Top 3 Myths of The Consulting Industry
The Lesson
Greetings from Troy,
This week we’re myth busting some beliefs around consulting, and how to think about a career as a consultant.
My FIRST consulting contract was for a cleaning company.
They observed what I had put together in my construction career, they knew I was good at marketing and was just a few steps ahead of them...(major key here)
We helped them find monthly revenue, instead of focusing solely on one off contracts. We developed a system to reduce their chargebacks on projects. We cataloged when employee’s completed a unit or a specific area so they had proof of completion.
It wasn’t rocket science, but it was something they had never thought of before or implemented on their own.
We took them from $-600/month to $3000/month - and then they went on to land larger projects because of the stability in their cash flow.
Here’s the myths we’re busting…
1) You can only be a consultant if you're an expert. You don’t need to understand EVERYTHING, you just need to be good at what you do. Clients are looking for results, and if you can guide them, instruct them or show them the way you’d do things and it’s innovative and different they’ll give you a chance.
Remember, you’re selling an outcome, and not solely your expertise.
You display expertise, and sell the outcome.
2) To be a consultant, you have to be good at selling. Sure, selling is a skill we all need to work on, but a good offer does the selling for you. If you have people that have problems in your network, and you solve those problems you likely can set up a practice fairly quickly.
There are many selling styles, and you’ll have to figure out what style fits YOU best.
3) You can't be a consultant unless you can do it full-time. Surprisingly, you can start consulting part time. Yes, it will take work, and yes it will take up mind space to get things rolling, but you don’t need to spend 8+ hours a day on a consulting contract. Your leverage as a consultant is your expertise, not solely the hours you put into the project.
The Mission
I’ve spent 7+ years managing marketing budgets for clients on Google Ads, Meta Ads, YT Ads, Native ads you name it. Infact, I still have a handful of those contracts running today.
Over the past 6 months, I’ve been reflecting on who I’ve enjoyed helping most in my career, and for the most part it has been marketers, consultants, agency owners, freelancers, you name it.
They all fit into the “consultant” category.
领英推荐
What I like about consultants or folks that aspire to be, is that they’re skilled and they know what what they're doing. They just need a little support clearing up the thoughts that get in the way of putting it all together.
Since the world shifted DRAMATICALLY 4 years ago, working from ANYWHERE has become the new normal, and I don’t see it stopping anytime soon. Solo-preneurship is on the rise, and I truly believe the quickest way to get the freedom you’re seeking is by becoming a consultant.
Selling courses truthfully, isn’t that profitable unless you have a large audience and you’ve wired in the sales process to a tee.
2-3 consulting clients can take care of you in full.
The Study
To accompany this newsletter, I'm going to plug our YT channel, we have a juicy interview going live today at 1pm! What does a consultant actually do? It is a DETAILED interview with the Managing Director of the Strategy Consulting division for Fujitsu.
It goes LIVE on Monday 1pm CST, June 17th:
The Homework
“BE CLEAR, NOT CLEVER” the clearer your offer is, the easier it is to get behind it.One of my first mentors always beat into me that “Cutesy doesn’t sell” it makes people go “awww thats nice” and then they move on to the offer or process that can help them.
In your offer communications or whatever it is you’re selling, how can you be clearer with what you’re presenting?
How can you say EXACTLY what the outcomes are of your prospective clients?
People also buy…
Everything that you offer, in some way shape and form is generally connected to these.
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ABM Manager | Experienced B2B Digital Marketer | GTM and Demand Generation Strategist
5 个月The first part held me back from speaking up for so long, whether on LI or in-house. It took me becoming an "expert" to realize it's really just understanding how to research, evaluate, and communicate that matters.
Founder & Coach at Within | Co-Founder & Strategic Advisor at The GIST | Forbes 30 Under 30 Class of 2020
5 个月Great advice Troy Assoignon. I definitely resonate with this and see my own perfectionism kick in about feeling like I need to be an expert to be able to contribute value when it's not true at all! I think I'm scared of the moments when I won't be able to coach or consult someone on something specific and what that might mean about me and the value I can deliver. But I need to remember there's so much I can already contribute and by waiting, I'm actually doing a disservice to those I can help now.
Sales strategy, email copy, repeatable processes & training for B2B orgs that outbound | Keynote Speaker | Top 4 Finalist - 2024 GTM Advisor of the Year | 2024 Sales Innovator ? #EarnTheRight, the book coming in 2025 ?
5 个月Great advice. When video prospecting was really new I saw a few folks successfully launch consulting cos because they certainly weren’t sales experts but they knew 90% more about selling using video then anybody else at the time!
I help companies who want to increase their team's engagement, retention, communication, and performance | Professional Development Training | Leadership Coach | Public Speaker
5 个月Great read Troy. I loved this reminder you shared: "You don’t need to understand EVERYTHING, you just need to be good at what you do."
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5 个月Love it Troy! By focusing on delivering outcomes and demonstrating your ability to drive meaningful change, you can attract clients and build a successful consulting business.?