David A Fields
JULY 6, 2016
It’s gorgeous outside. What a perfect time to shoot a round of golf. And the bachelorette party for Aunt Matilda needs to be planned. Hey…that YouTube video on growing Norwegian potatoes looks sorta interesting! In fact, anything other than work looks interesting. Sound familiar? Have you ever dawdled through days? (Weeks? Months?) Let’s talk about how to fire up the work engine when you’re ensconced in enuii.
Steve Shu Consulting
OCTOBER 12, 2016
Applied behavioral science is a relatively new concept within the business community. This short video is part of planned series of videos to increase awareness and improve the implementation of behavioral science initiatives in business. These videos complement material from the book, Inside Nudging: Implementing Behavioral Science Initiatives. This video addresses predominant organization types, implementation elements, and Behavioral GRIT™.
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Harvard Business
NOVEMBER 8, 2016
Outbound B2B sales are becoming less and less effective. In fact, a recent survey found that connecting with a prospect now takes 18 or more phone calls, callback rates are below 1%, and only 24% of outbound sales emails are ever opened. Meanwhile, 84% of B2B buyers are now starting the purchasing process with a referral, and peer recommendations are influencing more than 90% of all B2B buying decisions.
Management Consulted
SEPTEMBER 18, 2016
Your resume, simply put, is the platform through which your story is told. Based on our years of experience editing consulting resumes, we’ve identified the 5 universal qualities of a winning management consulting resume. These qualities will help a reviewer see how you can significantly add value to their team and firm. When writing your resume, remember one thing: to look through the eyes of a management consultant.
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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.
Clarity Consultants
SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
All companies need employees who are strong leaders. Managers need leadership skills to encourage, motivate and support their teams. Even those who are not in managerial roles provide more value to the organization if they possess some of the leadership qualities described by Adam and Jordan Bornstein in Entrepreneur , like having focus, confidence and integrity.
Management Consulting Connection brings together the best content for management consulting professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
The Clever Consultant
OCTOBER 14, 2016
Every week at Equiteq, we field calls from owners of professional services and consulting firms looking for guidance on sharing equity in their business. It's a hot enough topic that I delivered a webinar on it last week, and I wanted to share that content with you along with a quick overview.
David A Fields
JUNE 22, 2016
You’ve completed your discovery process with your consulting prospect, gained agreement to your Context Document and submitted a killer proposal for a high-value consulting project. One that should, by all rights, be irresistible. Money in the bank. The morning for your proposal review arrives and your prospect’s first words are, “I love your proposal, but the fees are way too high.
David A Fields
OCTOBER 26, 2016
Narcissists. They attract admirers like trick-or-treaters to chocolate. Countless throngs buy their offerings—metaphorically or literally. As consultants, we don’t want to be narcissists; yet, narcissistic competitors can eat your consulting business alive. Narcissistic personalities have been very visible as of late. Many may be what Michael Maccoby calls “productive narcissists,” whose aggressive energy, engaging charm, and relentless self-importance power impressive business success.
David A Fields
MAY 4, 2016
Years ago Shark Tank featured an enterprising young man pitching his sales training program. Daymon John handed the entrepreneur his pen and demanded, “Sell this to me.” The sales guy bombed. His defensive stance didn’t help, but the salesman’s real problem was his focus on the value and benefits of the pen. That’s a mistake many consultants make too.
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.
David A Fields
OCTOBER 5, 2016
Consultants have much to learn from the words of a Harvard medical professor who was addressing his students in 1926. In fact, you might even call if the first rule of successful consulting. Dr. Francis W. Peabody taught before doctors had antibiotics to combat bacterial illnesses (and give rise to superbugs), before hospitals bristled with technology (and a three-day stay cost more than a small house), and before chocolate was known to stave off depression (I have nothing bad to say about choco
David A Fields
APRIL 20, 2016
Last week we agreed the single, most powerful step you could take to double (or triple) your consulting business is to let go. (See this article.) I proposed letting go of tasks, pride, and certain clients, and readers suggested letting go of fears, offerings and past mistakes, for starters. We need to excise low-value activities, people, thoughts, calories, or whatever other flotsam we have in our lives and businesses.
David A Fields
JULY 13, 2016
A few years ago Michael Norton and his buddies wrote about “The Ikea Effect” which they describe this way: “When people construct products themselves, they come to overvalue their (often poorly made) creations.” This turns out to be an important finding for consultants. Norton’s gang studied their hypothesis using origami, which is not a product most people buy, but was undoubtedly easier for the researchers to haul around than pallets of build-it-yourself kitchens.
David A Fields
NOVEMBER 30, 2016
Prepare your consulting practice for the new year by identifying the specific, granular actions that will grow your firm. But what should you ponder to determine those actions that will make next year waaay better than this year? When evaluating the success of their year, consultants often review metrics like revenue, profit per partner, utilization and leverage.
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David A Fields
NOVEMBER 9, 2016
In the U.S.A.’s extraordinary election cycle, each and every citizen made a critically important choice (including those who chose not to vote). Hours later, individual voters learned whether they had “won” or “lost.” As a consultant, you should reverse that order. After you win or lose you have a critical choice to make. In the course of pursuing new business, sometimes you’re going to win projects and sometimes you’re not.
David A Fields
OCTOBER 19, 2016
How do you endear yourself to your consulting prospect, build trust and credibility, and elevate yourself above internal and external competition in a matter of moments? Instagraphics. I’ll assume you’re familiar with infographics, which are compelling, visual presentations of concepts, processes and so forth. I’ll also assume you’re familiar with the idea of reframing, which is fundamentally changing your prospect’s understanding of himself, his situation, the world around him or his possible a
David A Fields
NOVEMBER 16, 2016
You’re sitting down with Yolanda Blatherpumpkin, a hot prospect at Rocket Chocolate who desperately needs your help. If you manage the process well, a lucrative consulting project and a case of mocha turtles are just two conversations away. But before you launch into the first conversation—the Context Discussion—with Yolanda, you need to take an important step that I outline in detail below.
Steve Shu Consulting
AUGUST 26, 2016
The balancing act is tricky, and I think context and desired outcomes matter. For example: A thirty-year old might have problems saving for retirement because they think of savings as being for stranger. The solution might be to increase emotional connection between the thirty-year old and their future self so that the right behavior of saving can be achieved.
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David A Fields
JUNE 8, 2016
It’s easy to be a snoozer. To communicate killer ideas in presentations and articles that are utterly boring. Dull as lichen inside a rock. How do you jazz that up so dishwater concepts sparkle like champagne and your breakthrough insights transfix readers and listeners? I’ll reveal one, easy-but-unusual action that will make your content buzzworthy.
David A Fields
FEBRUARY 1, 2016
A consultant asked me the following question: My business really isn’t strong yet. How can you afford to say No to projects that are not perfect for you when you need to stay afloat, at least in the short term? Here’s the answer I gave the consultant: Let’s be practical. You have to keep the lights on, so take work that keeps your business running… as long as: 1) it’s work you are good at; 2) it’s work you can do very efficiently; and, 3) it doesn’t take up more […].
David A Fields
NOVEMBER 2, 2016
What’s the indicator that you, my fellow consultant, are outstanding at your craft? Revenue? Repeat clients? Glowing testimonials? Phenomenal client outcomes? Jaw-dropping client list? No, the real sign that you’re a great consultant is you have a Spirograph. Metaphorically, of course. Those other indicators are all good. They show you’re able to attract clients and/or provide value at a high level.
David A Fields
SEPTEMBER 28, 2016
If you want your consulting practice to be more lucrative*, there are five paths to achieve that goal. Or, said otherwise, there are five possible bottlenecks holding you back. If you can identify and break open your current bottleneck, you’ll advance to the next level of financial freedom. *Long-time readers know I define wealth as relationship strength.
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.
David A Fields
SEPTEMBER 21, 2016
A couple of important distinctions will help consultants like you create better client results and win more business by, ironically, lowering the quality bar on your work. Last week’s article talked about perfectionism being a form of procrastination, and the importance of focusing on big wins while inuring yourself to little losses. (Last week’s article also referenced dinosaurs… as any good consulting blog should.
David A Fields
FEBRUARY 24, 2016
We’ve all heard about client delight. Perhaps we’ve experienced it ourselves from time to time, and we’d like to think we deliver it to our clients. But do we? Consistently? Fortunately, with clients (and toddlers!) small gestures make a big difference. Delivering excellent results, which I assume you do already, creates satisfied clients, but not delighted ones.
David A Fields
DECEMBER 14, 2016
Every consulting project follows a distinct flow, especially from the client’s point of view. Can you improve the flow—and the value—of your consulting projects? Probably. Let’s take a look. Chances are, your consulting projects are structured like one or more of the following examples: Intervention These are in-and-out, hard-hitting projects.
David A Fields
DECEMBER 7, 2016
The moment immediately after a prospect becomes a client your consulting project begins. Beginnings matter. Which is why the best practices to start your projects are discussed below. Consider some famous beginnings: “Four score and seven years ago…”** “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…”** “Call me Ishmael.
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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
David A Fields
SEPTEMBER 14, 2016
It turns out that, as a consultant, committing certain errors isn’t just acceptable, it’s practically mandatory if you want to build your consulting business. Before I became a published author, I worked on a book about the top challenges facing CEOs. It never made it to the bookshelves. Neither did my very first book: “My Dads a Dinasore.” The only difference being that the 250-page CEO book took three years to research and draft, whereas the other I wrote when I was three years old with six pi
David A Fields
MARCH 9, 2016
Years ago I watched the movie A Beautiful Mind, the biopic of Nobel Prize winner John Nash. That movie profoundly changed how I walk in the world and how I approach consulting business development. It allowed me to overcome personal demons and thrive as a consultant. Perhaps it can do that for you too. Let me explain: Consulting is a hands-free profession.
David A Fields
JANUARY 13, 2016
I’m going to assume you’re a darn good consultant. Not much of an assumption, really. I trust you. As a darn good consultant, you know that the path to new business is offering the Right Solution to the Right Target with the Right Chocolate Bribe at the Right Time. But when is that time? Well, of course you know the right time is when your prospect is aware of a big issue you can address and considers it a top priority.
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