I had to gently remind someone last week that I am in business. Many consultants face a quandary about giving away free consulting. I’m actually not talking about that. I’m pretty bad about that actually – call me and, when I become available, we’re talking. I enjoy my discipline and helping others too much sometimes, especially when I’m learning back.
But I’m not talking about that kind of free consulting. I’m talking about matchmaking consultants to projects. It’s a part of my business. So, when a colleague calls to see if I ‘have anybody’ or ‘know anybody’ who fits a profile, I want to be sure some things are understood early before we get too far into the process. I will ask many questions. If I happen to ‘know someone’ who may be a fit, that knowing is borne of many years of relationship building, industry study and record-keeping. It’s a developed asset. Most understand this. Since I place consultants, I take the paper, the risks, etc., and a fee.
Unfortunately, it’s not always understood and somebody was offended when we started talking rate and it was apparent my firm would factor into that equation in some small way. Fortunately, I made this clear early in the process before I spent too much time on it. And so should you.
Whenever the fee for what you think is a ‘service’ is questioned, you have to question whether you have truly differentiated that service. And placing consultants alone is hard to differentiate. My differentiator there, again, is my years of relationship building and industry knowledge. I know who does good work in all the nooks and crannies of my space and I know how to take a job order and make sure people are a fit, technically and otherwise. Some will still see this as ‘easy’ or a naked ‘contribution’ I make to their cause.
The experience also reminds me of a time when a company owed me a payment and tried to escape the responsibility by appealing to that fact that ‘I have savings’ or some such thing. To which I replied “Whether I need the payment to keep from starvation or not tomorrow may be evident, but my charities need it more than either one of us.” I don’t know how clever it was, but that’s what came out.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Rich Dad Education
I attended one of the Rich Dad Education “teaser” “seminars” in Dallas this week. My perspective in going was perhaps unique among the attendees. I give seminars and was interested in experiencing a small part of the RDE business model. I had no intention of buying anything beyond. I knew there would be selling involved, but this was old school 1980s hard sell, not unlike something you would find at a MLM seminar.
I can’t add much to what others have said about what happens at these seminars, except maybe from the perspective of the business model. I counted the people there and noted about how many signed up for the $500 training. Then, there’s the other training. It’s a good business model, if you choose to do business this way.
First of all, it was deceptive advertising that got the attendees out. The advertising did not say anything about real estate. It said they’d be teaching you “what the rich dads tell their children that the poor dads do not.” In looking around, and talking to my seated neighbors a bit, it was evident to me that these people were looking for a short cut in life. They were expecting a “rich man” to share his “secrets” with them tonight.
They probably would not come out to hear one of us who own one or a few measly properties. They fall for the over-the-top personality and star power of the mega-rich celebrity - even if one does say so themselves – people who would never have a cup of coffee with them.
Speaking of personality, this was a carefully crafted seminar, from the announcement of “we’re starting late due to traffic” (nothing unusual about the traffic that night) to herding us into the front seats (to establish their ability to control us) to the embarrassing “I’m learning to be rich” or some such message on our stickers. Nothing spontaneous about it. No questions allowed since “there’s so much information to share.” No audio or video allowed since “we’re giving away so much valuable intellectual property.” The speaker was Jessie Connors, whose claim to fame is she was on season one of The Apprentice. That, plus her attractive looks, were all that was needed to pull rank on most of the attendees and set up the intimidation from the start.
She showed pictures of her with celebrities – all byproducts of being on the show – and certainly intimidating to some. I can see Robert K. sitting at home watching The Apprentice and seeing his next “trainer.”
She slipped in many “offhand” comments that were clearly part of the act – that she didn’t attend college, spends time in Florida, Europe, wherever, that “you don’t want to look back and kick yourself”, “I started like this”, etc. Then, there was the repeated insincere flattery: “but you all know about that.”
Her favorite thing to do was to say something and then say “do you guys want an example?”. Then, act dumbfounded when someone chirped from row 3 “yes”. She acted like the whole audience just shouted “YES!” all at once. And then she proceeded to give the example she was going to give all along.
Now, people that get on The Apprentice are not simple. Her folksy act meant she was acting less smart than she is in order to have the people relate to her.
She even slipped in a reference to a Warren Buffet book. The believers in this audience will never be reading a Warren Buffet book so all she had to do was reference it and people would believe her message was similar to Warren’s. Nice!
Some people were buying the whole thing, believing she is super-smart in real estate. Folks, she was only throwing around some terms. If you have some charisma and spent 1 day with the head of education at RDE coaching you, you could GIVE that seminar. Remember, there were no questions she had to answer! She was just the speaker here.
But that is the problem, now isn’t it. These people going back to “buy now before the cost goes up” because we “usually do this just in blah, blah, blah, but we’re holding a special workshop in Dallas on ___” do not want to do what it really takes and are all too happy to turn over their dreams to anyone who says they will help them. They don’t want to READ. They don’t want to work. They don’t even want to research the internet before they plunk down $500 (the “cost of a TV” Jessie reminded us a few times.). And they don’t want to crawl (i.e., get 1 property) before they run (be ultra-rich).
Jessie said she had a lot of income property and gave some examples. This is just a hunch, but she could get away with NOT actually owning those properties. Now, I’m not saying there’s no property out there in her name, but if there is, there’s no proof she did it using the RD approach or that RDE didn’t deed it over to her to cover that base so she could do the seminars without lying too bad. Who knows?
No, I cannot say I took the $500 3-days of training (which, in reading posts on the internet seems like a waste) and you can say therefore I don’t know if it’s valuable, but I could say back that you also did not try this-or-that class to see if it is valuable also. I wouldn’t be looking for a tidbit or 2 of value, while sorting through the selling messages for 3 days, for my $500 and my 3 days of time.
I would advise:
1. Get past the idea that there’s a magic formula you haven’t tapped into and get mentally prepared to provide value to your fellow human beings for your return
2. Find out which, of the many ways there are to make it, will work best for YOU
3. Learn about money and ROI (by reading and self-study)
4. Assuming you’re looking into real estate, learn about real estate (by reading and self-study)
a. Whatever you’re looking into, find books, and people doing it who will help you, who are not into manipulation techniques (my book and advice for example if you're doing consulting)
5. Target 1 transaction that’s profitable
6. Repeat
I can’t add much to what others have said about what happens at these seminars, except maybe from the perspective of the business model. I counted the people there and noted about how many signed up for the $500 training. Then, there’s the other training. It’s a good business model, if you choose to do business this way.
First of all, it was deceptive advertising that got the attendees out. The advertising did not say anything about real estate. It said they’d be teaching you “what the rich dads tell their children that the poor dads do not.” In looking around, and talking to my seated neighbors a bit, it was evident to me that these people were looking for a short cut in life. They were expecting a “rich man” to share his “secrets” with them tonight.
They probably would not come out to hear one of us who own one or a few measly properties. They fall for the over-the-top personality and star power of the mega-rich celebrity - even if one does say so themselves – people who would never have a cup of coffee with them.
Speaking of personality, this was a carefully crafted seminar, from the announcement of “we’re starting late due to traffic” (nothing unusual about the traffic that night) to herding us into the front seats (to establish their ability to control us) to the embarrassing “I’m learning to be rich” or some such message on our stickers. Nothing spontaneous about it. No questions allowed since “there’s so much information to share.” No audio or video allowed since “we’re giving away so much valuable intellectual property.” The speaker was Jessie Connors, whose claim to fame is she was on season one of The Apprentice. That, plus her attractive looks, were all that was needed to pull rank on most of the attendees and set up the intimidation from the start.
She showed pictures of her with celebrities – all byproducts of being on the show – and certainly intimidating to some. I can see Robert K. sitting at home watching The Apprentice and seeing his next “trainer.”
She slipped in many “offhand” comments that were clearly part of the act – that she didn’t attend college, spends time in Florida, Europe, wherever, that “you don’t want to look back and kick yourself”, “I started like this”, etc. Then, there was the repeated insincere flattery: “but you all know about that.”
Her favorite thing to do was to say something and then say “do you guys want an example?”. Then, act dumbfounded when someone chirped from row 3 “yes”. She acted like the whole audience just shouted “YES!” all at once. And then she proceeded to give the example she was going to give all along.
Now, people that get on The Apprentice are not simple. Her folksy act meant she was acting less smart than she is in order to have the people relate to her.
She even slipped in a reference to a Warren Buffet book. The believers in this audience will never be reading a Warren Buffet book so all she had to do was reference it and people would believe her message was similar to Warren’s. Nice!
Some people were buying the whole thing, believing she is super-smart in real estate. Folks, she was only throwing around some terms. If you have some charisma and spent 1 day with the head of education at RDE coaching you, you could GIVE that seminar. Remember, there were no questions she had to answer! She was just the speaker here.
But that is the problem, now isn’t it. These people going back to “buy now before the cost goes up” because we “usually do this just in blah, blah, blah, but we’re holding a special workshop in Dallas on ___” do not want to do what it really takes and are all too happy to turn over their dreams to anyone who says they will help them. They don’t want to READ. They don’t want to work. They don’t even want to research the internet before they plunk down $500 (the “cost of a TV” Jessie reminded us a few times.). And they don’t want to crawl (i.e., get 1 property) before they run (be ultra-rich).
Jessie said she had a lot of income property and gave some examples. This is just a hunch, but she could get away with NOT actually owning those properties. Now, I’m not saying there’s no property out there in her name, but if there is, there’s no proof she did it using the RD approach or that RDE didn’t deed it over to her to cover that base so she could do the seminars without lying too bad. Who knows?
No, I cannot say I took the $500 3-days of training (which, in reading posts on the internet seems like a waste) and you can say therefore I don’t know if it’s valuable, but I could say back that you also did not try this-or-that class to see if it is valuable also. I wouldn’t be looking for a tidbit or 2 of value, while sorting through the selling messages for 3 days, for my $500 and my 3 days of time.
I would advise:
1. Get past the idea that there’s a magic formula you haven’t tapped into and get mentally prepared to provide value to your fellow human beings for your return
2. Find out which, of the many ways there are to make it, will work best for YOU
3. Learn about money and ROI (by reading and self-study)
4. Assuming you’re looking into real estate, learn about real estate (by reading and self-study)
a. Whatever you’re looking into, find books, and people doing it who will help you, who are not into manipulation techniques (my book and advice for example if you're doing consulting)
5. Target 1 transaction that’s profitable
6. Repeat
Monday, January 4, 2010
Should I stay or should I grow now?
One of the major decisions an independent consultant entertains is whether to stick with a single, fulltime, lone-ranger client situation or focus on multi-person projects only. You can pursue both strategies at once if you have a flexible anchor client and are willing to work hard, but let’s face it, some leadership positions during intense project activity times require fulltime effort. So do some clients who may not have that level of need, but are only comfortable with that manner of working. So, should you take it/stay or go to pursue something bigger for your consultancy?
Some of the factors that should induce you to stay:
1. It is your business model – nothing wrong with that!
2. The client is local and you prefer your own bed
3. The technology to be used is an entry point to a career-enhancing opportunity
4. The prospect is an entry point into a career-enhancing industry.
5. The technology to be used is an entry point into a career-enhancing technology.
6. The client location is highly desirable, either from a personal standpoint or from a career-enhancing standpoint.
7. The application is an entry point into a career-enhancing application.
8. You see that the personal service you are providing can lead to multi-consultant services from your firm following this service.
9. The work is for a charity or a small firm doing good for society that you want to support.
10. Despite your best efforts following the direction of my book, you’ve been on the bench for longer than your comfort level
These are similar to the factors I present in chapter 7 of the book where I talk about when you would reduce your rate. This is no surprise since, for many, taking the lone-ranger situation is tantamount to reducing your (overall) rate by limiting your ability to grow multi-person projects.
Some of the factors that should induce you to stay:
1. It is your business model – nothing wrong with that!
2. The client is local and you prefer your own bed
3. The technology to be used is an entry point to a career-enhancing opportunity
4. The prospect is an entry point into a career-enhancing industry.
5. The technology to be used is an entry point into a career-enhancing technology.
6. The client location is highly desirable, either from a personal standpoint or from a career-enhancing standpoint.
7. The application is an entry point into a career-enhancing application.
8. You see that the personal service you are providing can lead to multi-consultant services from your firm following this service.
9. The work is for a charity or a small firm doing good for society that you want to support.
10. Despite your best efforts following the direction of my book, you’ve been on the bench for longer than your comfort level
These are similar to the factors I present in chapter 7 of the book where I talk about when you would reduce your rate. This is no surprise since, for many, taking the lone-ranger situation is tantamount to reducing your (overall) rate by limiting your ability to grow multi-person projects.
Tuesday, December 29, 2009
Consulting Red Flags: Ten tips from the NBA to help a consulting user secure a winning consulting arrangement
1. The last time I checked, the NBA All-Star teams were stocked with players from 20 or so teams. Kobe Bryant, Dwight Howard, LeBron James, Steve Nash and Dwayne Wade all play for different teams. If a consultancy puts forward its team as the all-league all-star team, with no deficiencies whatsoever, that is a red flag. All teams have them. Both sides should understand this and strive for a best fit, given the realities that talent gets spread around naturally.
2. However, consulting teams need a winning formula. Do they know what it is? Will that work in your environment? For the Lakers, it was Kobe and a solid supporting cast. For the Magic, it was Howard, Lewis, Turkoglu and a solid rotation. Other teams put all shooters on the floor or play defense first.
3. I did not notice an NBA team, in an effort to save money, put the cheapest, most inexperienced player they could find on the court this season. Heck, there are people who would pay for the glory of playing. No, I think every team tried their best to win as many games as possible. If your consulting team consists of 3 solid players that you are presented with, with the rest to be named later, make sure they are not filling it out with the cheapest players they can find. Of course, that is misguided on their part as well, but sometimes you need to save the consultancies from doing the wrong thing for both of you.
4. Scores and game clocks are not kept in the referee's head. He does not suddenly blow the whistle and say "game over, Suns win 104-99, goodbye." The time and the score are kept on large scoreboards for all to see throughout the game. Do you have a scoreboard? Does your consultancy? It is important to know how much progress is being made throughout the game.
5. Beyond the starting 5, NBA benches are filled with world-class athletes, many of whom get as much or more playing time as starters. What is your consultancy's bench? I'm not referring, necessarily, to their employees not on billing, but just what is their contingency plan in case of injury, sudden and unexpected poor performance or if a player were to leave in the middle of the game? Is the consultancy plugged into the culture of the discipline they are engaged in? Do they have a warm network? Do they scout?
6. NBA teams come to expect certain things from the places they play - things like fans, referees, locker rooms, food, transportation, hoops, lights, a marked court and basketballs to play with. What is your consulting team expecting from you? Software? Hardware? Requirements? Access to certain individuals? Physical space? The ability to network their laptops? It would be a drag to see the game try to start without a basketball or to have the lights go out in the 3rd quarter. Clear up expectations ahead of time with your consultancy.
7. When the Pistons show up to the American Airlines Arena in Miami, they expect the Heat to come out of the dressing room to play against. Imagine their surprise should the Warriors come out! Or they have to play against 6 players on the court. Now, they have game-planned for one team (5 players at a time) and get to play an entirely different team. This bit of surprise will not help the Pistons be successful that night. Is there information the consultancy is not asking for that they should be in order to know what they are up against?
8. Sure, playing basketball is fun. However, it's also work. Players dive after loose balls, flying into the stands if necessary, and are expected to go all out with little consequence to their body. They need to be skilled at avoiding injury, but cannot play overly concerned with it. There are many moments in a consulting project where it's less fun and more work. Are you hiring a consultancy that is prepared for the potential hard work ahead?
9. NBA teams shoot about 80 field goals per game, hitting less than half. Actually, only a handful of players in the league hit over 50 percent of their field goals. However, you can't score or win if you don't shoot. The Harlem Globetrotters are entertaining when they go into their circle and keep passing the ball, but you don't see that in a real game. Is your consultancy willing to shoot, and are you willing to let them, even though half of the shots aren't going in, or is the consultancy interested in making entertaining passes, perhaps back to you?
10. Finally, experience counts. At the NBA draft last year, I was alarmed when the announcers said that some of the second round picks would not even make the NBA. Only 60 players are drafted each year, all with eye-popping highlights from college and European leagues, and some won't make it?! That's how tough it is. Is your consultancy circumventing this rule and passing along the inexperienced to you?
2. However, consulting teams need a winning formula. Do they know what it is? Will that work in your environment? For the Lakers, it was Kobe and a solid supporting cast. For the Magic, it was Howard, Lewis, Turkoglu and a solid rotation. Other teams put all shooters on the floor or play defense first.
3. I did not notice an NBA team, in an effort to save money, put the cheapest, most inexperienced player they could find on the court this season. Heck, there are people who would pay for the glory of playing. No, I think every team tried their best to win as many games as possible. If your consulting team consists of 3 solid players that you are presented with, with the rest to be named later, make sure they are not filling it out with the cheapest players they can find. Of course, that is misguided on their part as well, but sometimes you need to save the consultancies from doing the wrong thing for both of you.
4. Scores and game clocks are not kept in the referee's head. He does not suddenly blow the whistle and say "game over, Suns win 104-99, goodbye." The time and the score are kept on large scoreboards for all to see throughout the game. Do you have a scoreboard? Does your consultancy? It is important to know how much progress is being made throughout the game.
5. Beyond the starting 5, NBA benches are filled with world-class athletes, many of whom get as much or more playing time as starters. What is your consultancy's bench? I'm not referring, necessarily, to their employees not on billing, but just what is their contingency plan in case of injury, sudden and unexpected poor performance or if a player were to leave in the middle of the game? Is the consultancy plugged into the culture of the discipline they are engaged in? Do they have a warm network? Do they scout?
6. NBA teams come to expect certain things from the places they play - things like fans, referees, locker rooms, food, transportation, hoops, lights, a marked court and basketballs to play with. What is your consulting team expecting from you? Software? Hardware? Requirements? Access to certain individuals? Physical space? The ability to network their laptops? It would be a drag to see the game try to start without a basketball or to have the lights go out in the 3rd quarter. Clear up expectations ahead of time with your consultancy.
7. When the Pistons show up to the American Airlines Arena in Miami, they expect the Heat to come out of the dressing room to play against. Imagine their surprise should the Warriors come out! Or they have to play against 6 players on the court. Now, they have game-planned for one team (5 players at a time) and get to play an entirely different team. This bit of surprise will not help the Pistons be successful that night. Is there information the consultancy is not asking for that they should be in order to know what they are up against?
8. Sure, playing basketball is fun. However, it's also work. Players dive after loose balls, flying into the stands if necessary, and are expected to go all out with little consequence to their body. They need to be skilled at avoiding injury, but cannot play overly concerned with it. There are many moments in a consulting project where it's less fun and more work. Are you hiring a consultancy that is prepared for the potential hard work ahead?
9. NBA teams shoot about 80 field goals per game, hitting less than half. Actually, only a handful of players in the league hit over 50 percent of their field goals. However, you can't score or win if you don't shoot. The Harlem Globetrotters are entertaining when they go into their circle and keep passing the ball, but you don't see that in a real game. Is your consultancy willing to shoot, and are you willing to let them, even though half of the shots aren't going in, or is the consultancy interested in making entertaining passes, perhaps back to you?
10. Finally, experience counts. At the NBA draft last year, I was alarmed when the announcers said that some of the second round picks would not even make the NBA. Only 60 players are drafted each year, all with eye-popping highlights from college and European leagues, and some won't make it?! That's how tough it is. Is your consultancy circumventing this rule and passing along the inexperienced to you?
Friday, December 18, 2009
December 31, 9999 will be a bear
Ten years ago next week, I, like many of you, were monitoring systems for any Year 2000 glitches as the new year came in and the calendar rolled over to 2000. It was a most uncelebratory new year as I stared at monitors at a client site along with everyone else who could potentially be useful should a crash have occurred. It was one of those things where we did not know what might happen or what we might be called upon to do. We just had to be ready for anything. Fortunately, nothing unusual happened except some PCs didn’t turn over the year correctly (insert joke here: how many consultants does it take to update a PC date?).
This seemed to be the case throughout the IT world as systems hummed along. There was some remediation done in the months prior, but not much. Does anyone remember all the predictions of gloom? A whole industry sprouted up (and down) around this “problem”.
This New Year’s Eve, there are no such concerns. We can party like it’s NOT (Dec. 31) 1999.
Thursday, December 17, 2009
The Consultant's Christmas Song
Sung to the tune of The Christmas Song...
Competitors roasting on an open fire
Account Managers nipping at your budget
Buzzwords being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up in business casual.
Everybody knows some statements of work and signatures
Help to make the season bright
Practice Managers with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.
They know that next year’s budgets are on their way
It’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on the sleigh
And every friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend is gonna spy
To see if project managers really know how to buy.
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To Directors from thirty-one to sixty-five
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Consulting to you.
Competitors roasting on an open fire
Account Managers nipping at your budget
Buzzwords being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up in business casual.
Everybody knows some statements of work and signatures
Help to make the season bright
Practice Managers with their eyes all aglow
Will find it hard to sleep tonight.
They know that next year’s budgets are on their way
It’s loaded lots of toys and goodies on the sleigh
And every friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend is gonna spy
To see if project managers really know how to buy.
And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To Directors from thirty-one to sixty-five
Although it's been said many times, many ways
Merry Consulting to you.
Sunday, December 13, 2009
The Right Age to Begin Consulting
If you want to win the Masters one day and you can read this, you are probably too late.
It's a decade-long commitment to becoming a doctor after college and, well, most will begin that commitment in their early 20s.
While you may not stay in the same company while doing it, climbing the corporate ladder to the top takes a similar level of commitment, as well as one or more big jumps usually supported by a mentor in the organization.
Granted, some fields are more forgiving of later commitments and less competitive than these. Consulting is one of them.
Actually, to make it to the top in consulting, you may want to consider NOT starting your career in it. While fresh faces out of college joining the big consultancies or the boutiques can be a powerful strategy, so can spending time in industry - in positions not only doing the work you will be consulting in, but also in positions hiring consultants doing that work. This way, you will learn to understand the pressures, the politics and the budgetary issues involved. These can be invaluable skills when you are on the other side of the relationship.
This is the consulting equivalent of hiring a former IRS agent to help you in your disputes with the IRS.
Then again, whether you want to take consutling to the top or not is not really the career question is it? The question is whether it is the best path for you now. Your consulting goals are not burdened if it's not the first stop in your career.
It's a decade-long commitment to becoming a doctor after college and, well, most will begin that commitment in their early 20s.
While you may not stay in the same company while doing it, climbing the corporate ladder to the top takes a similar level of commitment, as well as one or more big jumps usually supported by a mentor in the organization.
Granted, some fields are more forgiving of later commitments and less competitive than these. Consulting is one of them.
Actually, to make it to the top in consulting, you may want to consider NOT starting your career in it. While fresh faces out of college joining the big consultancies or the boutiques can be a powerful strategy, so can spending time in industry - in positions not only doing the work you will be consulting in, but also in positions hiring consultants doing that work. This way, you will learn to understand the pressures, the politics and the budgetary issues involved. These can be invaluable skills when you are on the other side of the relationship.
This is the consulting equivalent of hiring a former IRS agent to help you in your disputes with the IRS.
Then again, whether you want to take consutling to the top or not is not really the career question is it? The question is whether it is the best path for you now. Your consulting goals are not burdened if it's not the first stop in your career.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)