How You Talk About Yourself Determines How Prospects Perceive You

Why So Many Consultants Get It Wrong

It’s frustrating when prospects and clients don’t appreciate your value. Not valuing the impact you make and your ability to move the needle is infuriating if not aggravating. But the reality is that it’s your fault that they think this way.

In my article on Mind The Gap Or You’ll Fall Into The Pit Of Struggle, I introduced the concept of a continuum for how your clients perceive you.

If your prospect focuses on what you’re going to charge them, then they see you as a commodity. If they need you to solve a problem they have, then they’re evaluating you on a return on investment basis adjusted for their confidence in your ability to get the job done. If your value is high enough, then they will believe you’re cheap at 10 times your price. If your value is off the chart, they will want to work with you and they won’t even ask you what you are going to charge them because they see you as invaluable.

But the interesting question is how did your prospect come to perceive you the way they did?

More often than not, it is because of how you presented yourself. Let’s map what you focus on in your discussions with your prospects and how this shaped their perception of you.

When you focus on your experience, you’re telling your prospects that you’re a commodity so buy on price. When you need an extra pair of hands, you look for someone with relevant experience. You know the line about someone who’s been doing the same job for 40 years and has never been good at it. Experience doesn’t convey value. Relative to demand, there are so many people who can claim experience that you’ll be invisible to your target market.

When you focus on your expertise, you’re telling your prospects that you are a good problem solver. You’re qualified for the job when the client’s problem matches your expertise. While your client may not have the expertise to solve their problem internally, even an average consultant in your discipline can do it. You’ll be viewed as one of many and will be under constant price pressure as differentiation is very difficult to achieve.

In life, 80% of the challenge is figuring out what your problem is and 20% is solving it. When a prospect has issues that are causing pain that is important and urgent to resolve, they often struggle for a solution because they don’t know the root cause. It takes a consultant with insight to diagnose the situation, determine the root cause, think creatively on how to solve the problem, and then solve it. Only the top 20% of all consultants bring insight to the table. You’ll be viewed as one of a few. When you have insight that is relevant, your prospect will say “Wow, I thought it would be more expensive than what you quoted me.” or “Huh, that’s a lot less than what I expected”. In other words, the value you bring is high enough that you would still be viewed as cheap even if you charged them 10 times more than you are.

Finally, fewer than 5% of all consultants bring wisdom to the table. These are the CXO whisperers who can guide their clients to achieve transformational impact by reshaping their company, industry, or marketplace. Your impact is so large that your client focuses on how soon you can get started, tells you to send over your contract, and doesn’t even ask you what the price is (yes this does happen for the top 5%). The truth is you are perceived as being irresistibly different and there is no ethical price that would change your client’s mind to move forward with you.

Your prospects don’t have preconceived notions of your value prior to engaging with you. You set those expectations by choosing to talk about your experience, expertise, insight, or wisdom. You tell your prospects and clients how to perceive you.

What is the gap between what you know you can deliver and how you’re telling your prospects to view you?

DM me to start a discussion on what you’re doing and saying to create a perception that undersells the impact you can make.