© copyright 2004 alexander consulting, llp becoming a trusted advisor: core consulting skills for:...
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© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Becoming A Trusted Advisor: Core Consulting
Skills
For:AIMC Conference
By:Mark Hordes
Alexander Consulting, LLP
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Education:• MBA and MS Aurora University• Graduate of the American Graduate School of
International Management• BS, University of HoustonPersonal experience:• Partner, Alexander Consulting• Instructor, Shell Core Consulting Workshop• Global experience in creating strategies for
transformational s-business change• Success in designing and delivering professional
services selling training and creating services markets
• Hands-on experience designing and implementing services readiness assessments and best practice applications for services organizations
• Former Big Five partner• Former faculty member The University of Houston• Vice President Quality Consulting, The American
Productivity & Quality Center• Former Malcom Baldrige Quality Examiner
Background: Mark Hordes
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
OPERATIONS EXCELLENCE
TALENT PRODUCTIVITY
ServicesStrategyCreation
SalesEffectiveness
DeliveryPerformance
Marketing Direction
Alexander Consulting, LLP“A management consultancy that creates and implements
strategies for professional services organizations”
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Concepts presented today are taken from our new
book:
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Workshop Goal:
To help you and your organization build consulting skills, capability and
confidence.
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Today’s Topics• Consulting Foundations• Client Development• Consulting Relationship Skills• Contracting• Assessment• Services Delivery• Managing the Change• Leverage• The Professional Services Champion
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Introductions
Please say hello to the person to the right or left of you and state a bookbook or movie movie titletitle that best describes your consulting
work at yourcompany.
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Consulting Foundations
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“IT Consultants Score Lowest in Client Satisfaction”
(Average Score, 1-5 scale)3.85
3.683.60
3.40
HR Strategy OperationsManagement IT
The Dangerous Trend:
(Source: The Management Consulting Client Report, KIRG)
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Station Break: Client Expectations of
Consultants• Working in small groups, discuss
and agree upon a list of 6 to 10 of clients’ most important expectations of consultants.
• Be prepared to share your list with the large group.
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Client Expectations of Consultants
1. Competence2. Credibility3. Trustworthiness4. Likeability5. Business Savvy6. Responsiveness7. Empathy8. Communicate
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Client Expectations of Consultants
Clients Said… Consultants Thought…
1. Competence 1. Results2. Credibility 2. Reliability3. Trustworthiness 3. Confidence4. Likeability 4. Credibility5. Business Savvy 5. Empathy6. Responsiveness 6. Responsiveness7. Empathy 7. Hired Help8. Communicate
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
The Five Fatal Flaws of Consulting
1. The project is defined in terms of the consultant’s expertise or products, not in terms of the specific client results to be achieved.
2. The project’s scope is determined solely by the subject to be studied or the problem to be solved, ignoring the client’s readiness for change.
3. The project aims for one big solution rather than incremental successes.
4. The project entails a sharp division of responsibility between client and consultant; there is no partnership between them.
5. The project makes labor-intensive use of consultants instead of leveraged use.
(Source: High Impact Consulting)
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
The 10 Commandments of Professional Consulting1. Concentrate continually on delivering client
value. 2. Commit all stakeholders to action.3. Clarify complex client issues.4. Communicate authentically.5. Collaborate with the client.6. Conduct a “willing and able” assessment.7. Control scope creep.8. Compress the cycle time of delivery.9. Customize each solution.10.Continually learn and grow.
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Individual Exercise: 10 Commandment
AssessmentTime Allotment: 15 minutes• Please candidly complete the 10
Commandment Assessment.• After everyone has completed the
assessment, we will discuss it in the large group.
• Please note, however, that this assessment is confidential and strictly for your own use. Share only what you want.
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All Consultants Must Have These
Four Capabilities
CONSULTINGPERFORMANCE
RELATIONSHIPSKILLS
ENGAGEMENTMANAGEMENT
BUSINESSACUMEN
TECHNICALEXPERTISE
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Individual Exercise: Four Capabilities Assessment
Time Allotment: 15 minutes• Please candidly complete the Four
Capabilities Assessment.• After everyone has completed the
assessment, we will discuss it in the large group.
• Please note, however, that this assessment is confidential and strictly for your own use. Share only what you want.
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Train Consultants in Consulting Skills to Build
Capability and Confidence
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Client Core Consulting Training Example
Unit One: The Consultant’s Reality 2 hoursUnit Two: Relationship Skills 4 hoursUnit Three: Business Acumen Capabilities 2 hourUnit Four: Engagement Management 4 hoursUnit Five: Technical Expertise 2 hoursUnit Six: Marketing and Selling 2 hoursUnit Seven: Contracting 4 hoursUnit Eight: Data Gathering 2 hoursUnit Nine: Diagnosis The Consulting 3 hoursUnit Ten: Feedback Process 3 hoursUnit Eleven: Solution and Design 3 hoursUnit Twelve: Implementation 3 hoursUnit Thirteen: Closure and Renewal 2 hoursUnit Fourteen: The High-Performance Practice 2 hoursUnit Fifteen: Continuous Learning 2 hours
40 hours
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Contracting
Getting, Growing, and Keeping Clients
The Consulting Process
Relationship
Skills
Assess Delivery
FeedbackSolution
andDesign
Integration
Closureand
Renewal
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Business Acumen Success Elements
Effective Business Consultants Always: • See the bigger strategic issues facing the client.• Are able to define business solutions.• Possess process knowledge of the functional area of
the business and industry sector.• Can define change management issues.• Understand the competitive landscape.• Provide relevant skills, strategies, tools, and ideas to
the client.• Use their knowledge and experience to build strong
rapport and sustainable relationships with the client.
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Client Development
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DeliveringQualifyingPromoting
The Consultant Zone of Influence
Committing
LEADS SUSPECTS PROSPECTS CUSTOMERS CLIENTS
Getting, Growing, and Keeping Clients
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Making the C-Level Call
1. Earn the right to be there--do your homework.
2. Be ready to share something of value first (industry information, best practices, etc.) before probing.
3. Bring supportive data to backup your claims.
4. Think and talk big picture.5. Link your conversation to
how your solutions address his or her critical business issues.
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Consulting Relationship Skills
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Trust
Value
Credibility
Commonality
Empathy
Six Elements in Building Strong Consulting
Relationships
Decorum
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Small Group Exercise
For each assigned element, add three more important actions that you can take to be more effective in building client relationships.
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Building Rapport
• Building rapport is the first step in establishing strong relationships.
• Everyone can learn to build rapport more effectively.
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Individual Exercise
Pretend you are going to meet a client for the FIRST TIME.
List both the verbal and non-verbal clues that you need to be aware of in building rapport.
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Listening and Probing
1. Do I actually know the client’s issues?2. Does the client know that I know his or
her issues?
Before you can solve client problems, you have to answer two questions:
Listening and probing are the tools needed to answer these questions.
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Exercise: Barriers to Listening
1. Individually think of a recent situation (business or personal) where your lack of listening caused a problem.
2. Come up with the barriers that contributed to the problem.
3. Discuss your findings with your group and come up with a list of five common barriers to listening.
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Tips to Active Listening
• Imagine that you will be asked to provide a detailed description of the conversation.
• Act as though this is a “mission critical” conversation.
• Listen with your eyes as well as your ears.• Write out the probes you will ask ahead of
time so that you concentrate on what is being said and not what you will say.
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ProbingOpen Probe• When you want to allow the client to
respond freely to gain general information.Or…• When you want to encourage expansion.
Closed Probe• When you want to limit the client’s response
to uncover specific information.Or…• When you want to confirm your
understanding.
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Open Probes
Usually begin with: • What? When? Where? Why? or
How?Or…• Oh? Tell me, Show me, Say more
about that.
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Closed Probes
• Is• Are• Do• Does• Has
• Have• Can • Could• Which• Who
Key words that help you identify closed probes include:
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Skill Practice: Probing
A client statement will be read aloud. If the ball is thrown to you:
1. Tell if you will use an open or closed probe.
2. Ask the probe.
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The Four I’s Probing Strategy
Issues Importance Impact Investigate
• What are the main issues you and your department are facing?
• Let’s take a look at ___ for a moment. Is this a nice-to-do, or something important to your organization?
• Sounds critical. Tell me, what is the impact of not addressing this problem?
• I see. Together, can we investigate how my organization might be able to help?
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Contracting
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Roadblocks to Success Contracting Exercise
List below all the possible things that can go wrong when you do not have a contract with a client.1.2.3.4.56.7.8.9.10.
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
The Six Elements of Good Contracting
1. Explore potential traps and misunderstandings with clients without appearing negative.
2. Strike a balance between the client’s responsibilities and commitments in the early stage of the relationship.
3. Give true assumptions about the amount of work that will be expected by the consultant and the client.
4. Rehearse the contracting meeting by playing both sides of the exchange: the client and the consultant.
5. Provide information related to your available time.6. Move forward with clarity on measures, results
expected, and accountabilities.
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Case Study ExerciseA Case of Disappointment
Team Discussion Questions• Were the expectations realistic?• Was the system ready? Were they committed?• Who was the consultant?• Who was the sponsor?• Who was the client?• Who should have signed the contract?• What groups or people were involved? Were the
roles/relationships clear?• What were the client’s real objectives/hoped-for
outcomes?• What criteria should be used to evaluate the consulting
effectiveness?• Who should evaluate the consulting?• What were the other contracting issues?
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Consulting Proposal Format
1. Situation Summary: Restates issues, importance, and impact.
2. Business Objectives: Describes expected results in client terms.
3. Progress Tracking: Establishes how headway will be measured.
4. Timing: Anticipated durations with recommended timelines.
5. Accountabilities: Agreed upon consultant and client actions.
6. Credentials: A brief citation of why you are the best choice.
7. Methodology: An outline of required steps.
8. Options: A choice of options that can meet business objectives.
9. Terms and Conditions: Fees, expenses, and terms for each option.
10.Acceptance: Place for appropriate person to sign the proposal.
(Source: How to Write a Proposal That’s Accepted Every Time. Alan Weiss. Kennedy Publications. December, 1998.)
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Assessment
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Successful Interviewing
• Establish and maintain rapport.• Gather personal perceptions
supported by facts and/or stories.• Test the findings from other
inputs.
Use the relationship skills (listening, probing, and acknowledging) to:
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Interviewing Exercise
Practice gathering data through interviewing.
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Services DeliveryResearch shows that clients don't care what your engagement delivery methodology is; however, they do expect you to have one.
Example: A Methodology to Integrate Service Lines
BUILD OPERATIONS MODELBUILD OPERATIONS MODEL
INTERVIEWAND EXTEND OFFERSINTERVIEWAND EXTEND OFFERS
COURT TARGETS AND STRUCTURETERMSCOURT TARGETS AND STRUCTURETERMS
SUSTAINPRACTICESUSTAIN
PRACTICE
CONTACT AND SCREENTARGET
COMPANIES
CONTACT AND SCREENTARGET
COMPANIES
DETERMINE GO TO MARK ET MODEL
DETERMINE GO TO MARK ET MODEL
DESIGNOPERATIONS
MODEL
DESIGNOPERATIONS
MODEL
BUILDRECRUITING
ENGINE
BUILDRECRUITING
ENGINE
BUILDGO TO MARK ET MODEL
RUN PRACTICE
CLOSE TRANSACTIONS
HIRE AND TRANSITION
M&A
Consulting
Search
Competitive
Intelligence
BUILD OPERATIONS MODELBUILD OPERATIONS MODEL
INTERVIEWAND EXTEND OFFERSINTERVIEWAND EXTEND OFFERS
COURT TARGETS AND STRUCTURETERMSCOURT TARGETS AND STRUCTURETERMS
SUSTAINPRACTICESUSTAIN
PRACTICE
CONTACT AND SCREENTARGET
COMPANIES
CONTACT AND SCREENTARGET
COMPANIES
DETERMINE GO TO MARK ET MODEL
DETERMINE GO TO MARK ET MODEL
DESIGNOPERATIONS
MODEL
DESIGNOPERATIONS
MODEL
BUILDRECRUITING
ENGINE
BUILDRECRUITING
ENGINE
BUILDGO TO MARK ET MODEL
RUN PRACTICE
CLOSE TRANSACTIONS
HIRE AND TRANSITION
M&A
Consulting
Search
M&A
Consulting
Search
Competitive
Intelligence
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Delivery: Best Practices
• Project managers know how to manage project scope.**
Service providers:• Utilize a common methodology.**• Demonstrate appropriate selling skills.**• Possess adequate account management skills.**• Have access to real-time customer information.**• Understand the services industry.*• Understand process consulting.*• Know the critical business issues of their
customers.*
Legend: *Statistically proven s-business differentiator from product-centered company.**Statistically proven practice of top-performing s-businesses.
(Source: The State of S-Business: An International Report of Progress, Performance and Best Practices. James A. Alexander. AFSMI. 2002.)
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Planning for Implementation Checklist
1. Acceptance: How can we gain acceptance from others? What advantages can we show for the suggested solution? How might we demonstrate these advantages?
2. Anticipation: What objections to our solution can we anticipate? How should I/we respond?
3. Assistance: How can other people or groups help us to apply our solution?
4. Location: What places or locations are best suited for putting our solutions into practice?
5. Timing: How can we take advantage of special times, days, dates, etc. for implementing our solutions?
6. Precautions: How can we pretest our solution to ensure its effectiveness?
This checklist has been designed to help you to develop a plan of action for the solution you plan to implement.
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Scope Creep Exercise
“We can’t figure when this project is going to end?”
“Can you give Marketing a hand for about a week? They are in trouble.”
“What do you mean the audit project was not included?”
“When we meet on Fridays with your team, it’s a circus! Who is in charge?”
What have you heard from your clients?
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Scope Creep Checklist
1. Client expectations are clear. 1 2 3 4 5
2. Ranges of performance are defined. 1 2 3 4 5
3. Frequent communications on scope. 1 2 3 4 5
4. We have grouped the issues by priority and scope levels, H/M/L. 1 2 3 4 5
5. Issues are included in feedback meetings. 1 2 3 4 5
6. We have established objectives and results. 1 2 3 4 5
7. We have anticipated new players’ objectives, goals, and priorities. 1 2 3 4
58. We have set aside funds for scope creep. 1
2 3 4 59. We have analyzed scope alternatives. 1 2 3 4
510. We feel comfortable saying no. 1 2 3 4
5
SUCCESS FACTORS RATING low high
TOTAL SCORE =
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Service Recovery
1. Being called back when promised.2. Receiving an explanation of how a problem happened.3. Providing information as to what numbers to call.4. Being contacted properly when a problem is resolved.5. Being allowed to speak to your boss.6. Being told how long it will take to solve the problem.7. Being given useful alternatives if a problem can’t be
solved.8. Being treated like a person.9. Being told about ways to prevent a future problem.10. Being given progress reports if a problem can’t be
solved immediately.
“Top 10 Service Attributes of Importance to Clients”
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Service Recovery ExerciseI. You are engaged in an Overhead Cost
Reduction Assignment, and it looks like you will not meet the time deadlines established.
II. You are engaged in a Change Management Project, and you cannot get the cooperation of key sponsors to provide you with the support you need to do the project.
III. You are installing SAP and, despite your best efforts, the system is still not integrated in areas such as purchasing, financials, and supply chain inventories from around the world.
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Managing the Change
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“Making Change Work"
The faster people accept change the faster results can be achieved.can be achieved.
Negative Resistance Positive Acceptance
Source: ODR, Inc. and Andersen Consulting
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The Cost of Resistance
Thecompetitiongains anadvantage.
People loseenthusiasm.
Management’scredibilitysuffers.
Market opportunitiesare missed.
The cost is high.
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The Cost of Resistance
Goodpeopleleave.
Productivitygoes down(20-40percent).
Benefitstake longerto achieve.
Time
$
Resourcesare wasted.
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Dealing with Resistance: One Block at a Time
ResistorsResistors
Make ItHappen!Make ItHappen!
Let It
HappenLet It
Happen
Help ItHappenHelp ItHappen
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
MARCH
Change Plan Approach
Job Design Strategy
WorkplanWorkplan
Design and Development Estimate
Organizational Impact Analysis
Business Process Analysis
Sponsorship Strategy
Ownership & Involvement Strategy
Change Navigation Strategy
Training Strategy
Documentation Strategy
Communication Strategy
Implementation Support Strategy
Rollout Timeline and Approach Estimate
NEWSFLASH !Type name here
Type title hereType name hereType title here
Type name hereType title here
Type name hereType title here
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Communication Activities: Client ExampleCreate Informed Workforce Establish Project Credibility
Develop Sponsorship Commitment Create Workforce Buy-in Provide Forum for Feedback
Project Newsletter
Printed Documents
Bulletin Board Displays
Reengineering Hotline
Division Management Meeting
Messages from theSteering Committee
Brown Bag Lunches
Broadcast cc:Mail messages
Meeting Presentations
“Road Shows”Formal Survey
Suggestion Box
Communication Team Meetings
Town Meetings
Promotions/Incentives
Walk Arounds
Steering Committee Meeting
Dialog Sessions/Focus Groups
Flash
Core Integration Meetings
Change Management Meetings
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Leverage
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Ideas to Leverage Success
Leverage
Publish a Case Study
Present Project Results with
the Client at a Conference
Conduct Post-Review Interviews
or FocusGroups
Mid-Pointof the First
Project, DiscussNext Project
Steps
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Ensuring Client Follow-Up: Initiative Criteria Screen
1 Size of Potential Impact. 1 2 3 4 52 Speed of Impact. 1 2 3 4 53. Probability of Success. 1 2 3 4 54. Availability of Resources. 1 2 3 4 55. Time Requirement. 1 2 3 4 56. Money Requirement. 1 2 3 4 57. Hassle Factor. 1 2 3 4 58. Sexiness. 1 2 3 4 5
CRITERIA RATING low high
TOTAL SCORE =
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
The Professional Services Champion
• Genius of Einstein• Vision of Jefferson• Strength of Superman• Patience of Gandhi• Communications skills of
Roosevelt• Creativity of da Vinci• Magnanimity of Sister Teresa• Ambition of the Clintons• The conviction of Churchill--never,
never give up!
Ideal Attributes
© Copyright 2004 Alexander Consulting, LLP
Thank You for Your Participation and Attention
Contact Information:Alexander Consulting, LLPMark Hordes(713) 781-0251 [email protected]
mwww.alexanderconsultingsbiz.com