by Bruce Newman

This article first appeared in The Productivity Insitute (PI) newsletter.

Consultants are defined as experts in their area with considerable knowledge and experience. Frequently, outstanding consultants have a wide range of knowledge that not only enhances their specific areas of expertise but also offering new alternatives to additional situations.

Advantages of consultants include:

1. a wealth of in-depth knowledge and experience
2. the ability to quickly get up to speed which is helped greatly by their knowledge and experience (point 1)
3. understanding that the duration of the job is finite and not a long term commitment
4. training is usually not required
5. having the skills to identify the problem (if one exists), design a solution, sell that solution to management (if necessary) and help ensure that it is properly implemented.

Successfully working with consultants entails several important aspects, the most important probably being good communications. While good communications is important for any business, with consultants it is essential. It is through these communications that you relay your business needs to the consultant (and how in turn, the consultant helps provide the solution). The success of almost every project lies upon the understanding by the consultant of the company’s business and project goals. For this reason, you should know beforehand the specific goals of what you want to accomplish. A detailed scope document is usually very helpful. Furthermore, should the project go off track, a project scope document will help pinpoint where the problems occurred and help facilitate corrective measures.

It is also important to also understand that consultants do not walk on water. Do not expect the consultant to be a miracle worker. For example, if your specific needs greatly exceed your existing software application, no amount of consulting for that application may be able to save it. You might need a new application or at least some type of workable solution. The consultant may be equally - or more - important as advisor when developing a solution. Their background and knowledge may help direct you towards additional resources and available services.

Even if the consultant has the solution, remember: it’s your decision. Don’t abdicate final decision responsibility to the consultant. You know your business and needs better than the consultant. Whatever decisions and paths you take, you and your business are the ones that have to live with it. Staying involved with the project and retaining decision responsibility helps ensure that project goals are understood and met.

Finally, make sure you learn from the consultant. Having the consultant explain certain aspects of what has been done and most importantly, what you can do and need to do once the consultant is no longer actively working on your project will great facilitate acceptance and use of the completed project.

Rated outstanding consultants can greatly help companies and provide excellent prodinst and value. Being able to work with them before, during and after a project will help ensure long term success.

 
Bruce Newman is a consulting guru and the Vice President at The Productivity Institute, LLC (http://www.prodinst.com) which provides prodinst by matching the specific software products and services needs of companies to rated outstanding consultants who can meet those needs. Need an outstanding consultant? Any company that wishes to improve their productivity can sign up for this free service and be contacted by up to five rated outstanding consultants. Also available is an informative blog and free newsletter.

by Jeff Shomay

This article was originally printed in The Productivity Institute (PI) newsletter

“Can you tell an intriguing story in just six words?” This challenge was once given to Ernest Hemingway. According to legend, he did, and considered it his best work. Is it possible? Here is his story, judge for yourself: “For sale: baby shoes. Never worn.”What do you think? Here are some more:

• Honey, have you seen the baby?
• Patrick had never eaten worms before…
• Thought I was right. I wasn’t.
• Once upon a time… the end.
• I came, I saw, I conquered.
• Three went to Iraq. One came back.
• Both sisters - breast cancer - I’m scared.

Each six-word line has a totally different impact, doesn’t it? How do they make you feel? What do they make you think? Six words can be powerful. But what does this have to do with marketing?

Read on…

Besides being short and to the point, which is always good, this exercise scratches the surface of something much larger - the art of planting small seeds that grow into powerful thoughts. Isn’t that the purpose of marketing - to plant short messages in your consumers’ minds that become thoughts like “That’s just what I need, I’ll take it!” Looking back at the above lines, let’s uncover some of the principles at work, making their sums more than just six words.

1. The power is in the unexpected. These lines use words or phrases that don’t usually go together to get a bigger effect. “For sale: baby shoes, five dollars” is not as interesting, in fact we likely would skim right over it. But those two unexpected last words get our attention and our invoke feelings. When you want to make an impact, try connecting unexpected words or ideas together.

2. The right words = the right response. When you only have six words, each one counts. “Three went to Iraq, and two died” just doesn’t have the same impact. Never say in three words what you can say in two, and always ask if you can say something in a stronger way.

3. In the end, less is more. To make an idea grow, it has to leave your ad and enter their mind. The best way to do this is to give them only what they need to fill in the rest of the story on their own. Maybe they need more than “Once upon a time… the end,” but if Hemingway wrote a six-sentence paragraph about why the baby’s shoes were never worn and how sad it was, it may be more melodramatic, but it sure wouldn’t get the same impact or be remembered. Lay guidelines, but leave it up to your audience. When your customer is filling in their own story, they’re selling themselves, and you can’t do better than that.

4. If you move them, you’ve won. We react strongly to things we can identify with. I don’t know about you, but the breast cancer line really hits me. I don’t even know who the woman is, but I can feel her fear and want to help her. Find an emotional aspect of your product or service or sell the benefit in emotional terms, and people will listen and take action.

This is a quick intro into some powerful principles that you can employ when you want your message to make an impact. Do companies really use this in real life? Have you ever heard these lines?

• Melts in your mouth, not in your hands. (Not exactly six words, but the principles are the same, and that’s what’s important)
• No one can eat just one.
• Where do you want to go today?
• Read my lips: no more taxes.
• What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.
• Friends don’t let friends drive drunk.
• The few, the proud, the Marines.

These lines all have specific built-in meanings and feelings to influence their audience. They work. Can you identify their power principles? Start putting these principles to use for yourself and see what happens!

Credit: some of the above lines came from online posters - britta02, Graeme Gibson, Kevin Smith, and Julius Caesar.

Jeff Schomay is CEO of “Inspire Your Buyer“. Marketing and Branding that stands out and gets results. “Turning potential buyers into inspired buyers”. www.Inspire-Your-Buyer.com

“Inspire Your Buyer” creates powerful branding and marketing for you, using the same principles that Hollywood Filmmakers, Top Entertainers, and Marketing Gurus use to capture and captivate an audience and shape its response. We’ll get you a stronger reaction, check us out!

Challenge: Send your own six-word marketing lines to jeff@inspire-your-buyer.com. The top selected 5 will get special free and discounted services. Must receive by New Years!

by Harry Lund

     This article was originally published in The Productivity Institute newsletter

We all know by now that a website is a basic requirement of doing business. But as 2009 approaches, it becomes increasingly less sufficient to simply have a place on the Web to call your own. More and more companies are venturing out onto the Internet and interacting with their customers in places like MySpace, Facebook, and other social sites. If your business hasn’t done so already, perhaps your New Year’s Resolution should be to step out of the walls of your corporate site and start to build your presence on the Web—your Web Footprint.

It can be scary to leave the safety of your own site, where you have complete control of your product messaging and you can make the rules as you go. Out on the Web, you’ll have to play by others’ rules—but more and more big-name companies are deciding the risk is worth the reward. Dell is using the popular micro-blogging site Twitter to post corporate press and discount offers, while Comcast is using their Twitter feed to provide customer support and troubleshooting. Aquafina uses their MySpace page to promote new products and offer fun videos and games to their visitors. Companies like Warner Bros. Records and CBS have taken an “if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em” attitude with the creation of YouTube channels filled with their content. And companies like Ben & Jerry’s and Red Bull have built interactive Facebook pages where visitors can play games, download free items and share their thoughts about the companies’ products.

            One of the reasons many companies are hesitant to become players on the new, social Web is because they are afraid of encountering negative opinions towards their products. The fact is, negative reviews are practically inevitable. Hopefully they are in the minority, but how will you know if you don’t insert yourself in the conversation? Tapping into these formal and informal reviews, both negative and positive, not only serves as free market research, but also alerts you to individual customer issues that might otherwise go unresolved. As one analyst observes, “It could be that, at some point, the companies that aren’t on Twitter will begin falling behind in customer satisfaction without even knowing why…and losing customers in the process”¹.

            So how do you grow your Web Footprint? Start establishing a presence in the places your customers frequent. Create a MySpace and Facebook page. If you think you could put it to good use, create a Twitter feed and update it regularly. Start contributing worthwhile content to industry forums and message boards. I stress “worthwhile” because the last thing you want is for your content to sound like nothing more than an advertisement. A big part of participating on the Web today is contributing valuable content that people want and are interested in. While doing so, you should try for a human voice. Create a persona that will engage your customers. What you shouldn’t do is simply copy and paste your corporate messaging onto the most popular social networking sites. Many companies worry about losing their professional image, but it is possible to be fun and engaging while still being professional. Trust me.

            If you’re limiting your online participation to your corporate site, you’re missing the opportunity to engage your customers, get free advertising, encourage word-of-mouth and access unfiltered reactions to your products. If you’re not sold yet, here’s another benefit of getting your name out there: improved search engine rankings. Generally speaking, the more pages on the Web that link to your site, the more important and relevant Google and other search engines will think your site is. The result: appearing more often and higher in search engine results. With so much to gain, how long can you remain a wallflower on the Web? It’s time to get out there and build your Web Footprint.

Harry Lund is a Web Content Developer at CommonPlaces e-Solutions, LLC. CommonPlaces delivers successful Web solutions to businesses both small and large, enabling our clients to survive and thrive alongside industry leaders. CommonPlaces was recently selected as one of the Most Dependable Web Designers in the Northeast by Entrepreneur Magazine. Our smart and talented team possesses both professional training and a wealth of industry experience, allowing them to provide a unique approach to Web development that combines business strategy, creative designs and innovative technological solutions into one successful Web solution. Harry can be reached at harry@commonplaces.com.

Notes

¹ “How to Get Customer Service via Twitter” http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/how_to_get_customer_service_via_twitter.php

Rated outstanding consultants can provide terrific prodinst and enhanced value. Their knowledge and expertise can greatly enhance any project and frequently, a company’s productivity. Evaluating their performance is a critical factor in assessing their effectiveness and in future planning.

Project assessment is often difficult to accurately gauge. Criteria used for ranking can vary tremendously between projects and in some cases, not lend itself readily to quantitative analysis. For example, how do you quantify the effectiveness of an executive coach, project management or business process realignment? Possibly, through measures of increased productivity, enhanced communications or even employee retention over a period of time. Although there are numerous types of measures, here are five ways of assessing consultant performance:

1. In your project scope document, detail completion dates and phase completion. Once each phase is completed, perform testing (if applicable) and obtain written statements by the consultant and staff detailing what was accomplished. 

 

2. Evaluate performance for several criteria (such as professionalism and knowledge) at each stage on the consultant from both the consultant and the key people working with the consultant. This can be accomplished in a matter of a few minutes using a scale of 1 - 5 for each criteria and something we do for all of our independent consultants. 

 

3. If there is a problem, it is better to know it sooner than later. Constantly evaluate the communications between staff and the consultant for any potential problems. 

 

4. Determine measures for assessing long term performance and effectiveness. Studies show that less than 20% of all projects are evaluated for effectiveness after more than one month after their completion. 

 

5. Develop measures that can evaluate effectiveness before and after job completion. This should be accomplished by using your key measurement criteria and should be integrally related to the purpose of the project.

There are numerous ways of evaluating consultant performance and project effectiveness. By using the five methods discussed above, you help ensure the successful outcome of a consulting project and enhanced productivity.

Bruce Newman is the Vice President of The Productivity Institute, LLC and an expert on consultants. He has over 25 years of business experience in sales, marketing, business development, management and programming. He has over 17 years of consulting experience and has built several successful startup product and service consulting firms.

Hiring consultants to complete projects and meet short – and long – term objectives is a relatively inexpensive way of obtaining expertise while minimizing employee costs and overhead. Furthermore, by hiring outstanding consultants, a company can greatly enhance their range of expertise and receive outstanding value and excellent prodinst. There is also usually much to be learned from a rated outstanding consultant.

Too often, companies fail to fully explore a consultant’s or consulting service’s expertise, qualifications and experience. Often, they take the easier route and hire someone they know or has been recommended to them.  Every potential consultant should be thoroughly evaluated, regardless of their original source.  

You should always meet them first, if possible.  Meeting people face to face is very important. It helps build a relationship – if there is to be one, and allows you to get a much better feel for the person.  If meeting the consultant is not possible, such as they are in another country, you should have a long phone interview with them. 

In either case, you should have a series of questions ready and have several people conduct interviews with them, either as a group or individually. Invariably, people develop different opinions which should be discussed.

Having a detailed project plan will greatly help you develop questions and evaluate prospective consultants you might hire.

Some experts recommend behavioral questions, similar to what an employee might face.  Questions they ask can include:

1. Describe your typical contract
2. What experience do you have with similar projects?
3. How do you communicate your progress to the client?
4. How closely do you work with the client?
5. Who is in charge of the project?
6. How do you determine if a project is complete and how it is successful?

Questions on performance are entirely appropriate and mandatory since your company is paying the money and expecting the results.  Performance questions usually include:

1. Do you offer guarantees?
2. Will you agree to the specified objectives and timeframes?
3. What happens if the project exceeds its timeframe or budget?
4. How well do you work and communicate with others?
5. Are you a team player? Yes, even for consultants, this is an important question.

Ask similar questions to their references.  One of the first places to denote inconsistencies is between what the references tell you and what you learn during the interview.

Usually, rated outstanding consultants will have the best chance of providing excellent value and enhanced prodinst.  Their knowledge and experience will be beneficial to the project and maybe additional projects as well.  Nevertheless, all prospective consultants should be thoroughly evaluated to help ensure they can meet all project requirements.