About Consulting Companies

There have been various postings and news stories about several of the consulting companies catering to small and mid-sized businesses, including a lot of negative commentary. These companies are not ethical, nor are they unethical.

You see companies are neither ethical or unethical. People are. Clients and employees of all firms have a responsibility to themselves to behave ethically. Even when leadership requires conduct that is viewed as unethical it is still up to the individual to choose how to act. Don't look for an easy to blame scapegoat. Accept responsibility.

This being said, today's posting presents a general overview of the operations of one of these companies. Future postings will go into more detail.

In general, the companies most typically have the following stages:

1. Pre-sales. In this stage the company's telemarketers or solicitation letters reach out to large numbers of companies with the sole purpose of selling an obligation-free interview with a field salesperson.

2. Initial sales. Very often your initial contact will be with a salesperson using a prepared script. Don't be put off by this. Listen and decide. Consulting companies have the ability to fill in the gaps in your business operations and management and it is your call. The sole purpose of this visit is to entice you to accept a survey of your business.

3. The Survey. For many, the Survey is the best part. Very often clients' eyes are opened to conditions. These are not necessarily revelations because clients are often aware of the condition and either do not know how to deal with them or, even worse, do not understand the repercussions of not dealing with them. The person or persons conducting the Survey have the primary business purpose of instilling a call to action in the business leading to an agreement to have consultants come into the business to develop and install a remedy or remedies. Surveys are usually flat fee based. Yes, they do cost money, although typically a nominal amount to discourage insincere engagements.

4. The Consultants. These folks come most often in teams, although solo practitioners are possible. The lead person is responsible for clearly defining the scope of work and obtaining both concurrence and commitment from the client (you) to develop and install solutions. If your commitment is minimal and your definition of the intended results are not clearly communicated, blame yourself for poor consulting. A responsible firm will deliver what is required by the client and little more; and the firm will use as many corporate resources (no additional charge) as might become necessary to bring in the results.

5. After Care. This varies widely amongst the firms and is intended to monitor your progress after the engagement is closed. It takes many forms ranging from a simple follow-up letter to phone calls and then to longer term retainers to verify progress on-site.

More in my next posting.