Businesses pay consultants for providing advice, knowledge and expertise. Business consultants offer a wide range of services but, in general, they focus on helping clients increase their revenues, decrease operating costs and run their businesses more efficiently. To succeed as a consultant, you must think strategically -- identify which customer prospects especially need your services and find ways of reaching them.
Find a Niche
•Identify a problem that you can solve for your clients, or a need they have that you can address. You should base the services you provide on your own business background and experience. The need should be strong enough, or the problem significant enough, that prospective clients will be willing to pay you to provide a solution. Clients look to solve their most pressing business problems first. Understand what these problems are and create a package of services to solve them.
Differentiate Your Services
•Part of your sales pitch to clients is to show what you do better than other consulting firms do in your niche. Don't try to compete based on providing lower prices for your services. Offer more services or higher service quality. A technology-consulting firm could emphasize its availability to repair or install systems on nights or weekends; such availability might better fit the client's schedule. Personality plays a role in the client's hiring decision. Express empathy for the client's concerns and aspirations. Show you care whether they succeed and reach their business objectives.
Market Through Other Professionals
•One of the best ways to obtain new clients is through referrals from other professionals that work with your target clients but provide services that do not compete with yours. Develop relationships with these firms when you start your consulting practice. You may be able to refer clients to them as well, so the relationship is mutually beneficial. A referral from someone the client already trusts gives your firm and its services immediate credibility.
Sell Products
•A limitation to the earning potential of consultants is they have a fixed number of hours for which they can work and bill their clients. A solution is to develop additional revenue streams, such as recommending products to clients. The consultant purchases the product from the manufacturer, marks it up and resells it to the client. Technology consultants who install computer or communications systems frequently do this, but other types of consultants can take advantage of this revenue stream as well, recommending such products as software packages to their clients. They can also develop their own products -- books, seminars in CD form or advisory newsletters for which they charge subscription fees.
Take Advantage of Technology
•The Internet has given independent consultants the opportunity to market their services globally. Clients use Internet searches to find service providers. With a professional looking website that projects an image of competence and shows why clients should hire you, it is possible to be in the enviable position of your customers finding you rather than you having to look for them. By using search engine optimization strategies, you can improve your firm's chances of appearing high on the list of service providers when your clients are searching. Video conferencing technology allows you to offer services with a personal touch without having to travel, saving time and money. Some clients prefer to be able to see their service provider rather than conducting business on the phone or by email.
Find a Niche
•Identify a problem that you can solve for your clients, or a need they have that you can address. You should base the services you provide on your own business background and experience. The need should be strong enough, or the problem significant enough, that prospective clients will be willing to pay you to provide a solution. Clients look to solve their most pressing business problems first. Understand what these problems are and create a package of services to solve them.
Differentiate Your Services
•Part of your sales pitch to clients is to show what you do better than other consulting firms do in your niche. Don't try to compete based on providing lower prices for your services. Offer more services or higher service quality. A technology-consulting firm could emphasize its availability to repair or install systems on nights or weekends; such availability might better fit the client's schedule. Personality plays a role in the client's hiring decision. Express empathy for the client's concerns and aspirations. Show you care whether they succeed and reach their business objectives.
Market Through Other Professionals
•One of the best ways to obtain new clients is through referrals from other professionals that work with your target clients but provide services that do not compete with yours. Develop relationships with these firms when you start your consulting practice. You may be able to refer clients to them as well, so the relationship is mutually beneficial. A referral from someone the client already trusts gives your firm and its services immediate credibility.
Sell Products
•A limitation to the earning potential of consultants is they have a fixed number of hours for which they can work and bill their clients. A solution is to develop additional revenue streams, such as recommending products to clients. The consultant purchases the product from the manufacturer, marks it up and resells it to the client. Technology consultants who install computer or communications systems frequently do this, but other types of consultants can take advantage of this revenue stream as well, recommending such products as software packages to their clients. They can also develop their own products -- books, seminars in CD form or advisory newsletters for which they charge subscription fees.
Take Advantage of Technology
•The Internet has given independent consultants the opportunity to market their services globally. Clients use Internet searches to find service providers. With a professional looking website that projects an image of competence and shows why clients should hire you, it is possible to be in the enviable position of your customers finding you rather than you having to look for them. By using search engine optimization strategies, you can improve your firm's chances of appearing high on the list of service providers when your clients are searching. Video conferencing technology allows you to offer services with a personal touch without having to travel, saving time and money. Some clients prefer to be able to see their service provider rather than conducting business on the phone or by email.
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