July 25, 2003

Speaking of Business: Would-be consultants need to prove expertise

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Q: I’ve just been downsized in my current job, and I’m considering becoming a business consultant. How can I best build a client base?

A: Establishing your credentials as a business consultant using a seminar is one way I would recommend getting started building a client base. The following principles are simple and yet very powerful when implemented systematically:

  • You’re automatically considered an expert if you have valuable information.
  • Everyone is interested in specific information about what others are doing and thinking, especially if the information is about a hot topic in his or her field.
  • People love to tell you what they are doing and thinking, especially if you trade them for information about what others are doing and thinking. Many of these people will give even more if they see it as an opportunity for visibility and recognition.
  • All markets have many conferences and seminars where decision-makers are concentrated in one place and receptive to information and personal contact.
  • People who are saddled with the responsibility for organizing professional events are delighted to invite you to present if you have information of interest to their participants and can present it well.
  • Exposure at major regional or national conventions and conferences provide you with a ready-made focal point for all kinds of people and opportunities related to the field that you hope to penetrate.
  • Additionally, you must clearly understand and articulate your own abilities and aspirations. The last thing you want to do is to get work that is over your head or outside of your field. Ultimately, your success will depend on the quality of work you do for clients. To do good work for your clients, you must have the ability to do the work. To define your abilities, you should go through a matching process. The idea is to locate the matches between the following four areas involving your expertise and preferences:

    1. What do I know how to do well?

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    2. What do I like to do?

    3. Markets where my abilities and aspirations can bring defined benefits to clients.

    4. Markets where there’s a need for my abilities.

    Once you have found a match that works, the next step is to articulate and package what you are selling in a way that speaks clearly to your prospective clients.

    When anything new or important is highly visible, there are always innovative people on the leading edge who are trying it out and learning how to do it. These people are in the minority. Then there are a large number of people who want the benefits of what is new but don’t want the risk of trying it first. These are the “show-me” people. Show-me people are the vast majority. If you have information about what the innovators are doing, the show-me people will flock to it.

    Therefore, the next step is to determine what is hot in your chosen target market by using the following resources:

  • Meetings of professional and trade associations.
  • Library (professional and trade journals).
  • Business magazines.
  • General business newspapers (i.e., The Northern Colorado Business Report, The Wall Street Journal, etc.)
  • Specialized newspapers and newsletters.
  • Talking in person with people working in the field.
  • Books written by the “gurus.”
  • Studying the agendas for major tradeshows, conferences and seminars.

    Remember that getting exposure and creating belief are the first steps, but after your initial success you’ll have to back up the work you sell.

    Windsor resident Russell Disberger is a founding member of Aspen Business Group, a Northern Colorado-based specialty consulting and venture-capital firm. He can be reached at (970) 396-7009, or by e-mail at russell@aspenbusinessgroup.com.

    • Q: I’ve just been downsized in my current job, and I’m considering becoming a business consultant. How can I best build a client base?

    A: Establishing your credentials as a business consultant using a seminar is one way I would recommend getting started building a client base. The following principles are simple and yet very powerful when implemented systematically:

  • You’re automatically considered an expert if you have valuable information.
  • Everyone is interested in specific information about what others are doing and thinking, especially if the information is about a hot topic in his or her field.
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    • Russell Disberger
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