Five tips for building deep and enduring consulting relationships

Highly successful management consultants first focus on building client relationships and then secondly on developing solutions and completing engagements.??Effective external advisors recognize that having their recommendation accepted and implemented is not possible without first establishing strong, solid relationships.??Make no mistake, consultants must provide tangible value, but to do so, they must first engender trust, confidence, and support among their clients.

Top tips for creating highly effective client relationships:

1.????Walk in the client’s shoes?– Understand the client’s issues from their perspective, not yours.??Without all the complexities of history and background, solutions often seem easier from the outside.??Don’t fall into this trap.?

2.????Listen, don’t talk– Formulate open-ended questions to thoroughly understand the situation and only offer opinions when asked and only after gaining sufficient knowledge of the situation.

3.????Seek informal opportunities to connect?- At the beginning or end of the workday, walk into your client’s workspace and engage in a conversation.??Have a perspective on the issues of the day, but focus on understanding the client and on building confidence and reliability.

4.????Scan the industry press, leadership articles, and social media to generate new ideas?– One of the most valuable things you can do is to bring ideas from different industries or venues to your client.

5.????Create a personal point of view– Identify the key issues facing the client and have something to say about solutions and recommended actions, even beyond your current project.