Comments on: How Consultants Deal With Sceptics

By: How Consultants Deal With Sceptics « Consultant for Business

How Consultants Deal With Sceptics « Consultant for Business — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 11:31:00 +0000

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By: Michael Zipursky

Michael Zipursky — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 17:01:59 +0000

Rene, as you’ve rightly pointed to … it’s all about the results and showing clients how your work will deliver and what that means to their business (the real value you create).
As to the first part of your question: “how to know if they’ll keep biting” … you won’t. Most of us can’t see into the future. The best way to keep clients going is to continually show them how you’ll continue to help them and create value for them.

By: Rene

Rene — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:09:58 +0000

Another great post, but my question is when you’ve located the right pond, how do you know the fish will bite and keep on biting from that point on? Scepticism is sometimes hard to chew through when you’re dealing with hardnose business owners who wont admit they need the expertise of an outside resource knowledgable enough to guide them in the right direction, adding value to their business. They may say, “ok, let me here what you have to say and see what you can do.” The truth is in selling them on the results factor, right? They’ve bitten, now it’s time to get them to bite a little more to put into action the accomplishments that can be made. At least this is my thinking.

By: Michael Zipursky

Michael Zipursky — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:17:45 +0000

I just received a question from reader Noel D. He said: “Great blog entry. But, how do you make sure you locate the right pond?”

Great question Noel. Some companies make your work as a consultant more easy. That is they don’t have mounds of bureaucracy you have to climb each time you want to have a recommendation acted on.

However, fishing in the right pond comes down to trial and error. It’s more about judging the vibe you get from someone and closely watching and listening to their reactions.

If the person you’re meeting with is doubting everything you say and shows little commitment it’s often best to move on … rather than trying to repeatedly win them over. Unless they represent some very big potential.

The best way to combat the above, other than really studying and knowing the market you’re dealing with, are point two and three above.

Fishing in the right pond is a starting point, but proving that you can really add value to a prospective clients business is where it’s really at.

By: Michael Zipursky

Michael Zipursky — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 07:19:17 +0000

Brandon – it definitely is time! It’s amazing what can be accomplished when people cut all the crap and have real conversations on real issues.

By: Brandon Klein

Brandon Klein — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:48:15 +0000

These are 3 great ideas. As a leader in the collaborative consulting field, we struggle with skeptics to better ways of working all the time.

We use your above ideas, but also appeal directly to the individuals personal, political interests, and the actual time and difference savings.

The real problem we have however, I would refer more to as fear. We spend so much time in meetings and conferences where people just hide behind PowerPoint. It is time we move beyond this as consultants and business leaders.