February, 2018

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How Do Consultants Handle Situations With Clients Who May “Laugh” at Them Relative to Projections and Opportunity Outcomes?

Steve Shu Consulting

Here are some thoughts on how consultants prepare for and handle these types of situations: Projections may be initially tested in safer settings. If projections end up being perceived as too wild or aggressive, it is better for this to happen in a working meeting or separate session before a “final” presentation is made. Following an iterative process and managing client expectations reduces risk for the consulting team.

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Why “Gettin’ Jiggy” Means Big Money for Your Consulting Firm

David A Fields

There are two truths that govern the success of your consulting firm: your Revenue Truth and your Leverage Truth. Today, we’re talking about leverage and the extraordinary benefit of building jigs.

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L&D Pro Challenges: Managing Stakeholder Expectations

Clarity Consultants

L&D pros are challenged with limited budgets, small teams, and an overall gap in demonstrating return on investment (ROI). To tackle these challenges, and others, L&D professionals must demonstrate business impact. Challenges can come from projects, people, process, and even just from learning to manage stakeholder expectations. Here are 3 specific L&D challenges that are often revealed in the attempt to make sure everyone involved is getting what they expect out of the L&D e

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How to Avoid the Marketing and Consulting Roller Coaster: Video

Consulting Success

? Transcript: Hey, it’s Michael Zipursky from ConsultingSuccess.com. Let’s talk about the rollercoaster. This is an effect, something that happens that a lot of consultants find themselves in, and it looks like this. You start off in your business. You pick up a client. Then, you end up looking for the next client. You pick up a client. You end up looking for the next client.

Video 200
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State of AI in Sales & Marketing 2025

AI adoption is reshaping sales and marketing. But is it delivering real results? We surveyed 1,000+ GTM professionals to find out. The data is clear: AI users report 47% higher productivity and an average of 12 hours saved per week. But leaders say mainstream AI tools still fall short on accuracy and business impact. Download the full report today to see how AI is being used — and where go-to-market professionals think there are gaps and opportunities.

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How Tax Reform Affects Independent Consultants

Successful Independent Consulting

Adobe Stock photo #182517755 by nerthuz. Everyone has questions about the sweeping tax reform that became law at the end of last year. As a coach and champion for independent consultants, I went on a fact-finding mission to answer two important questions: Are self-employed consultants still better off being paid on a 1099 tax basis as a business or on a W-2 tax basis through a third party?

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How to Increase Your Influence at Work

Harvard Business

lok fung/Getty Images. To be effective in organizations today, you must be able to influence people. Your title alone isn’t always enough to sway others, nor do you always have a formal position. So, what’s the best way to position yourself as an informal leader? How do you motivate colleagues to support your initiatives and adopt your ideas?

How To 191
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How to Close Consulting Projects Even After You Lose Them

David A Fields

Some rejections are devastating. Like, “No, I don’t want to marry you,” or, “Sorry, your voice isn’t good enough to play the silent tree in this year’s Nutcracker.” Here’s another punch in the gut: “We decided not to award the consulting project to your consulting firm.

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The L&D Professional’s Secret Power as A Consultant

Clarity Consultants

Learning and development professionals have a unique place within an organization's structure. They are often tasked with the difficult objective of educating a technical or project-based workforce while not experiencing that environment first hand. That's why they are so appropriately placed to act the role of the consultant, where they work with other professionals in their field to build and develop talents, knowledge bases, skills, and abilities for the overall success of the company and the

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5 Best Practices for Attracting Ideal Consulting Clients

Consulting Success

I’m in Mexico as I write this overlooking a beautiful tropical landscape. I just got off a call with a coaching client who has seen significant growth in their business. One of the main reasons for this has been due to the work we’ve done around Client Selection — attracting ideal consulting clients. . Most consultants know they should only work with ideal clients, but few actually put this into practice. .

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Less Stress, More Success: Accounting Best Practices & Processes for 2025

Speaker: Duke Heninger, Partner and Fractional CFO at Ampleo & Creator of CFO System

Are you ready to elevate your accounting processes for 2025? 🚀 Join us for an exclusive webinar led by Duke Heninger, a seasoned fractional CFO and CPA passionate about transforming back-office operations for finance teams. This session will cover critical best practices and process improvements tailored specifically for accounting professionals.

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Don’t bring your writing style with you

Jacq Hackett Consulting

As a consultant your reputation will rest to a large extent on the quality of your writing. Be prepared to leave behind some habits you may have developed as an employee.

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How To Position Yourself as a Peer (and Stay Out of the Dreaded "Pair-Of-Hands" Trap)

Consulting Matters

Forging a strong client relationship is not a matter of chance. It is the result of choice and whether or not the consultant has taken charge of the positioning process. Unlike other roles in an organization, consultants hold no formal position on the organization chart. It is up to the consultant to carve out the position. If consultants do not take charge of the positioning process, it will be done for them by their clients which may cause them to fall into one of two traps.

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How to Collaborate Effectively If Your Team Is Remote

Harvard Business

Hulton Archive/Hayon Thapaliya/Getty Images. Remote communication isn’t always easy. Do you recognize yourself in any of these examples? At 10 p.m., a corporate lawyer gets a text from a colleague and wonders (not for the first time) if there’s a protocol about work-related texts after a certain hour. After a long and liquid client dinner, an advertising executive opens an email from his boss reminding him to submit his expenses on time.

How To 186
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When to Start Fee Discussions with Consulting Prospects

David A Fields

It’s the topic that everyone has on their mind, but is uncomfortable bringing up. The one you know will have to be raised at some point, and you’re shy about broaching it too early. Male pattern baldness. Fees and pricing.

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PowerPoint Best Practices for Creating Stellar Presentations

Mastering data visualization in PowerPoint will help accelerate your career because it positions you as someone who can present data that drives business decisions forward. think-cell's PowerPoint Best Practices eBook was created specifically for professionals aiming to master the art and science of data-driven storytelling. What’s inside: Practical Insights: Uncover valuable tips for crafting engaging and persuasive presentations.

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Is Your Corporate Training Putting Your Employees to Sleep?

Clarity Consultants

Remember that when you are building a training session, you have control over many aspects of the learning environment. Test the waters and see what you can change to create a more engaging and interesting experience for your learners. The post Is Your Corporate Training Putting Your Employees to Sleep? appeared first on Clarity Consultants - Learning and Development.

Training 168
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The Real Shortcut to Consulting Success

Consulting Success

Transcript: I want to talk about a shortcut to success, and I want to share this with you because I believe that a lot of people these days are looking for a shortcut to success. They’re looking for the secret to create more fame, to create more riches, to create just greater levels of success in a very short period of time, and I want to suggest that you actually know what that shortcut is.

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5 Questions to ask when deciding between consulting offers

Management Consulted

It’s that time of year again. February: the month of the sell weekend. Many of you have received multiple incredible offers, but how do you decide which firm is the right fit for you? We’ve been through the process before, … Continued. The post 5 Questions to ask when deciding between consulting offers appeared first on Management Consulted.

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The Real Key to Performing a Competitive Assessment

Steve Shu Consulting

Assuming that one has capable resources to get the job done, the most important thing needed for a competitive analysis is an articulation of the true problem statement. The need to perform a competitive analysis is not a problem statement in of itself. Is the problem statement a broad one to simply formulate strategy? Unlikely. Not focused enough. Perhaps it is about assessing the atrractiveness of services A, B, and C in a particular market?

Analysis 150
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Savings Consultants Are Needed in Today's Market More Than Ever

Savings Consultants are needed in today’s market more than ever. With an increase in expenses, businesses are looking for opportunities to save. Often unknown to businesses are savings in expense reduction, specialized tax savings, specialized savings including medical underpayments, health benefits cost reduction, zero cost processing, and more. Blue Coast Savings, with over 20 years in business, assists Savings Consultants in helping these companies move toward more profitable businesses.

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5 Ways to Get Over Your Fear of Public Speaking

Harvard Business

Mário Tavares / EyeEm/Getty Images. We all want to be fearless public speakers. We dream of confidently striding onto the stage to give a speech or presentation, breaking the ice with the perfect joke, captivating the audience with compelling stories, handling the most difficult questions with ease, and exiting to cheers and applause. But the reality is usually less than perfect.

Film 173
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How to Capitalize on Your Consulting Talents

David A Fields

One of the huge perks of independent consulting is that you can operate from anywhere. Even if you’re steering a sizable boutique, it’s fairly easy to jaunt off to Italy or India or Indiana for a month. The indisputably best location for you has nothing to do with geography, though.

Talent 191
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L&D Pro Challenges: The Process

Clarity Consultants

Challenges can come from projects, people, and especially process. Here are 3 specific L&D challenges born from the process that you may encounter frequently, and a few tips on how to overcome those challenges effectively. The post L&D Pro Challenges: The Process appeared first on Clarity Consultants - Learning and Development.

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How to Generate More Revenue Without Working More Hours with Tony Signorelli: Podcast #23

Consulting Success

Increase your billable rates by becoming an educated expert, working your network, and avoiding one major (but common) mistake. Description: I’m joined today by the CEO of Signorelli Consulting Group, Tony Signorelli. His consulting group focuses mainly on sales enablement and marketing, and they have been in the business since 1995. In this episode, we talk about the path that led Tony to sales and consulting, and he shares insights into creating a successful consulting firm within the corporat

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TOOLS and METHODOLOGIES for developing DECISION SUPPORT PACKAGES

This White Paper targets opportunities for Management to develop proficiency in the Decision Framing and Analyses element of input to Decision, & Risk Analyses for Major Project Funding Decisions.

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North Highland Consulting

Management Consulted

NORTH HIGHLAND CONSULTING According to North Highland legend, Dave Peterson founded the firm in 1992 after realizing that his priorities had shifted. He came home one day from an engagement with extensive travel and his two-year old asked, “Mom, does … Continued. The post North Highland Consulting appeared first on Management Consulted.

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Don’t bring your writing style with you

Jacq Hackett Consulting

There’s a lot of writing to be done as a consultant – it’s a core consulting skill. There are proposals, issues papers, interview guides, strategies, background briefings, guidelines. And a key deliverable of almost every project is a final report. No matter how effectively you have undertaken every other aspect of a project, if you fail to produce an excellent report, your client is going to be dissatisfied.

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When You Have to Carry Out a Decision You Disagree With

Harvard Business

Sophie Blackall/Getty Images. One of the great frustrations of being a middle manager is that senior leaders make decisions that go against what you would have done had it been up to you. Sometimes you are part of the decision process, and other times the decision is simply handed down. Either way, you are now responsible for ensuring that the plan is carried out.

Course 137
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Need Help with the Fit Interview?

Tom Spencer

When it comes to consulting interviews, most people are fixated on the case interview. Which makes sense, given the amount of practice that’s required to ace the case. But, as an aspiring consultant, don’t forget that you will also face the Fit Interview! Fit Interviews can be very tricky because they require you to talk about yourself and your past experiences in a way that portrays you in the best possible light.

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Why You Need to Use Case Studies in Sales and Marketing (and How to Start Now)

Case studies are proof of successful client relations and a verifiable product or service. They persuade buyers by highlighting your customers' experiences with your company and its solution. In sales, case studies are crucial pieces of content that can be tailored to prospects' pain points and used throughout the buyer's journey. In marketing, case studies are versatile assets for generating business, providing reusable elements for ad and social media content, website material, and marketing c

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How to Build a High Trust Workplace

Markovitz Consulting

Megan McArdle of Bloomberg View recently wrote about the benefits of a high level of trust—among individuals, companies, and even government— in Denmark: [The high level of trust among people] allows Danish labor to be more productive than workers elsewhere. An economy’s labor productivity, after all, is its output divided by the number of hours worked.

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3 Steps To Building A Stand Out Portfolio With Emma Sharley: Podcast #25

Consulting Success

How to build up your portfolio, keep your momentum going, and find the critical work-life balance. Description: On this episode, I’m talking with Emma Sharley, an experienced and very successful brand and marketing consultant in Australia. She works with retail, technology, and lifestyle client companies on setting up market and brand strategies, brand positioning, transitioning markets, and marketing new products lines.

Retail 153
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Spinning your Story: How to break into consulting with a non-consulting internship

Management Consulted

You’re already over halfway through college and just found out management consulting is your dream career. You think of all the people you know who have been planning their path for breaking into consulting since they were 12 years old, … Continued. The post Spinning your Story: How to break into consulting with a non-consulting internship appeared first on Management Consulted.