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Being a consultant also means having the means to go out and get more clients. This allows you to accrue even more experience…so that you can become an even better advisor. If you have a client base of one or two, a consultant you are not. You have nothing new to bring to your client’s table. Call yourself a contractor.

You also have to ‘keep your game up’ by staying abreast of developments in your field. It’s not easy. In my mind its part of the tacit agreement you make with your clients. Otherwise, once again, you are a contractor.

And finally – your clients should not be aware of your professional or personal problems. They don’t care (they don’t!). And they shouldn’t. I have gotten divorced, gone through surgeries, and had other family issues. I have never, ever discussed any of this with my clients. It is NOT the relationship they want with you. My unstated rule is to be friendly, but not friends. There is this and there is that.

Over time with some clients there is a professional intimacy that happens. I have this with quite a number of people, and when it happens it is very nice. Usually you have been through a few professional wars together and a closeness develops. But, in my opinion, there should always be a little reserve – similar to being a parent. I have never been friends with my children – their friends are their friends. Your kids want you to be their parent – and your clients want you to be their consultant.

<continued…>

But let’s say hypothetically that you know something and that what you know is needed in the market.

Now back to Grace’s question to me: What does being a consultant mean? There are a lot of jokes out there about consultants…one that comes to mind is the cartoon of the homeless man standing on a corner with a sign that says, “Will Consult for Food”.

My model or template, which has evolved through the years, is that of a straight-shooting parent. Parental in that I feel the need to take care of my clients – to not let them do things that are not in their best interests. Keep in mind that a large core of our business is helping clients migrate from one software platform to another. This is a difficult and stressful endeavor for our clients – some of them ‘freak’. I must not. Thus, the parental model – for me.

The straight shooter portion is partly due to my genetic disposition. Can’t help it – to be any other way doesn’t make sense to me. But also, clients appreciate the truth, even if it is hard to hear. It can be delivered gently, but it still needs to be the truth (and must be done). It also means leading our clients and doing what is in their best interests which is not the same as doing what they ask you to do. Sometimes they are one and the same, but not always.

An example of this: On more than one occasion, during the discovery portion of a software implementation I’ve been told that the implementation has to be done by ‘X’ date. I usually ask why that date. The answer (reason) given back to me is either a good one or a bad one. If it is a bad reason then I do not necessarily create their implementation materials to coincide with their date if I think their date is not in their best interests (meaning a lousy and more-painful-than-necessary software implementation). When it is time to present the implementation approach, I demonstrate the approach that I feel is in their interests, and why. Confrontational? Yes. Difficult? Yes. Parental? Yes. In Their Best Interests? Usually.

<to be continued…>