Consultingg e t t i n g s t a r t e d i n

Other Books by Alan Weiss

Alan Weiss on Consulting (interviewed by Linda Henman and Aviv Shahar)Best-Laid Plans (originally Making It Work)Getting Started in Consulting (also in Chinese)“Good Enough” Isn’t Enough (also in Spanish)Great Consulting Challenges

How to Acquire Clients

How to Establish a Unique Brand in the Consulting Profession

How to Market, Establish a Brand, and Sell Professional Services

How to Sell New Business and Expand Existing Business

How to Write A Proposal That’s Accepted Every Time

Life Balance

Lifestorming (with Marshall Goldsmith; also in Korean, Indonesian, and Turkish)Managing for Peak Performance (also in German)Million Dollar Coaching (also in Portuguese)Million Dollar Consulting (also in Portuguese, Russian, Polish, Chinese, Korean, and Arabic)Million Dollar Consulting Proposals

Million Dollar Launch

Million Dollar Maverick

Million Dollar Referrals

Million Dollar Speaking (also in Chinese and Portuguese)Million Dollar Web Presence

Money Talks (also in Chinese)Organizational Consulting

Our Emperors Have No Clothes

Process Consulting

The Business Wealth Builders (with Phil Symchych)The Consulting Bible

The Global Consultant (with Omar Kahn)The Great Big Book of Process Visuals

The Innovation Formula (with Mike Robert; also in German and Italian)The Language of Success (with Kim Wilkerson)The Million Dollar Consulting® Toolkit

The Resilience Advantage (with Richard Citrin)The SECOND Great Big Book of Process Visuals

The Talent Advantage (with Nancy MacKay)The Ultimate Consultant

The Unofficial Guide to Power Managing

The Power of Strategic Commitment (with Josh Leibner and Gershon Mader)Threescore and More

Thrive!

Value-Based Fees

Who’s Got Your Back? (with Omar Kahn)

g e t t i n g s t a r t e d i n

Consulting

A l A n W e i s s

Cover image: © jondpatton/Getty ImagesCover design: Wiley

Copyright © 2019 by Alan Weiss, Ph.D. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.

Published simultaneously in Canada.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or oth-erwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the Publisher, or authorization through pay-ment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, (978) 750-8400, fax (978) 646-8600, or on the Web at www. copyright.com. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, (201) 748-6011, fax (201) 748-6008, or online at http://www.wiley.com/go/permissions.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accu-racy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data:

Names: Weiss, Alan, 1946- author. Title: Getting started in consulting / Alan Weiss. Description: Fourth edition. | Hoboken, New Jersey : Wiley, [2019] | Includes index. | Identifiers: LCCN 2018051259 (print) | LCCN 2018053848 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119542131 (Adobe PDF) | ISBN 9781119542148 (ePub) | ISBN 9781119542155 (hardcover)Subjects: LCSH: Business consultants—Handbooks, manuals, etc. | Consultants—Marketing—Handbooks, manuals, etc.Classification: LCC HD69.C6 (ebook) | LCC HD69.C6 W459 2019 (print) | DDC 001—dc23LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018051259

Printed in the United States of America

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Our 50th wedding anniversary occurred during the writing of this book. This book, all my others, my career, my family, and my happiness would not be remotely possible without Maria. Merely thanking her here for my wondrous life is woefully insufficient, but I am informing all of you that it is almost impossible to get started in any pursuit without unwavering support.

And so: To Maria, with all my love.

ix

Contents

Introduction to the Fourth Edition xiiiAbout the Author xvAcknowledgments xvii

Chapter 1

Your Mindset Will Determine Your Success 1The Notion of Value 1Support Systems 4Basic Necessities 9Hitting the Ground Running 13

Chapter 2

Barging into the Business 19The Concept of Marketing Gravity 19Calling Everyone You Know 25Making Money by Working for Free (Pro Bono) 27Networking Is a Process, Not an Event 29

Chapter 3

Becoming a Marketer 33Creating an Accelerant Curve 33Money Talks 37Wholesale and Retail 41Passive Income 45

x Contents

Chapter 4

Technology for the Next Nine Seconds 49The Greatest Technology Myths 49The Role of a Website Might Surprise You 53Social Media Platforms Are Often Tilted 57Remaining Cutting Edge Without Hurting Yourself 60

Chapter 5

Finding the Economic Buyer 69Saint Paul Was the First Virtual Marketer 69HR Stands for “Hardly Relevant” 70Charging Past Gatekeepers 73The Peerage 76

Chapter 6

In the Buyer’s Office 81Establishing Trust 81Finding Issues and Dynamic Capture 85Gaining Conceptual Agreement 88Pouring Concrete 92

Chapter 7

Closing the Sale 99How to Write a Proposal That’s Accepted Every Time 99Why Buyers Go Dark 105You’re Actually Closing Three Sales; Don’t Lose Two 108The Virtual Handshake 113

Chapter 8

Paying the Mortgage 117How to Establish Value-Based Fees 117Fee Formulas 120

Contents xi

Fifty Factors to Consider 124Other Fee Considerations 127

Chapter 9

Moving On Up 131Fastening the Watertight Doors 131Why You Don’t Need a Staff and How to Find Resources 136Passive Income Alternatives 139Working Globally 143

Chapter 10

Living the Dream 149Building Your Brand 149Moving to Advisory (Vault) Work 153Intellectual Property and Thought Leadership 157The Essence of a Career 161

Appendix A: 101 Questions for Any Sales Situation You’ll Ever Face 167

Appendix B: Suggested Reading in the Field 179Appendix C: Sample Proposal 181Appendix D: Sample Long Biographical Sketch 187Appendix E: Sample Short Biographical Sketch 191Appendix F: Further Resources 193Index 195

xiii

Introduction to the Fourth Edition

I wrote the original version of this book in 2000; the prior edition (the third) was written almost 10 years ago. In these ensuing years we’ve seen 3-D printing, the retirement of the 747 jumbo jet, Donald

Trump elected president against all predictions, Global Entry speeding the immigration process, strategies formerly taking six months to for-mulate and covering five years obsolete, the iPhone X, Tesla, kale as a routine food offering, the admonition that health-care workers must wash their hands to prevent the spread of illness, a huge recession and an unprecedented economic recovery, and the New England Patriots play-ing in three more Super Bowls and winning two of them.

Consulting remains a very hot profession because huge organiza-tions continue to reduce residual talent in favor of mission-critical spe-cialists and automation, and small businesses are seeking more help than ever (and they are the largest producers of net new jobs in most of the world, since large companies tend only to reduce or replace the work-force). There is little barrier to entry in solo consulting,1 which is both a blessing and a curse.

The intent herein is to enable you to hit the ground running under contemporary conditions. I’ll assume you’re either brand new to the profession or in the early stages of your launch, though the lessons included constitute a strong review for even veteran consultants. You can look up certain aspects of the business (for example, office logistics or finding buyers), or you can read it sequentially. See Appendix F for free resources located on my site and my blog.

I’ve found the consulting profession to be exciting, challenging, highly rewarding, and amenable to all types of people, passions, and pre-dispositions. I’ve been able to form a huge global community of such

xiv IntroductIon to thE Fourth EdItIon

entrepreneurial people over the years. It’s my pleasure to welcome you to it here.

Full speed ahead. It’s become that kind of world, and it’s no place for the tentative. We’re not here to stick our toes in the water, we’re here to make waves.

Alan WeissEast Greenwich, RI

November 2018

Note

1. Throughout the book I include boutique firm ownership under solo consulting.

xv

About the Author

Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a con-sultant, speaker, and author and mean it. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc., has attracted clients such as

Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, the Times Mirror Company, the Federal Reserve, the New York Times Company, and over 200 other leading organizations.

He has served on the boards of directors of the Trinity Repertory Company, a Tony Award–winning New England regional theater, the Newport International Film Festival (where he was chairman), Festival Ballet Providence, and the Harvard Center for Mental Health and the Media.

His speaking typically includes 20 keynotes a year at major con-ferences, and he has been a visiting faculty member at Case Western Reserve University, Boston College, Tufts, St. John’s University, the University of Illinois, the Institute of Management Studies, and the University of Georgia’s Terry College of Business. He has held an appointment as adjunct professor in the College of Business at the University of Rhode Island, where he taught courses on advanced man-agement and consulting skills. He holds the record for selling out the highest-priced workshop at the time (on entrepreneurialism) in the (then) 21-year history of New York City’s Learning Annex. His PhD is in psychology.

He is a 2006 inductee into the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame and the concurrent recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence, representing the top one percent of professional speakers in the world. He is also a Fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants, one of only two people in the world as of this writing holding both honors.

xvi About thE Author

His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 45 original books, (and another 10 editions translated into 15 languages), includ-ing his best seller, Million Dollar Consulting (McGraw-Hill; now in its fifth edition). His newest prior to this one is Threescore and More (Taylor and Francis). His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, UC Berkeley, and the Wharton School of Business. The Wharton School used his first book, The Innovation Formula, in its graduate programs.

He is interviewed and quoted frequently in the media, and his career has taken him to 60 countries and 49 states. (He is afraid to go to North Dakota.) Success magazine has cited him in an editorial devoted to his work as “a worldwide expert in executive education.” The New York Post called him “one of the most highly regarded independent con-sultants in America.” He is the winner of the prestigious Axiem Award for Excellence in Audio Presentation.

In 2006 he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Press Institute, the first ever for a nonjournalist, and one of only seven awarded in the 60-year history of the institute.

He once appeared on the popular American TV game show Jeopardy!, where he lost badly in the first round to a dancing waiter from Iowa.

Alan resides in East Greenwich, Rhode Island, with his wife of 50 years, Maria. They have two children, two grandchildren, and two dogs: Bentley, the white German shepherd, and Coco.

xvii

Acknowledgments

To Buck, Trotsky, Phoebe, Koufax, Buddy Beagle, Bentley, and Coco.

If anyone requires evidence of God, one need only consider the company of dogs.

1

1Chapter

Your Mindset Will Determine Your Success

You might be thinking that you’re entering a sales job in going out on your own. Or you may believe that the nature of this profession is all about methodology and technology.

Let me disabuse you of such notions right out of the gate.This is the marketing business and you’re offering value to

prospective buyers.Please assimilate that before you read on. Your mindset is going

to determine your success, and I don’t mean that in the guise of some bizarre motivational speaker. I mean it as a businessperson who con-stantly seeks the highest profit with the least labor.

The Notion of Value

This is the marketing business. We may be consultants (or coaches, experts, facilitators, trainers, writers, speakers, and so forth) but never-theless we’re in the marketing business. Get used to it.

Marketing is the creation of need. Most people know what they want, but few realize what they need until we propose it to them. If it’s

2 GettinG Started in ConSultinG

strictly what people want that’s in question, then the lowest price will often prevail in a commodity competition (lawn mower, computer, con-sultant). But if you’re presenting a unique need they hadn’t considered (remote learning, Wi-Fi available in the car, a strategy in six hours), then you are creating something that isn’t subject to fee sensitivity.

This is why your mindset must be about the value you bring to the economic buyer (the person who can actually approve the check) and not about making a sale. The former is about being willing and eager to approach peo-ple because you can help them with your value; the latter is about fear of intruding or being rejected because you are trying to sell—take their money.

It’s the difference between giving and taking. I constantly have to reinforce this with even veteran consultants.

When you arise in the morning, you attitude must be, “Another great day to offer people my value,” and not, “Another long, slow crawl through enemy territory.”

Another benefit of identify-ing your value is that you won’t be intimidated by those who have been around longer, or work for large firms, or who have complex method-ologies. I call this pursuit and crea-tion of your personal value the value proposition. It can be broad or narrow.

For example, when my clients were primarily Fortune 500 organizations, my value proposition was “I dramatically improve individual and organizational performance.” Now that I work with other consultants (actually, the “retail” business), my value proposition is, “I dramatically improve the businesses and lives of entrepreneurs around the world.” The value proposition doesn’t have to be unique—a lot of people might claim what I’ve said—but it must represent the initial explanation of the value you convey, the tip of the arrow, so to speak.

So here’s your first exercise: Write a one-sentence value proposi-tion below. Try not to use “by,” “through,” “with,” or other prepositions, because they tend to define methodology, not value. Think in terms of results, or: “After I walk away, how is the buyer better off?”

Alanism

Being an expert in the consulting field means focusing on marketing your value to true buyers.

Your Mindset Will determine Your Success 3

My value proposition:

Digression

Note that my value propositions are very broad. Yours can be quite narrow, such as, “I reduce sales closing time and costs of acquisition.” But don’t believe the weak advice that you “specialize or die.” My 30 years in this business has amply demonstrated that you can “generalize the thrive.”

Your value statement needn’t be etched in stone, and you may well change it as you proceed through the book. But you have a start, and that’s the main thing.

The chart in Figure 1.1 indicates the true power of value as a mind-set. The difference between what a buyer believes is wanted and what you determine is actually needed is what I call the value distance. The greater the distance, the higher your fee. The smaller the distance, the less your fee, because you’re in the commodity sea.

Figure 1.1: Value distance.

Value distance

Want

Need