Management of the Client/Consultant Relations

2 key relationships that a consultant must

maintain:
Relationship between the consultant and the
problem-solving process
Relationship between the consultant and the
client.
Client
Is the organization that engages the services of
the consultant. In a more specific and immediate
sense, the term client refers to the individual(s)
with whom the consultant has the initial and/or
ongoing contracts. This person (or persons)
discusses the engagement and its process with the
consultant and, at the completion of the
engagement, accepts the final report from the
consultant.
Relationship must also be established by the consultant with
other personnel of the clients organizations such as:

(a) Administrators and employees who have information and facts

concerning the problem situation.
(b) Managers and employees who are likely to be affected by the
implementation of solution to the problem situation.
(c) Managers and employees who are assigned to perform tasks under
the consultants guidance.
(d) Managers and employees who are assigned to serve as liaison on a
daily basis between the consultant and higher-level managers or
other organizational units with the support system.
How to Develop and Maintain Harmonious Relationships with
Client

1. Consultant should aim to develop a sense of trust and openness;

2. He should be willing to answer questions concerning the engagements;
3. Harmonious relationship can also be established through a round get-acquainted
interviews;
4. The consultant should obtain appointments to meet all the managers who are
affected by the problem situations.
5. The consultant should reflect an attitude of helpfulness;
6. The consultant should not directly tell the client what decision to make.
Managing Client Expectations
The ff. should be observed when communicating what the
consulting project can do for the business:
Be clear as to what can be offered.
Be positive about what can be offered, but be realistic.
Be honest about the limitations of the project.
When talking about the limitations put them between positive
statement.
 Credibility
Relates to the recipients perception of the senders ability to
satisfy the expectations being generated. It is a once-and-for-all
thing; it is an ongoing thing, which is built (and eroded) over time.
Initially, however credibility is provided through evidences.
In particular this will center on the following:
Is what is being offered viable?
Does the proposer have the expertise/ability to make the offer?
Are the necessary resources in place?
How satisfactory have previous experiences been?
What is the proposers reputation?
Maintaining Client Interest
If the mangers interest is to be maintained, the
consulting team must:
Keep the manager informed and motivated about
the project;
Keep up the communication. Give the manager
regular updates on the project and how it is
developing;
Remind him or her of the outputs of the project
and the value it will have to the business;
Check on how the business is developing.
Creating Opportunities for Client Build-up
A number of consultants could trace most of their current
business to the following sources:
1. Business contact gains throughout the business community
2. Speeches in professional and business organization
3. Books written from experience
4. Referrals from speeches, books and articles
5. Word-of-mouth referrals
Some suggestions on how business contacts can be
established and made to grow are
1. Join at least three organizations that offer regular meetings
and the opportunity to interact with peers in the industry;
2. Create a reference library that includes marketing resources
and other publications that will assist the consultant in
marketing, implementation and even travel;
3. Establish a circle of informal advisors, and make it a point to
contact them once a month;
4. Establish collaboration with other consultants;
5. Mail to clients items of interest;
6. Mail to prospective client items of interest;
Continuation
7. Publish articles in relevant periodical;
8. Offer probono work for community, government and nonprofit
organizations;
9. Accept speaking engagement at trade associations and
conferences;
10. Create a website;
11. Business listing in phonebook/yellow pages.
Selling of consulting Services/ Marketing Professional
Services
New business opportunities for most professional
service organizations are created through activities in Four
major areas. These are
1. Present client activities
2. Nonclient relationship
3. Public relations or promotional activities, and
4. Potential client activities.
1. Present Client Activities

As far as present clients are concerned, the business

development activities are usually directed towards client
a. Retention
b. Expansion of services, and
c. Generation of referrals for new business
2. Nonclient Relationship Third-Party
Referral Source Activities

Another important activity that will facilitate building a

consulting practice is the development of relationships with
significant third-party referral sources. These referral services
are fellow professionals who serve mutual clients.
Frequently cited as significant third-party referral sources:
Accountants Insurance broker
Lawyers Bankers and Financial planners
Investment banker
3. Promotional and Public Relations Activities
The following might be considered representative of special activities that would
fall under the heading of public relationship:
Institutional advertising
Product and service-oriented advertising
Newsletters

Seminars and workshop

Speeches

Articles in professional or industry publications

Press relation
Trade shows
Participation in community trade and professional organization
Symposia and panels
Abandoning Client Gracefully
The vast majority of consultants fail to grow their
businesses because they refuse to abandon business.
Abandoning business should however not bee harshly done.
There are alternatives to simply dumping the client and there
are ways to attend to client who, while they may not
represent the consultants future ere certainly instrumental in
building his/her practice. Some suggestions are:
Explain to the client that certain assignments cannot be
cost-effectively handled any more.
Establish alliances with younger consultants who may
want to align themselves with more established
practitioners in order to learn, obtain business and
network.
Continuation

Provide the client with advance notice that the

consultant will be accepting lesser assignments
and doing lesser workshops and appearances.
Offer to transfer the skills to the client, if
appropriate.
What are some business conditions that will justify
abandonment of some clients?
1. Beneath the growing fee structure
2. Unchallenging
3. Providing a reputation that dies not fit the consultants growth strategy
4. Overly specialized
5. Unable to attract the kind of talent the consultant wants in his firm
6. Unable to attract the kind of references the consultant needs
7. In areas and industries that themselves are not growing
8. Unpleasant and/or has rude and offensive people
9. Unethical in its action and/or borderline illegal
10. Harsh in its demand for travel, support, and other logistics.