do?

It's always useful for clients to let people know why they have hired you, especially when you need cooperation to get the job done. But some introductions work better than others.

Have a look at this excerpt from a memo to the company from Jerry Yang, former CEO of Yahoo!, about his decision to hire a consulting firm:

"As we look ahead and to position us for success in 2009, we're continuing the work already underway to get fit as an organization: actively looking for ways to make process and structural changes to our business that will allow us to work more efficiently, with more scale. We've enlisted the help of Bain & Company to work with the leadership team on identifying ways to leverage our strengths, and to improve and accelerate our performance."

When people read euphemisms like "get fit," "structural changes," and "work more efficiently, with more scale," they think layoffs. Most consultants know that working in a tough environment is part of the job. But sometimes it's better for the client to say nothing at all than to send an evasive, jargon-laden message that raises more questions than it answers.

What's worse is that this type of introduction sets the consultant up as the bad guy when executives make the hard decision to downsize the company.

Not long after the above memo went out, Yang announced, "We anticipate we will reduce headcount by at least 10 percent" by the end of the year. Yang was later replaced as the Yahoo CEO.

Whenever possible, make a substantive contribution to the message your client uses to introduce you or your firm. Emphasize clarity over corporate-speak and brevity over bloviation.

If your firm's introduction has the client team members scratching their heads in confusion or stifling laughter, be ready for a slow start to your project.

HR Outsourcing

As HR executives look at their options for outsourcing, many are opting for a selective or piecemeal approach, according to a study by Watson Wyatt.

The study of 182 US companies found that retirement plan administration tops the list of outsourced systems, while only 22 percent of companies outsource payroll.

In the years ahead, look for more organizations to evaluate their options for outsourcing health and welfare benefits administration. Expect less emphasis on the outsourcing of recruiting and performance management, which are considered more strategic processes for the growth of a business.

HR executives are continuing to push for more influential roles in their organizations. And selective outsourcing of the biggest administrative processes and systems can offer executives an opportunity to remake the role of HR.

What will be helpful for these executives is objective advice for managing large-scale outsourcing projects, and for transforming the HR services delivery model.

Methodology

A debate persists in the consulting industry about the role of methodologies and tools in the sales process.

Some argue that, once you utter a word about "how" you plan to do the work, the client begins to perceive you as a commodity, rather than an adviser. Others suggest, with equal vigor, that a consultant's methods and tools are central to any sale.

In my opinion, both positions are right--and wrong.

Any experienced consultant will tell you that our business has few hard and fast rules. What works for one client doesn't necessarily work for another. What we really need is flexibility, not dogma.

Naturally, clients will ask you to help solve a problem or envision the future. And it's foolish to talk about how you will get there until you and the client agree on what needs to be done.

But it's equally wrongheaded to believe that prospective buyers should have no interest in your methods. Most clients want that vision of the future and a road map to get there. Providing both, in the right proportion, can help close a sale.

If you tell a senior executive, for instance, that you'll help shave 15 percent off the company's inventory costs, don't be surprised when the client asks exactly how you'd do that. Brush that question off, and expect to be shown the door.

When hiring, say, carpenters, most people don't care if they plan to uses 21 oz., Anti-Vibration Hammers for the job. They leave it to the pros to do the job the best way possible.

Services buyers, though, do care how you will do the work. They want to know how your team will manage the project and communicate with the client's people. They want to know how much disruption to expect, and how you will produce the promised result.

The challenge is deciding what level of detail is appropriate for your audience at various points in the sales cycle. Of course, focus first on what needs to be done. But be ready to answer the inevitable "how" questions.

Closure

Clo-sure: a bringing to an end; conclusion

As a project winds down, consultants and clients make that final push to wrap up every detail and stay on schedule. It's common, though, particularly on longer projects, for that last burst of activity to fall short, and so the scheduled end date slips.

In spite of superb planning, some projects will take longer than expected. But you want to avoid a sloppy ending--at all costs. The best, first step to a crisp project ending is to talk to the client about closure from the outset. And then repeat at regular intervals.

You can take simple steps to create a mindset of closure, like scheduling the wrap-up meeting at the beginning of the project, keeping the project end date front and center with the client, setting the stage for how the client will move forward once you are gone, and pushing back on requests to revise the schedule.

Consultants often tolerate delays at the end of projects for the sake of client goodwill and future business development. The attitude is laudable, but this type of flexibility can sap your profitability and convey a message that you don't know how to close out an assignment.

Clients place high value on consultants' skill in facilitating tough decisions. When tough calls linger, don't be surprised to observe tension in the client relationship. Even minor undecided issues can cause delays, so make sure they don't creep up on you at the end.

It's hard work to keep a project on track. Recognize that many schedule delays are subtle expressions of resistance to change. Once you become complicit in that resistance, you're part of the problem, not the solution.

Compromise

It's not easy being a CEO these days--or any executive, for that matter. And in times of tumult, many CEOs turn to their consultants for counsel. But there's a move afoot that is changing how some senior executives get the help they need.

They're listening to their peers instead of to consultants. Why the shift?

According to some executives, consultants' advice is too abstract, and many consultants seem more concerned with extending their contracts than rocking the boat with controversial, forthright advice.

Earlier in my career, one of my colleagues believed his client's business was on a collision course with bankruptcy unless the client's executive team made a corporate course correction. The client disagreed, but offered a substantial, non-competitive contract to advise the company on implementing the strategy my colleague questioned.

Instead of shifting gears and taking the contract, my colleague declined and told the executive exactly why. As soon as consultants compromise their principles in exchange for a contract, it's the beginning of the end of the client relationship.

Few behaviors are more transparent than self-interest, and the act of trying to save a contract can lead to much bigger losses in the end. Knowing that a consultant has the courage to walk away from a lucrative project, which is rarely easy, is exactly what will keep clients coming back for more.

Clarity

"The client didn't implement the team's recommendations,"  complained one consultant.

It's always more interesting for you, and valuable for the client, if the client acts on your recommendations. After all, consultants are hired to get things done. But many of us have worked with clients who failed to implement the improvement programs they paid for.

Often, this failure to launch is attributed to poor timing, lack of budget, or shifting client priorities. But what might also be missing is a lack of clarity as to how the client should proceed. For any project, getting started is usually the hardest part.

Bringing clarity to those first halting steps can be the consultant's most important contribution to the client's success. As you create recommendations for clients, think about the challenge of transitioning from analysis to the implementation phase. For each recommendation, be clear with the client about its purpose, outcome, implication, risks, and remedies. Be explicit about the precise steps the client can take to convert recommendations into reality.

It's easy to blame a client for a lack of will when a consultant's recommendations are shuffled to the bottom of the list. But maybe the consultant is equally to blame. Nothing clears the hurdles of money, priorities, and politics better than complete and clear direction on how the client should proceed.

The real question is how many consultants are willing to light up the implementation path for their clients?

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