Forum 11-16-07

• LinkedIn (see the Marketing Profs tutorial for help with this) online "resume" and business network
  
• Del.icio.us social bookmarking: see what people have marked as interesting about a topic. (Check the tag BACNWeb2 for links to more Web 2.0 tools)
• Digg (hot stories online).
• Interactive surveys (e.g. SurveyMonkey)
• Yelp online reviews.
• Visible Path corporate social networks.

Forum 07-27-07

Members’ Needs and Recommendations

Mike Van Horn: What's a way to provid webinars that's less expensive than WebEx?

• GoToMeeting (www.gotomeeting.com)
• GoToWebinar (www.gotowebinar.com)
• Adobe Connect

Chance Massaro: How do you get corporate sponsorship?

• Take the testimonials that come from your work, and they’ll bowl the sponsors over
• Ask for referrals everywhere you present.
  
• If you’re looking for corporate sponsors, you want to go after people who have an interest in selling products to that sector. Ask for their “cause marketing” dollars.
• Check out www.sponsorship.com and www.sponsorwise.com

Forum Question: What happens if your business succeed beyond its wildest dreams?

• Sell!
• Subcontract to trustworthy people whose skills overlap with yours. (You need to plan for this and train them.)
• Increase your fees and shrink the number of clients (control growth).
• Plan for succession (Who will take over when you step down?)
• Separate yourself from the business: get the secret knowledge out of your head.
• Create turnkey systems (procedure manuals).
• Build a network with people in very similar areas who you can refer to and get a finder’s fee.
• You want to make money while you sleep: create information products.

Forum 06-23-07

Member Question: How Do You Justify Charging Clients You Don't Know in Advance?

• Give them the sales presentation you would give in person via WebEx or GoToMeeting.
• Have a face-to-face conversation via Skype video or another video chat system.
• Ask for a deposit (implying that any time not used will be refunded).
• Establish your expertise in advance of your phone/e-mail conversations so clients will feel more comfortable paying you in advance.
• Whether you're interviewing them by phone or e-mail, make sure you ask questions that get to their pain and make them more eager to get started.

Member Question: How Do You Handle Contracts with Clients?

• Use a Letter of Agreement (1-2 pages) without all the heavy legalese.
• Try not to get entangled with the legal department of big clients.
• Check the client's boilerplate contract to make sure it applies to you and ask for changes if it doesn't.
• Check Nolo Press for sample contracts (but get a lawyer to review the one you want).
• Make sure your contract includes a statement which establishes you as a 1099 contractor and not a W-2 employee.
• Read the standard contract you have now and see whether you'd be willing to sign it if a client gave it to you.
• Find out what the client needs in the way of a contract.
• Make sure your contract indemnifies you against lawsuits your client may be involved in.
• Contact Sandy Shepard for help; she's used to working with solo practitioners.

04-27-07

The Forum Question, Part 1: How Do You Collect Your Fees?

• Jeff Rubin bills 50% in advance.
• Charles Legalos asks for 1/3 down but gives a 5% discount if the consultant leaves with a check that day.
• Kathy Hart gives a 10% discount for payment up front.
• Mike Van Horn says it's easier to collect when you accept credit cards.
• Craig Harrison points out that the government is mandated to accept discounts offered for payment in advance.
• John McHugh will work with clients on price but wants payment up front.
• Peter Engler finds the person in charge of Accounts Payable an talks to them about payment rather than the CEO.

The Forum Question, Part 2: How Do You Determine Your Fees?

• Sanford Friedman says consultants are often afrai to charge what they're worth.
• Maynard Brusman agrees that price is an issue of psychology. It takes confidence to price based on value. The client isn't the one who has a problem with higher prices: it's the consultant.
• Peter Engler says that having a set retainer keeps clients from worrying about how much the bill for hourly work will be.
• Joanne Black switched from a flat fee to an hourly rate in order to combat scope creep.
• Mike Van Horn says we need to think more like building contractors and ask for change orders every time the client wants something that wasn't in our original scope of work.

03-23-07

The Forum Question: Technology that Works

IPSwitch WS_FTP—for transferring large files to and from a website

PC-Cillin Internet Security: to replace Norton Antivirus, one of the most destructive pieces of software known to humanity.

AVG Free Anti-Virus: Yes, we said free. And effective, too.

SuperDuper for Mac backups and the North Coast Mac Users Group for help with Mac software

Fujitsu Scan Snap: sheet-fed scanner with bundled OCR software converts all your papers to PDF or Word docs at up to 22 pages per minute.

Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional: allows almost instantaneous creation of forms. Can create backwards-compatible PDFs.

Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 (with some help from a consultant): reduce your transcription costs by thousands each year.

iriver IFP-795 or 895: MP3 player/recorder: 8 hours’ recording time, sensitive built-in mic, allows for mic plugin, USB connection, also acts as a media player. (Buy used on eBay; newer models don’t work with external microphone.)

Olympus DS-100 digital voice recorder : USB connection, comes bundled with Dragon Naturally Speaking, doubles as a thumb drive (for storage, not playback).

01-26-07: Selling to Big Companies

Members’ Needs and Recommendations

Check the Member Directory for contact info.

• Barbara Chan has a client who is looking for geriatric care and UR nurses.
• Gloria Dunn needs info on cultural nuances of managing overseas staff.
• Deborah Hornberger needs ideas for transitioning to working with non-profits.
• Harry Chapman is looking for a program manager for a brokerage client.
• This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it has hot leads in high tech for someone with manufacturing and operations experience.
• Bob Abrams has a non-profit client which needs an IT manager 3 days a week.
• Paul Finkle needs a mid-senior level HR consultant.
• Darby Davenport has opportunities for instructional designers.
• Tom Paper is looking for a part-time (contract basis) controller for Data360.org.
• Sanford Friedman has a client looking for venture capital for intercultural training.

The Forum Question: What challenges do you have in selling to big companies?

How do you compete for contracts with large companies?

• Flexibility: you can customize services for them.
• By being local and readily available.
• You’re the one who does the work, not the junior staff.
• By not requiring the client to buy a huge expensive package that takes up 4 days of their employees’ time.
• By developing a personal relationship with the people hiring you.

Functional managers are afraid of my company because using us means outsourcing.

• That's because they don’t hold themselves accountable to their own standards. Make them accountable to customers.
• Make sure clients are as focused as possible.

Recorded by Forum Scribe Sallie Goetsch. Posted on 02/04/07.

11-17-06: Learning from Clients

Members' Needs and Recommendations

• This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ’s firm and her clients are looking for business analysts (software, financial services).
  
• Jeff Rubin is still looking for referrals to school administrators for Punctuation Playtime (grades 2-4), www.nationalpunctuationday.com.
• This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is looking for people who want his workshops on communication.
• John Linehan wants to recommend Vizu (www.vizuanswers.com) for market research you can get 200 responses in 48 hours for $100-$300.
• Ron Person just bought a video iPod and is totally thrilled with it for video training.
• Cox Ferrall wants to know how to use Microsoft Office OneNote.
• Tom Ucko is looking for someone to design his logo inexpensively.
• This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it is looking for anyone who knows directors of assisted living facilities and gyms.

The Forum Question:

Describe a situation where you went to work for a client and the client taught you something that made you change your practice or the way you delivered information.

Example: Michael North had a plan to get someone hired for accounting; the accountant quit just before Michael was supposed to be done; he didn’t have a backup plan; suggested expanding reach—the lesson is: have a backup plan, a what-if strategy.

Liz Guthridge used to work for Adelphi, which was sold off to Comcast/Time Warner; the executives had a rule that “If it requires a staple, it’s too much information.” Get the information short and crisp.

Cox Ferrall learned from a small child in a swimming pool that you need to find out what they really mean. When asked by a small boy at a municipal pool “How long have you been swimming?” Cox answered, “Since I was your age.” The boy said, “Wow. I've been here since 3:00 this afternoon.”

Jeff Rubin has always done only print newsletters, but now has a client who wants an HTML newsletter, and he didn’t know you could have formatted e-zines and is now a convert. Michael wants to talk to them.

Tom Ucko says that one of his first clients said “I can’t focus on 5 or 6 things at once—give me 2 or 3.”

Chris Demartini says one of his first patients had been referred by someone who’d gotten great results from chiro; he tried to give the new one the same results and he was disappointed but she was overjoyed. Lesson: find out how the client defines success.

Barbara Shannon’s client admitted that he’d never used consultants before and didn’t have a clue how to work with them. Her lesson was how to manage the consultants to get the most out of his money.

Ron Person used to teach at junior colleges and at Cal, and he was used to watching the people who light up when they get it, but some people just don’t get it, and he was lamenting this to another professor, who pointed out “It’s up to them to learn.”

Maynard Brusman learned from Milton Erickson that it’s important to understand the process of “seeding”: the results may come years down the road, when the client is ready.

Nora Wolfson has learned that it’s important to find out from clients what they thought was valuable, because something that she thinks was the pearl is something they never noticed.

Recorded by Forum Scribe Sallie Goetsch.

10-27-06: Misbehaving Clients

The Forum Question: What do you do with clients who misbehave?

• Medicate them.
• Keep reminding them that deadlines are coming up and they'll miss their objectives and the project will go on without them.
  
• When clients miss deadlines, schedule a meeting and say "How is it you want to adjust to get back on track?"
• If your client has committed to doing X and is now doing Y, tell them that.
  
• Sometimes you have to fire clients, particularly if continuing with the job would damage the quality of our work and our professional reputations.
  
• It's important to be clear about what the conditions for success of the project are, and not to violate them, even if it means losing a client.
• If a client is behaving inconsistently, find out what their core values are and whether the goal of your project is congruent with them.
• If the client is behaving badly, there's a reason for it. It pays to say "You're paying me a lot of money to wait for you. What's going on?" Either they'll terminate the contract or they'll give you an answer.

• Deborah Bonner has office furniture to sell: oak file cabinet, small computer desk.
• Michael North belongs to a group that needs people who do accounting consulting from top to bottom, large and small businesses, on an ongoing basis.
  
• Judy Baker still needs board members for the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence . Looking for expertise in a number of areas.
• Mike Van Horn is looking for associations of small-businesses that need speakers.
  
• Dave Bollwinkel needs someone to help handle the booking and marketing of his speaking gigs.
• Alice Cochran is working on a guidebook for Roberta’s Rules of Order and is looking for a good template.
• Harry Chapman needs someone to step in as interim controller in a shipping company in Honolulu
• Jeff Rubin and his wife are looking for referrals to educational foundations and to school superintendents and teachers in elementary schools, anywhere from Washington to Arizona for their "Punctuation Playtime" program.
  
• Eve Abbott recommends Ian Moore’s radio interview program . For $50 you get a 30-minute studio-quality audio recording which you can cut into small audio sections to put on your website.
  
• Tom Paper wants your feedback on the , a collaborative data and trend-tracking tool Data360.org .
• Krist Jake invites BACN members to the San Francisco Ocean Film Festival in January.

9-22-06: Time

Is it worth responding to RFPs? Christopher Richards posed this question, and BACN members stepped forward to answer.

• Usually no, because they take a lot of time and effort, but when you're dealing with government agencies you can't avoid them.
• In many cases, the company already knows who they want to hire, but has to put out an RFP to comply with regulations.
• The Jeffrey Fox approach is "Call me if you haven't found anyone after everyone else has submitted their proposals."
  
• The Mike Jay method is do do a paid Scope of Work. This is one way to deal with the concern that the company may take your proposal and then implement it in-house without hiring you.
• Alan Weiss also has some good things to say about consultants and RFPs, and Nora Wolfson can provide references for that.
• Ask yourself how much time and effort you invest into getting a new client when you're not responding to an RFP, and see how it compares.
  

• Complaining.
• Sharing resources in a women's forum on how to break into big business.
• Choose something you really want to do and a date you want it done by, and then start talking about it.
• Create accountability by making a commitment to a group or individual.
• Get administrative help to take over the "have to" tasks.

• Judy Baker is on the board of the Center for Entrepreneurial Excellence and they’re looking for more board members, especially folks with marketing, research, fundraising backgrounds.
• Jim Horan is coming out with a new One Page Business Plan for non-profits, and needs someone to write the foreword, preferably "The Tom Peters of non-profit consulting."
• Peter Fairfield needs someone with experience finding sponsors for a radio show.
  

5-26-06: Overcoming Barriers to Success

We want more, better clients in order to get better relations, more time, more satisfaction, and more money. Ron Person led BACN members in brainstorming about the barriers to success and how we can overcome them. Download a PDF of the resulting mind map here.

Recorded by Forum Scribe Sallie Goetsch.

4-28-06: Technology Strategy

Do we as consultants have a technology strategy? If so, what is it? None of us is using our software to its maximum capability, but we keep looking for new software to solve our problems. Why is that and what can we do about it? Here are a few thoughts BACN members tossed out in this discussion.

• Some buy bigger, faster, more powerful, more expensive computers than they need for the tax deduction.
• People buy customer relationship management and contact management software with the hope that it’s going to solve their problem, without defining the problem first.
• Video e-mail is a differentiator that we could be using. How do you fit it into your marketing plan?
• Things should be as simple as possible, but no simpler—if you don’t have to have it, then don’t get it.
• Technology for technology’s sake is a bad move for most consultants.
• Do you already have something that could fill the need? Do some research into the capabilities of the software you already have
• The technologically challenged don’t always know what they don’t know. What are our real needs? What would be the simplest method for the non-technical?
• Lots of consultants are good at delivering their own services but not at the infrastructure of their businesses.

3-24-06: Moving to Value-Based Fees

Valuing our own businessses is tough for us. It’s even harder to stop thinking of ourselves as hourly workers. The BACN Exec Team has talked about doing a program to help everyone move from hourly fees to value-based fees.

Why don’t people change? You need motivators and attractors to counteract the risk/fear.

Motivators:

• Fear of:
• failing if you stay where you are
• competition/market saturation/lack of differentiation,
• piles of bills
• Forced out (major life change)

Attractors:

• Work/Life balance
• Greed
• Increased Effectiveness
• Mission
• Freedom and Fun
• Unique offering—the value of your experience
• Able to anticipate client’s needs (living in present/future)

Counteracting the fear and risk:

• Partnering/mentoring with someone more experienced

The Fears:

• Financial failure
• Rejection by prospects
• There’s no other side on this leap (the client fears this)
• Loss of control, unfamiliarity, unknown
• Sumus quid sumus—“who do you think you are?”
• Commitment and getting locked in--having the client own you

1-27-06: Making the Most of Networking

• Chance Massaro is looking for companies which have and are implementing a succession plan. He needs 25 interviewees for an article. Contact him at (707) 526-9196.
• Contact Eve Abbott (510-528-4950) or Martha Lee (415-455-0927) if you can help update an archaic ACT! database and transfer it to Outlook with all categories, notes, etc intact.
• Penny Schultz (415-381-9018) has a client who’s recruiting for a manager for a large OB/Gyn clinic. Contact her if you know anyone.
  
• Marla Rosner needs help with her Treo—Deborah Bonner’s company teaches online classes on PDAs.
• Rich Friesen (415-259-0652) is transferring from Outlook and going to Salesforce.com and would love to hear from anyone who can help him set up the right categories/structure early on.
  

The Forum Theme Question: To what end do we network?

• Check to see whether the person is on LinkedIn and connect with them there.
  
• Go to other networking groups such as BNI. Networking is about relationships built up over time through regular meetings.
• Go through your database every week and e-mail, call, or write to someone with a suggestion that can help them.
• Keep in mind that the search for the ultimate contact manager is like the search for the Holy Grail.
• Stay in front of people you network with by being visual: send a gift or postcard which is attractive with your contact info on the back so they’re constantly reminded about you.
• Try to find something right away that might help that person. For instance, go on the IMC database and look for someone and pass on the name. They’ll remember your helpfulness.
• If you can be a resource to someone, that creates a better relationship.
• Note: don’t automatically add people to your newsletter if they give you their cards. This is more likely to anger than attract them.
• Don’t take cards from anyone you haven’t had a real conversation with.
• Forward job announcements from your new contacts to your distribution list. The position will be filled and the contact will remember you.
• Be clear about what you do and what it is that you want.
  
  

Forum 11/18/05: What Did You Learn in 2005 That You’ll Apply in 2006?

• Do less thinking and take more action.
  
• Follow Robert Middleton’s suggestion about offering something in exchange for people’s e-mail addresses and get more contacts to add to your mailing list when you speak.
  
• Make an appointment with BACN member This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it to figure out what you most need to do for the success of your business.
  
• Automate your marketing structure.
  
• Create a marketing structure with Robert Middleton’s Marketing Plan Workbook and Infoguru Marketing Manual.
  
• While you’re at it, subscribe to Middleton’s More Clients e-zine and his free monthly conference calls.
  
• Get your own advisory group.
  
• Start speaking in public.
  
• Focus on one thing at a time and you’ll get it done.
  
• Align what you do with your identity: if it’s not important to you, you can’t sustain it.

Remember: these tips are the suggestions of individual BACN members, based on what has been helpful to them. Your mileage may vary.

Forum 10/28/2005: What’s in Your Bag of Tricks?

MARKETING

• Use your outgoing voicemail as branding opportunity. Make weekly changes to include a short tip.
• On your second contact with a prospect, send a video intro by e-mail (for samples see www.christopherrichards.com)
• Ask prospects what kind of company they want to see in 5 years.
• Speak slowly and clearly when leaving your name and number on voice mail.
• Send your top 10 tips to new clients/prospects.
• Ask your prospects "What are your hopes for___? And why is that important?"
• Listen and ask questions-go away without proposing anything until you’ve thought of what’s appropriate to the prospect.
• Follow up quickly and with something unusual, e.g. Red Jellyfish e-cards or an actual handwritten note.
• Start writing a blog. Personalize it a bit and tie it back to your business. Make sure there’s an e-mail link to you in your posts and on your main blog page.
• Use Camtasia for Windows or SnapZ for Mac to make screen-capture videos and send them to clients and prospects.
• Invite prospects to look at your website while on the phone with you instead of sending them off to do it on their own.

RESEARCH

• Hoovers Premium is free if you go in person to the San Francisco Public Library main branch. You can get not just contact information but background information about your prospects there.
  

WORKING WITH THE CLIENT

• Pass out something clients and seminar participants can play with and remember you by, for example Koosh™ balls to represent frontal lobe brain cells and help them think.
• Be aware of an organization’s shadow culture, which is what you’ll have to deal with.
• Show up early for your client appointments-you can learn a lot in the lobby.
• If clients aren’t taking your advice, you need to charge them more money.

SELF

• Do it now-you’ll only get more things to do tomorrow.
• Attend BACN every month.
• Refocus on your vision and the big picture.
• Create a roadmap for your business.
• When networking, focus on what you can offer the other person.

Forum 9/23/05: Scope Creep Revisited

At the September 23^rd meeting of the Bay Area Consultants Network, the Members’ Forum returned to the topic of how to deal with “scope creep”—those jobs which expand far beyond their original scope—particularly when the client doesn’t want to pay for the additional work. Here are a few of the suggestions.

• Explain the situation in terms which are familiar to the client. For instance, one member had a client in the construction industry who wanted to shift the scope of the project midway through. When she compared this to a change order from one of his clients, he understood immediately and stopped objecting.

• To prevent scope creep, start out with a clear statement of work which includes something about how to address changes. Expect to have to mention that clause four or five times before the client will really get it.

• If you prefer one-page, plain-language agreements a la Alan Weiss, include a very short list of objectives and respond to any additional requests by saying “I’ll be happy to do that, but there’s an additional fee.”

• One member found himself in a situation where the more he dug, the more he found. What he said to his client was “We’re hitting things but it’s not what we agreed: why don’t you just put me on a monthly retainer?” She agreed and he now has carte blanche to do what he needs to do for her benefit.

• It’s important to make sure up front that you identify the key stakeholders and decision makers up front and involve them on a timely basis. If they’re with you as you’re moving into these new areas, they’ll see that the scope is changing and be more accommodating about expanding fee or putting it on a second tier (new project) while keeping the original project on target.

• Frame changes in scope in terms of tradeoffs. One member took this approach when dealing with Alameda County: “Sure, we can do this, but you understand that time comes out of all the other stuff we’ve booked and built. What do you want to trade for it?” The county created a subsidiary contract to cover the additions.

• Try to anticipate the places where clients will fall down on their obligations and list these as aggressively priced options during the contracting phase. (The aggressive pricing is recommended for things that you really don’t want to do.) If adding the options delays completion, that’s okay, but the member who recommended this makes it clear that his payments are still due on schedule.

• Understand your client’s contracting process very completely. If possible, learn how they do their other contracting, e.g. with their own clients.

• A lot of clients think they they know what their needs are and confuse their needs with their wants. This is a worse problem with larger clients: large companies try to squeeze everything they can out of a vendor.

• One way to handle this tendency on the part of large companies is to get the client’s staff to do the parts of the job you don’t want to do yourself. One BACN member describes this delegation as a staff mentoring service for her clients.

Forum 5/27/05: Investigating Prospective Clients

Good news! You’ve met someone at a party or a networking event, and they want you to do some consulting work for their company. Now you just need to know whether these are really people you want to work with, and what kinds of issues they have. Here are some suggestions from the May 27th, 2005 meeting on where to find out what you need to know.

• SEC Filings at FreeEdgar: All the important financial information on any publicly traded company.
• Reference USA, available through the San Francisco Public Library web portal.
• EBSCOHost, available through the San Francisco Public Library web portal.
• To use either of these, click on the link to the database of your choice, you will be asked to give your library card number. Any California resident can get a San Francisco Public Library card. Other libraries may also have these databases available online, but Contra Costa, which is my most-local branch, doesn’t.
• Hoovers is also available at the SFPL, but you have to go there in person. There’s a new Hoover’s search site online as well.
• BusinessWire Press Releases: What the company is announcing to the world.
• Business Journal: Is this company making headlines?
• OneSource: “When it’s your business to know their business.”
• Google News for press releases and headlines about the company: Lets you create alerts for daily updates on any subject.
• Technorati (what bloggers are saying about the company): Lets you create watchlists if you want to follow a company over time. Note that it doesn’t hurt to put your own name or company name in to see what people are saying about you online.

Other Options:

Google all the team members whose names you know.
Talk to the company’s competitors.
Talk to company employees (as if you were a customer).
Google the phrase “business journal” and the city name.

Posted by Sallie Goetsch.

4-22-05: How to Cope with Scope Creep

Most consultants face Scope Creep at one time or another—the client just keeps adding things on to the project without adding on to the fee. Here are a few suggestions from the meeting on April 22, 2005 for ways to deal with this phenomenon.

• The best thing is to create a clear scope of work in advance— it can be too late if you’re in the middle of the job and have no process for dealing with changes.


• Only work for reasonable clients.


• Back off the emotional reaction and pause to treat it as a selling opportunity: ask the client questions about where they want to go and what else they need and say “This is wonderful—it’s off contract, of course—would you like me to do a proposal?”


• Have coffee and re-negotiate the letter of agreement


• Give every person you’re working with a copy of the contract


• Treat it like a kitchen remodel: her contractor has no problem saying “Do you want that? It’ll cost that much.”


• Negotiate, negotiate—insert a clause saying “Anything outside these specifics is on a time and materials basis” into every contract. Then refer the client to the contract when they ask for more.


• Be very careful about not getting hooked in emotionally to the client’s needs without actually making an agreement about the money


• Think about it from the client’s point of view. Your client is probably too overwhelmed to realize what’s up for you

How do you deal with Scope Creep? Post your suggestions in the comments section or send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Posted by Sallie Goetsch. Originally posted on the FileSlinger™ Favorites Blog.

3-25-05: Whose Advice Should Consultants Take?

Just because other people come to us for advice doesn’t mean we have to do it all on our own. Here are a few suggestions from the March 27, 2005 meeting.

• It’s usually a good idea to have an attorney.


• Join a Business Group.


• Every coach should have a coach


• Get a technical person to take care of your computer and website if you’re not a computer guru


• Look at which business skills you do and don’t have; if you don’t have the skill and don’t want to learn it, hire someone else.


• You need a good CPA who is also a financial planner.


• Don’t forget your clients as a source of information, advice, ideas, opinions.


• Consider a marketing advisor.


• Collaborate or trade services with another consultant.


• Look for a mentor in your own consulting specialty.


• If you’re a right-brain person, find a left-brain colleague to provide you with the perspective of left-brain prospects.


• Your spouse can be your consultant of first resort.

Got any more ideas? Send them to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it and I'll add them to the list.

Posted by Sallie Goetsch. Originally posted on the FileSlinger™ Favorites Blog.

11-19-04: Holiday Gifts for Clients

What do you give your clients as holiday gifts? Here are a few things suggested by members of the Bay Area Consultants’ Network on November 19, 2004.

• Give out copies of your new book, or of relevant books by colleagues.


• Thanksgiving can be a better time than December—you don’t have to guess which holiday the client observes.


• Hire your mother, another relative, or a friend to make homemade jam (or cookies, or other goodies).


• Try sending New Year cards.


• Gifts that are useful are best.


• Make up your own holiday at another time of year and send clients gifts or cards then.


• Never send anything without a personal note.


• Send silly things to make you seem more approachable and less of a threat.


• Give donations in the names of the companies you consult for.

Got any great ideas about gifts and cards for your clients? E-mail them to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for inclusion here.

9-23-04: What Consultants Want to Know

What do consultants want to see programs about? This was the response when members of the Bay Area Consultants’ Network were asked on September 23, 2004.

• Things that cut across different strategic areas, or at would be applicable to any field


• Mix & Match programs: bringing together service providers and executives who might use their services


• Compliance: this is an area where there are opportunities for projects


• Data security (or other security) for smaller companies—one area where there’s funding


• Business backup/earthquake plans.


• How small businesses became big businesses


• Panel of buyers of consulting services on what they look for


• Going outside your geographical area (foreign business practices)


• Lifetime Value of a Client…how consultants value their clients


• How to Avoid (or Deal with) the Client from Hell
  


• Metrics for your business—how do you know you’re successful?

What would you like to learn about? Send your suggestions to the BACN Executive Team.

Posted by Sallie Goetsch. Originally posted on the FileSlinger™ Favorites Blog.

3-26-04: Where People Look for Consultants

• Thomson Gale’s Consulting & Consultants Organizations Directory


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