The Business Behind Consulting ◾ 115
Time-based consulting is founded on the needs of the client as they alone
see it. They call you in to do a survey, a workshop, or an assessment where
you are paid on a piece-work basis (Levels 1 and 2). With talent-driven con-
sulting, you and the client collaborate and partner to diagnose and cocreate
custom high-value, long-term solutions (Levels 3 and 4).
If you want to move into the higher echelons of the profession and
become a talent-driven consultant, what action steps must you take?
◾ What do you need to stop doing?
◾ What might you need to start doing?
◾ What might you need to continue doing?
The Client/Consultant Value Match
Talent-driven consulting is about building primary relationships with your
client, which may be a single person or an entire organization. In either
case, the most important objective is to ensure that the relationship with the
organization is nurtured through your champion and advocate, who has the
power to invite you in at the right level to meet the right people at the right
time and place.
Building that relationship takes time. Consultants, driven by their impa-
tience, misplaced instinct to commodity sell and urgent revenue hunger,
often miss this most important lesson. It is about several strategic meetings,
networking, mapping out staged agendas, mini presentations, and generally
taking the longer view … and following the Odyssey Arrow.
Begin by profiling your current client base. Are you connecting with the
right buyer to deliver a value-based service? Your relationship, which must be
one of peer-level respect, is best served by connecting with the key stakehold-
ers in the organization, which include the economic buyer, the technical buyer,
and the user buyer, as well as the all-important advocate and champion.
Examine your current clients to achieve an intimate appreciation and
understanding of their business:
◾ The psychographics and the demographics
◾ Business model, vision, strategy
◾ Size, shape, structure, metrics, industry sector
◾ Culture and modus operandi
◾ Stage of growth and development