The Art of Consulting: How To Attract High End Consulting Clients, Make More Money and Work Less Hours

119 Pages·2015·0.54 MB·English

by  le

The Art of Consulting
How to Attract High End Consulting Clients,
Make More Money and Work Less Hours
Hung Le
TheArtofConsulting.net
To my mother and father for their never-ending
love, ongoing support and for always believing in me.
Contents
Preface
The World Is Changing. Fast.
The New Opportunity That Lies Ahead
Who is Hung Le anyway?
Trust Me. It’s Possible.
Why You Should Keep Reading
What Makes This Book Unique?
Why This Book is for You
Overview
Chapter 1: It’s Time for a Change
Current State of Acquiring High End Consulting Clients
How Things Have Changed
Here’s the BAD News
The New Approach
Who Wins/Who Loses in This New World
Success Triangle
The Breakthrough Moment
Chapter 2: My Story
Chapter 3: The Journey Ahead “The longest journey starts
with a single step” - Chinese Proverb
C.I.A System Summary
Obstacles Standing In Your Way
Consulting Myths Dispelled
Chapter 4: C.I.A System
Part One: Core Qualifications (C)
Core Qualification #1: Character
Core Qualification #2: Commitment
Core Qualification #3: Competence
Core Qualifications Summary
Part Two: Implementation (I)
Overview and Summary of Five Step System
Part Two Step One: Define your ‘high end client’ criteria
Summary
Part Two Step Two: Discover potential Catalysts
Summary
Part Two Step Three: Decide on the Catalyst(s)
Summary
Part Two Step Four: Differentiate Yourself
Summary
Part Two Step Five: Determine Opportunities
Summary
Part Three: Agile Iteration (A)
Summary
Conclusion
Preface
“Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and
expecting different results” - Albert Einstein
If I were to ask you “Why do you think consultants struggle to build a
thriving consultancy?”... What would your immediate response be?
Would it be “Oh... because they are not as competent as the big firms or
they may not have enough resources to solve their clients’ problems”?
What if I were to tell you that what really separates you from being a
highly successful consultant or running a successful consultancy from
those who struggle to grow or fail outright is directly proportional to your
ability to find high end clients to serve. In fact, this is the most critical
function in exponentially growing any consulting practice.
So before we move forward, let’s define what a ‘high end client’ really is.
In layman’s terms, a high end client is a client who is highly qualified and
is willing to pay you ‘more’ than what you are worth. The reason why I
say “more than what you are worth” is because just by having a client pay
you more than what you would normally charge will naturally elevate your
standards to further value yourself, your skills, your team and just about
everything linked to you which may have been non-existent prior to that
breakthrough moment. Hence, this book will arm you with the skills in
saying ‘no’ to clients who aren’t in alignment with your vision and values
and move forward to leave additional room for high end clients who are
most suited to your services. I know, this sounds rather counter intuitive
but stick with me until the end and I’m sure I won’t disappoint.
Finding high end clients to serve is as important to your consulting
practice as the air that you breathe is to your personal survival. Then why
do so many consultants rely on unpredictable, unreliable, and
uncontrollable methods such as ‘traditional networking, content marketing
and social media marketing’ to find high end consulting clients? Why
leave anything to chance when there is an alternative that can guarantee
with 100% certainty that you would reach high end clients whenever you
needed to? Why not put in the extra effort required to craft your high
value relationship building skills which will inevitably make you
indispensable in your industry? I wrote this book to share that alternative
with you. The system, strategies and principles that I outline in this book
will help you to find a nearly unlimited supply of high-quality, prospective
clients, regardless of your industry or area of practice. They will help you
gain a significant advantage over your competition by beginning your
interactions with those clients from a strategic position of positive impact,
implicit trust, and perceived competence. When I began consulting in
2012, I knew very little about finding, reaching, and connecting with
prospective clients, particularly high end clients. Over the years of
strategizing with associates who dealt with the big four (i.e. Ernst &
Young (EY), Deloitte, etc.) and personally consulting more than 60 SMB
(small and medium business) clients from diverse industries alongside
implementing just about every lead generation technique you can
imagine (i.e. Facebook advertising, LinkedIn marketing, Search Engine
Optimization, Content Marketing, etc.) I learned a number of strategies
and techniques that other firms employed to find high end clients which
resulted in exponentially growing my consulting firm. But it was not until
October 2012 that out of my frustrations, experiences, triumphs, and
failures compiled to become the genesis of the system outlined in this
book. Over the years, I refined, advanced and updated that system with
new techniques and strategies as I grew my consulting firm with clientele
from all over the world (all thanks to mobile communication technology).
After a number of sleepless nights of strategizing and iterating I
consolidated all the techniques and strategies into the system that you
will learn in this book.
The World Is Changing. Fast.
If you have ever met me personally you would often hear me say that “we
are no longer in the information age but in fact in the transformation age”.
So how does this have any level of significance in the field of consulting?
First, let me define what each type of ‘age’ is:
Information Age (1990-2012): “a period in human history characterized by
the shift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought
through industrialization, to an economy based on information
computerization.” - Wikipedia.
Moreover, I am sure that many will agree with me that Google in fact was
the primary driver for absolutely changing the game of the information
age. Possessing the ability to be able to empower the end consumer to
decide what they wanted and when they wanted it produced a global shift
from ‘buyer beware’ to ‘seller beware’. In addition to that, the Information
Age was all about connecting with others all over the world. Connecting
with others via Facebook, forums, messenger platforms and many other
channels only to find that we became further disconnected from
ourselves.
Transformation Age (post 2012): “the period of humanity where we have
become overwhelmed with information and are in dire straits to find a
thought leader to show us the way.” - Hung Le.
Yes, that’s my own saying and not from Wikipedia and here’s why it
makes a whole lot of sense at the time of writing this book. I’ve coached
and mentored hundreds of consultants who are constantly overwhelmed
with the latest and greatest marketing ‘fads’ and ‘hacks’ which promise
the world that you can ‘get more consulting clients without talking to
anyone’. Now just think for a moment about what consulting really
entails... in fact, consulting is and always will be a relationship based
business. So why on earth do we fall victim for these ‘informational
products’ which promise us such absurd results? And how can you
possibly build enough trust to close a deal with a high end client just by
sending clicks to your website? Some food for thought as we move
forward...
Tony Robbins said it best when he said “we’re drowning in information
and starving for wisdom”. The transformation age has been the result of
new growth and new growth comes as a result of new thinking and for
consultants who are ready to embrace this new way of thinking then you
will not only transform both you and your business but also further
position yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
The New Opportunity That Lies Ahead
If you have been struggling in your consultancy for quite some time, don’t
feel bad. It’s not your fault. In fact, it’s not you it’s your approach. So say
“it’s not me, it’s my approach”. Hence, moving forward I will challenge
you to take on a new approach to how you’ve been trying to grow your
consultancy in the past and all I ask is for you to give me your 100%
focus and commitment for achieving the breakthrough you’ve been
waiting for all along.
There’s a great analogy in the fashion industry which states ‘what’s old
becomes new’ and that is so true in the field of finding, reaching and
connecting with high end clients. Mobile communications has allowed all
forms of consultants to not be limited to only having local clientele but
also national and international clients in order to further exponentially
grow your consultancy business and possess the opportunity of building
a business around the lifestyle you deserve. The problem is however, the
absurd promises that come with it (e.g. free guide explains how to get
clients with the push of a button, etc.). Consulting is and always will be a
relationship based business and those who choose to think otherwise are
doomed to fail. So whilst your fellow consultants are chasing the next
social media or content marketing hack, I would strongly encourage you
to recite the quote from Mark Twain:”When you find yourself on the side
of the majority it is time to pause and reflect”. And in all honesty, there’s
no better time to implement the ‘system’ mentioned in this book as we
both watch the ‘herd of consultants’ fall victim for every social media fad
being pitched left, right and center.
While we’re on the topic of social media, let’s define the difference
between a digital connection and an analog relationship.
Digital connection: a person who has accepted your ‘invitation’ to become
part of your digital network but 99% of the time has never personally
interacted with you and to be honest, most probably doesn’t care about
you.
Analog connection: a person who has met you either in person or has
had some form of personal connection with you and sees value in being
part of your network. Hence, two words explain this: “meaningful
relationship”.
Seth Godin said it well “You don’t have 1,000 friends on Facebook. You
have 100 friends and 900 people who were too polite to click the ignore
button”. Disheartening as this may be... this couldn’t be closer to the truth
so keep this in mind when focusing on building meaningful relationships
(i.e. analog connections) in both your life and consulting business.
Who is Hung Le anyway?
Before we get right into the meat of things, let me share with you my
story of how I came about discovering the system and how I got here in
the first place. I started a fitness training and coaching business in 2009.
Then realized that I no longer wanted to trade time for money anymore
so I asked myself “What do I truly love about the fitness industry? Oh I
know... the ability to help people and bring out the best in them”. Hence, I
also noticed I had a deep passion for marketing and knowing that further
crafting this skill would position me to not only help my own businesses
grow but to also help other businesses grow. This led me to starting my
digital marketing consultancy firm (Honeycomb Consulting) in 2012 which
soon allowed me to grow to a team of 40 staff in the Philippines and soon
enough was sold for 7 figures in mid 2014. Just towards the end of selling
my digital marketing consultancy, I noticed that a handful of my favorite
clients (i.e. high end clients) wanted to stay on board and needed help
with one core problem in their business: strategy. It was clearly evident
that their overall marketing strategy was way too tactical and not based
around evergreen marketing systems and so, I started a business growth
consultancy, Get Strategic which I would take on clients only by referral
and through the use of the system outlined in this book I managed to take
this business to 7 figures with only a dozen clients. Since mid 2014 I
have coached close to a thousand entrepreneurs who of that number
included hundreds of consultants (specifically search engine optimization,
marketing, information technology and management consultants). I
decided this to be my period of giving back to other entrepreneurs and
consultants who desperately needed a change of approach for how to
grow their companies whilst it provided me with additional passion and
purpose for further exploring other business ventures.
After spending countless hours with hundreds of consultants and hearing
their frustrations in regards to what was happening in their businesses, I
realized that not a single consultant had crystal clear clarity on ‘who’ their
perfect client was. They were indeed taking on any and every client on
board only to find that they have dug themselves a rabbit hole and have
bought themselves a job. Imagine leaving a job with ‘1’ boss for another
job with ‘18’ bosses... sound ridiculous? Only if it weren’t so true for so
many consultants. If you currently feel this way... again, it’s not your fault.
It’s your approach and this book will change it once and for all.
It’s been a remarkable journey complete with numerous ups and downs
but through sheer perseverance and strategy I was able to achieve what I
truly wanted and this book is a result of reflecting back on the past 6
years and immensely applying Pareto’s Principle (80/20 rule) to all areas
of my businesses. What I found staring back at me was the ability to
decipher the core element that made it all work: the strategy in knowing
how to predictably, effectively and repeatedly acquire high end clients on
demand leading to the discoveries revealed in this book.
Trust Me. It’s Possible.