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.

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.

  by Bruce Newman.  This article was originally published in The National Networker

I posed this question to subscribers of LinkedIn, my personal network, the companies and consultants at The Productivity Institute, and the subscribers of The National Networker and received many responses.

I also asked a friend of mine who is a very successful technical sales person. After asking the question, he looked at me with amazement in his eyes and exclaimed, “Of course you attend events and meet with a client or prospect. It’s the only way to gauge people and gain an understanding of their needs and motivations (and vice versa). Furthermore, you learn many things from them. For example, I found out about a golf game that I was able to join and interact with a very hard to reach executive”.

The responses I received to this question all agreed with this view; that even in our highly competitive and time-challenged workplace, it is still critical to attend events and meet with people. That despite the huge strides forward in technology, nothing replaces good eye contact and a warm handshake. One respondent stated that instead of meeting other people, we are desensitizing ourselves by being on the Internet and constantly creating text messages and emails. She felt that this enables us to maintain relationships but not create new ones or allow existing relationships to progress. Many respondents stated that attending events allowed them to meet new people and renew existing relationships, helping to ensure that their name and company name remain in the forefront.

However, there were caveats. Several people noted the increased number of networking opportunities that are currently available and the importance of being selective concerning which events or meetings to attend. Interestingly, many of them found the events to be unproductive, yet they still attend them.

Attending events is easy. Anyone can go to some event, pay their money (if necessary) and Poof!, they’re an attendee. That’s the easy part and where most people stop. Working an event is hard. Leo Goetz, who I interviewed for a prior article describes the need to actively work an event as being essential for success. He considers the trading of business cards as being passive and usually unproductive if that is the sole measure of the interaction.

What is needed is to realize that networking is an ongoing process that stretches from the initial contact stage through the development of a relationship. Creating a networking plan – complete with goals – in conjunction with a clear understanding of the purpose of an event is required for consistent success. Conversely, attending events unrelated to your area of interest or your goals helps explain why so many respondents cautioned against attending events just for the sake of attending events - and their frequent disappointment. Hope, at any time is important but rarely sufficient – and certainly not a reason to attend or keep on attending unrelated events. A networking plan also includes a rapid follow-up with almost every contact you make at an event since learning more about them and what they do helps build a relationship from which both parties can profit.

I have attended numerous events where I have told an individual or some company that I am interested in their product or service. And yet, more often than not they don’t contact me. Here’s a potential sale before them and they don’t act on it. Why attend or exhibit at an event if you’re not prepared and don’t take the necessary action?

Unfortunately, this passivity is all too common. An expert consultant hangs out a shingle and expects the world to come to him (or her). A company produces a great product but has no resources for marketing, blindly expecting a few announcements to produce enormous results. These actions represent hope – that’s important, but insufficient and unrealistic.

So, is attending events important? The almost unanimous answer appears to be, yes. The insightful answer is also yes, but only with a clear purpose and plan that allows an individual to focus on relevant and effective events while adhering to their plan’s goals and actions. All of which explains the success of careful, active networkers and my friend, the technical salesperson.

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. 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.

By Gregory Coats

This article was published in The Productivity Institute newsletter

As companies grow, they should regularly evaluate their software and assess how well it can meet their needs.  In some cases, the software limitations, if severe, can constrict a company’s growth and efficiency.  In this article, I will identify key areas to focus – in detail - on some key areas.

The first area most companies focus on is cost.  Cost is important and you should have a budget when you do your evaluation.  However, if you do not know what products are available and what your needs are, how can you accurately determine cost?  There will be some obvious limiting factors, but be reasonable.  I have seen many businesses budget $10,000 to $30,000 for computer and network upgrades, but very little for software.  For less than $1,000, you can buy any number of accounting software packages.  But, if they don’t meet your needs and you end up doing a lot of extra work because of software limitations, how worthwhile was that investment?  Buying inexpensive software now and then having to buy an entirely new product several years later is often very costly.  These additional costs can include: learning/training to use two software packages, data conversion (which can be very expensive), required software and process customizations, and lost productivity because of initial software limitations and compromises. 

So, when evaluating accounting software, what factors should you look at?  Here are several factors to consider. (I will provide more factors in part 2 of this article.)

• Number of users – how many users will access the system? Will this total number of users be simultaneous users?  Does the software use named seats? This is an important question because you may have some users who will only need to run reports and sporadically access (limited) information. Also, software licensing costs usually vary greatly between concurrent and named users.

• Number of locations – this may be critical in deciding which software to select. Furthermore, if you have multiple locations, can the database be split up?

• Should you buy or rent the accounting software? (Note: usually, rented software is hosted.)  The advantage of using hosted accounting software is that you don’t have to worry about updates, backups and network incidents. Furthermore, the upfront cost of hosted software is significantly less than purchased software. Disadvantages of hosted software include: lack of direct access to the database (usually), some companies are leery of security issues, limited customization and integration with other software products and add-ons.  Sometimes, it is also difficult to download properly formatted data from a hosted environment. Conversely, the advantage of purchasing accounting software is the ability to customize it your specific needs, to enable add-ons and to have all aspects on-hand.  Several studies have also shown that the price crossover point between purchased and hosted software is about four years. (For the first four years, it is cheaper to use the hosted version. After that, the overall cost of purchased accounting software is lower.)  Downsides of purchased accounting software includes: initial cost, hardware and software cost, impact on your server(s), maintaining of updates and tech support costs. Using outstanding consultants – in either case – can help ensure that your system is properly configured to meet your needs.

In part two of this article, I will continue to list important factors when evaluating accounting software and system configuration. What is important, regardless of whatever software you select is that you have a clear understanding and list of your specific needs that you can use during your search.

Gregory Coats is president of D & G Accounting Solutions, and has been involved in implementing and customizing multiple accounting software systems for over 20 years.  Mr. Coats can be emailed at gregory.coats@comcast.net .

  by Bill Hoffman

This article was published in The Productivity Institute newsletter

The concept of CRM has been around since the beginning of human interaction. Where do you think the phrase, “the customer is always right,” came from? So, why all of the attention now? What is it that makes CRM so important? So much so, that companies invest large amounts of money and time to implement it?

The answer lies in a shift in the 1980s away from true customer service, to what I like to call, our new “Self-Service World.” Today’s popular belief is, “since I can’t get the service I deserve, I will do it myself and pay less.” I was raised in a time when you were not allowed to pump your own gas. It was considered to be too dangerous. I can recall a time when three attendants would service my family’s car while they pumped our gas. They would wash the windows, check the tires and oil, and even check the battery if they knew us well. I remember the attendants would always take the time to speak with us and really tried to get to know my family as people.

Was the attitude and attentiveness of this business designed to create customer loyalty to bring us back to that particular gas station, even in times when you would pay a couple of pennies more for gas at that station? You bet it was! Just yesterday I pumped my own gas, bought some gum and a soda, and went to pay the clerk—only to be made to feel that my transactions were an inconvenience! His only interest was in taking my money as quickly as possible, so as to not interrupt the game he was watching on a TV behind the counter. Sure, the example from my childhood is more costly in the short term, but can you really afford not to provide the best service possible to your customers? When acquiring new customers is seven times more expensive than retaining and reselling to existing customers—no you can’t.

Customer Service

The result of this “Self-Service World” is that fewer companies provide “excellent customer service.” In the past, you gained the understanding of the importance of high level customer service by observing employees at restaurants, gas stations, and retail stores.

Today, most people are comfortable using a computer, and will pick up the technical aspect of your training in an hour, although it may take them weeks to learn how to interact with potential and existing customers. Human interaction training, focused on skills such as consistency, competence, confidence, and kindness, can help your employees successfully deliver desired company results.

For example, by requiring that employees consistently answer the phone with the same greeting throughout the company, you, as a business, provide your customers with the confidence and knowledge that they will receive the same level of customer service each time they contact you. The same result is achieved by providing your employees with a central respository of information—including customer communications—to access for answers to their questions. When industries compete at any level, the difference maker is always customer service. Consistency, competence, confidence, and kindness are reasons why customers will remain “your” customers.

How Does CRM Help Me Achieve My Customer Service Goals?

CRM software provides the technology to ensure that all your resources are centralized and accessible. CRM software opens interdepartmental communications by combining the resources of your customer-facing departments—Marketing, Sales, A/R, Customer Care and Support—whatever they may be. By having this information available at their fingertips, employees are empowered to step out of their realm, if need be, to help customers.

CRM allows support and service departments, for example, to intertwine communications with the same customers on a daily basis by providing them access to the interaction between all employees and customers so that issues can be resolved immediately. Let’s not forget the line of communication between your inside and outside sales groups.

The interaction information maintained in the CRM system keeps everyone in the loop so prospects and customers alike feel that the entire enterprise has been made aware of their issue, not just the person they spoke with on the phone. A CRM solution partnered with human interaction training is a recipe for success!

CRM Simplified: You Can’t Automate Human Interaction

CRM has taken its hold in the business application world, and you should understand that it is not software alone that makes the CRM initiative successful. Many companies sell customer service automation, such as auto e-mail response and “personalized” marketing campaigns, but they may not understand the CRM culture.

For example, my father recently purchased a fifth-wheel trailer camper. One night, while watching a TV advertisement for “how to” videos for his type of camper, he decided to call and order the videos. The customer service representative he spoke with was friendly, polite, and helpful, and even thanked him for his order—the standard behavior expected of an inside sales representative. When my father received his order in the mail, he noticed a message hand-written at the bottom of the invoice. It read, “Thanks for your order Jerry. I hope you have a great time with your new fifth wheel. It was nice talking to you. —Maureen.”

Receiving a personalized response from a company goes a long way to create value in your customer relationship, and will help to ensure they become a repeat customer. If your company understands that a “10 second gesture” is what CRM is about, then your company is ready to embark on a CRM software solution to help enhance the “CRM culture” you practice.

Has your organization taken the time to start your CRM initiative? Maybe it is time…

With a background spanning more than 17 years of experience in business process management and CRM culture, Bill Hoffman is currently responsible for the design, application and execution of CRM partner delivery programs and Enterprise Sales at Sage Software.  Previously, as Director of Hosted Services and Partner Development at Sage Software, Bill was responsible for direct and partner sales success. He designed strong process and focus for SageCRM and SageCRM.com products. His clients included Stanford Medical Center, American Golf, Standard Insurance, Metrohm-Peak, New England Patriots, Acme Truck Lines, Buffalo Sabres, and Broadsoft, amongst others.  Bill can be reached at: (480) 699-5563 and bill.hoffman@sage.com.

Suppose you are a knowledgeable and experienced consultant, on your way to an interview.  In this day and age, is that sufficient?  The answer, unfortunately is no. More times than not, the hiring decision will be made for some other reason.

What are the important elements a consultant should be aware of at an interview?

Arguably, it’s the initial impression you make.  Whether correct or not, that initial impression – usually in the first 30 seconds – invariably dictates the tone of the entire interview.  It’s hard to believe that these first moments are so important, but they are. If the interviewer believes there is a connection - however tenuous, the subsequent interview will go much smoother as the consultant works to confirm and enhance this impression instead of working to overcome it. (This is one of the major advantages for consultants who are interviewing as a result of a powerful referral.)

Substance is almost as important and can be divided into two distinct parts: substance of an individual and substance of their knowledge. Substance of an individual reflects on the type of person; more specifically, the character of the consultant.  Is he (note: “he” is used generically; I could also use “she”) trustworthy, honest, reliable, personable and professional?  The interviewer is asking himself, “What type of a person am I dealing with? Can I work with him?”  The answer the interviewer seeks is influenced by his initial impression of the consultant. In fact, if his analysis of the individual conflicts with his initial impression, he will be internally struggling to resolve it. This resolution and confirmation is accomplished by the substance of the consultant’s knowledge. Unfortunately, this part is not always realistic or critical.  I garnered a lot of business as a consultant by going in and fixing other people’s messes.  I have encountered – and heard about - many situations in which the impression outweighed the technical competence; in short, the company erred by being sold on impressions and promises instead of substance and competence.

Expertise comes in two forms: knowing the software or service that you are offering – inside and out, and understanding a company’s requirements.  Being able to demonstrate your expertise – without (overtly) bragging is extremely important.  Talking about similar consulting projects that you successfully completed (if possible) is also very helpful, particularly ones that demonstrated excellent value and prodinst. Understanding a company’s requirements and asking intelligent questions will also greatly impress an interviewer. Anyone can walk into an interview with a list of canned questions, but those consultants who can ask insightful questions specifically related to that particular project and company almost instantly transform themselves into noteworthy candidates. This is one of the ways pre-qualified leads for consultants can be extremely helpful; it allows them to be prepared.

Remember, the interview is a mutual evaluation process in which the consultant learns about a company and its specific needs and the interviewer is learning about the consultant and whether that consultant can meet those needs.  It is therefore extremely important that the consultant provide an impressive first impression, reinforced by the subsequent interview to differentiate himself and provide a positive, lasting impression.

Bruce is the Vice President and token male at The Productivity Institute a 100% woman owned company that provides excellent prodinst by matching the specific needs of companies to the expertise of rated outstanding consultants. Any company that wishes to improve their productivity can sign up for this free matching service and be contacted by up to five rated outstanding consultants.