Effective Consulting: Choose your clients wisely!
James Baker B.Eng (Civil)
Civil Construction Project Manager / Co-founder of Varicon????Construction Cost Management Made Easy
Consultant / client relationships can sometimes be like the story of the good girl that falls for the bad boy. She thinks that she can turn him good through sheer power of will. Many a burned consultant can testify to the reality that, as much as we would like to believe it, we cannot change our clients.
Potential consulting clients come in three general varieties: those who are stubbornly fixed on the way that they expect their problem to be addressed; those who are open and willing to do things differently but lack knowledge to enable you to do your best work, and those who are fully on board and believe in your way.
I will assume through this article that in your consulting work you provide some unique value that is difficult for others to replicate, and that your methods work. If not, either you are bad consultant or a commodity service provider - neither are a good basis for a consulting career. If you do provide unique value, it is likely that your client will need to adapt to and adopt your methods.
The stubborn consulting client is likely very experienced, and has used many consultants before you, is sure that she has this game figured out, and you are there to do what she tells you to do. Do this and you are a commodity provider. If you have a better way, trying to change this client is likely to result in wasted energy and time on your behalf and strained relationships with the client, who will be even more sure at the end that her methods are right. The best thing that you can do for this client and for yourself is to refer her to another consultant who will oblige her.
In contrast, the "fully on board" client is the ideal. Paradoxically, this is the client who is likely most capable to do the work themselves, but also most values the unique value that you can bring. The problem is, where do you find clients like these? They pay better, and take much less effort. The good news is that if you have the ability to reach a large audience, you require only a tiny portion of clients like this to fill your finite consulting hours. For example, if you have a popular blog, a magazine column or other media to reach your clients, these clients will find you.
In between these two ends of the spectrum are the "not sure" clients. They need convincing that your way is the best way to solve their problem. If you have a small pool of potential clients, it is likely that your actual clients will come from this pool. In this case, before getting to work, your first job is to educate them. Through this process they will better understand your methods, and be able to facilitate your work much more effectively. You may find through this process that some turn out to be "stubborn" clients, in which case you know what to do.
It is tempting to take all of the work that comes your way, however a wise consultant will go through a vetting process to ensure that you have clients that you can build a successful and sustainable consulting business with. You can't change your clients, but you can take them on the journey with you - if they are willing to go on that journey. Not only is this a philosophy that will work well for you; it is also how you will best serve your clients.
If you found this article useful, you may also be interested in my other consulting articles