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In this first of a series of articles on key consulting psychology
topics, we explore important issues related to launching and
growing a consulting practice. Using a
“members-speaking-to-members” format, this article posed three
key questions to Division members. Below are the responses from nine Division members who offered their
suggestions and counsel.
Question
1. What are the key recommendations that you have for
successfully launching a consulting practice?
»Line
up clients before committing expenses. (Keep your day job,
if possible). Let cost and structure evolve as your market
place drives them (a design/build approach minimizes expense
risks – build to the clients need not just your own desires for
office space, technological tools, staff etc.) Expect things
to take three times longer than you think. Be very clear
about what you desire in an organizational structure – pure solo
practice, being an employee, being a partner, being an employer.
These are very different worlds with very different joys and
challenges. John
Fennig
»1)
Get your “ticket punched first –obtain good experienced based
knowledge. 2) Assess your strengths, risk tolerance and hours you
are willing to commit. 3)
Early on- hire a top professional advisor who understands
small business. This is NOT a time to squeeze on costs.
A really good CPA will save you many times his/her fee. 4)
Get – and – be a coach. 5)
Recognize that owning a business is about business – more
than about psychology. Vicky Vandaveer
»The
first priority is to pick initial areas of consultation focus that
you want to develop and practice. It's a huge field and developing
knowledge and consulting acumen requires some levels of
specialization. The second priority is to do a self-assessment and
to identify areas you need further growth in to be a better
consultant. The third priority is to identify and pursue
appropriate training, education, supervised experience etc. to
achieve sufficient knowledge, attitudes, and skills to achieve the
goals you have. Stewart
Cooper
»Business
development prevails above all else.
Learn how to sell what you do.
Second, work very hard at providing the best services you
possibly can. Dialogue
with more experienced consultants, contract with them for
supervision. Constantly
be on the look out for how you will do it better in the future.
Andy Garman
»Ask
colleagues to assess your skills and to differentiate your
specialties from other services in the marketplace. Decide
upon the industries, client demographics and services that you are
especially knowledgeable. Draft text for marketing
materials, such as brochures/websites/biographical statements.
These materials will help others to link with you. Ellen
Lent
»The
key difficulty for psychologists and other clinicians is selling.
Selling requires leaving your office and talking to
strangers. A helpful tip to assist psychologists sell is to
concentrate on relationships with people who you meet.
Don’t become overly attached to results (focus on making
contact with the decision maker, not whether or not you make the
sale). Jeremy
Robinson
»Use
the Society of Consulting Psychology to network.
Attend the Society’s Midwinter meeting.
Seek out the best continuing education opportunities even
if they are very expensive. John
Deleray
»Align
with a variety of professionals so that together you can integrate
knowledge and services to better help clients. I have begun
a new segment of my business focused on family/small business
succession. I have begun partnering with CPAs and financial
planners specializing in this area.
Donna
Greenwood
»Know
what you want to do. Identify what makes you happy and productive.
Know what you can do—what’s your expertise? Ask what
you are willing to learn. Be
prepared to work day and night! Randy
White
»In
order to launch a practice, you should have several clients that
you know will partner with you from the very beginning.
Gaining new clients is difficult, and takes time.
Having existing working relationships with clients is
imperative to your initial success.
Stan Beecham
Question
2. After establishing your consulting practice, what have
you found to be the most important factors contributing to growing
your practice?
»Establish
a good base of reliable work as quickly as possible. Develop
either "make-one-sell-many" products that provide a
stable income base or find a handful of clients that want your
help on a consistent basis. With reliability taken care of,
it is much easier to additional work you are best suited for and
being more selective on projects. Andy
Garman
»Growing
a practice is done through building relationships.
Doing good work allows you to ask existing clients for
referrals. The best
way to get new business is through a referral from an existing
client.
Stan Beecham
»1)
It is important to understand and apply the principles of sound
financial management. 2)
When developing client relationships, you are building a
reputation (via quality of work and quality of the client
relationship). Nurture
the relationships that you develop.
3) Practice persistence, commitment and keeping the
faith… never looking back. 4) Manage stress effectively.
5) Apply what you know to yourself.
Vicky Vandaveer
»Being
available to clients is key—being open to them, listening to
them, helping them to frame outcomes for themselves and their
organization. I find
writing, speaking and teaching, with a goal of being a competent
scientist-practitioner as being helpful.
Randy White
»Learn
how to condense the depth of your specialty to a couple of
sentences when explaining what you do to others. I have to
constantly remind myself that what excites me only bores many
potential clients. Donna
Greenwood
»Link
your consulting work to desired business outcomes. For
example, assisting information technology professionals accelerate
movement of laboratory innovations into production by increasing
their use of creativity and emotional intelligence. Ellen
Lent
»Practice
Termin’s 3 P’s: Be planful, persistent
and project a positive self-image (the little engine
that could). Any two of the three can carry you.
Staying very clear about the following: 1) What business
are you in—what defines the things you do and what are you the
very best at or “world class” at? 2)What your clients
want is preeminent to everything but our code of ethics. Do what
they want you to do! 3)Spread your revenue streams in
multiple industries, service offerings and non-time consuming
products. John
Fennig
»Continue
to network with others. Be open to new ideas or new
techniques about the work. Examples of this include using
new assessment tools or learning about new developments in the
business world. Consultants, like CEOs, are best when they
are both fiercely persistent and humble. Jeremy
Robinson
Question
3. If there were one piece of advice that you had to give to
members on a single thing/mistake to avoid in establishing and/or
growing a consulting practice, what would you suggest?
»Avoid
trying to meet the needs of every potential client.
Carefully ask questions before beginning a client
engagement. Refer to
a colleague if it’s not your specialty. Ellen
Lent
»When
you are at a client’s location, do not call your answering
service or return calls to other clients. John
Deleray
»Stay
close to the decision makers.
You must have a relationship with the person(s) who are
making the decisions about your role in the company.
If you get too far away from the decision makers you are at
risk of being let go. Stan
Beecham
»Take
stretch assignments, yet stay within your areas of expertise.
Know what you can do and what you can’t.
When you are deciding to take on an assignment, if it feels
wrong don’t take it. Instead
make a good recommendation to someone you know will handle the
assignment well. This will reflect positively on you and when an
assignment comes that is in your area you’ll get the call.
Randy White
»Avoid
complacency if you are successful now.
A full consulting practice can be empty in six to nine
months. Most of us
need to continue to sell and network even at the height of our
successes. Prioritize
selling. Jeremy Robinson
»I
believe that fierce independence is the most common undoing of a
consulting psychologist (the “I’ll show you" factor).
Such an attitude cuts consulting psychologists prematurely from
clients, deals, business partners, key vendors and key sponsors.
John Fennig
»I
underestimated how much selling was involved. An executive recruiter friend explained it in this way,
“You always have to be closing.
You start out closing in getting someone to the phone;
obtaining a meeting; a follow-up advance; on the work itself; on
price; on the outcome of the work; then on repeat business. Andy
Garman
»Continue
to hone you areas of expertise yet remain open to potential new
applications. Be alert in conversations with professionals
in other industries (e.g. attorneys, CPAs and physicians) to
overlaps in professional interests and potential opportunities.
Donna
Greenwood
»Set
your billing rate appropriately – (e.g. not too low).
Clients tend to equate billing rate with
quality/expertise/value (unless, of course, it is too high).
Do the benchmarking work necessary to find the appropriate
rate. Vicky Vandaveer
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