5 Key Ways Consultants Improve Client Relationships
Let us not mince words… At the end of the day, most business owners want one thing above all else: to forego all administrative and bureaucratic details and focus solely on doing what they love. Whether that be developing the best product or service possible to bring to market, building inroads with movers and shakers within their industry, or planning for a sale or acquisition. Business owners want to spend time on their business, not in their business.
This is why many business owners are attracted to consultants and outsourced professionals who help provide them the freedom to focus on their passions. For consultants, those operational details that business owners would rather ignore often serve as the cornerstones of your overall value.
Whatever your area of specialty, as a consultant, your main purpose is to further fulfill your client's primary objectives. To properly do so, you need more than simply an understanding of your client’s market, industry, and internal operations. You need to fully comprehend the goals and values of your client in order to identify areas of improvement and develop strategies fully aligned with their needs. This can only be achieved through a level of trust that goes beyond the limits of simple contractual obligations.
The best consultants develop stronger connections with clients not because of financial incentives, but because they care and they enjoy what they do. To them, consulting is more than simply a job. With the strategies listed below, we hope to express the importance of building lasting trust with clients and marking the difference between those who are considered short-term fixers and those considered long-term trusted advisors.
Deliver on Consistently Providing Value
Unreasonable, or unmanageable, expectations have the potential to sink any professional relationship. When a business owner hires the services of a new consultant, the business owner may expect all problems and hurdles facing to magically disappear. This is not to say that consultants should be expected to instantly develop perfect strategies and organizational changes.
Yet consultants are often required to make sacrifices and prioritize certain clients over others. In the face of high expectations, delivering quality service consistently—particularly early on in the client relationship—can make a huge impression. The better prepared that consultants are prior to their first day with their client, with proven strategies and expert industry insight already in their toolbox, the more they are equipped to meet those client expectations.
Address Client Stressors and Pain Points
Tackling client pain points is one of the more common responsibilities of a consultant. Likely, if you are working with a client, this is the primary reason you were hired in the first place. However, certain stressors and pain points are not always directly communicated with consultants.
Be mindful, pay attention to the details, and analyze the organization holistically. You may uncover elements of the business’ operations that the owner does not even recognize as stressors or pain points. Outmoded processes, overstaffed or understaffed departments, dysfunctional relationships with distributors and other third parties are just a few examples. Even if your client cannot tell you exactly what is bothering them, part of the job of a consultant is to recognize these issues regardless.
Be Open to Collaboration at Any Stage
True, honest, and open collaboration may not be possible until you have developed a significant amount of trust with your client. This trust can allow consultants more space to be creative and try something they may not otherwise have thought to try.
Even in the early stages of a professional relationship with a client, consultants who are not afraid to propose bold new ideas and sweeping organizational strategies can build trust and authority, so long as their initiatives are well-founded and thoroughly considered. That said, the more time spent with a client, and the more a consultant understands the strengths and limitations of the business, the easier the collaboration process becomes.
Prioritize Your Availability
Business owners often keep long hours to ensure their organization is fully functional. Likewise, consultants are often expected to keep up. Failure to show up and be readily available to your clients is a short path toward losing their overall trust in you.
Consultants can avoid this by studying their clients' schedules, being extraordinarily flexible, and prioritizing their most pressing needs. Easier said than done for the most part. But few professional traits contribute to a continued sense of trust in clients more so than consistent availability and timeliness.
Always Act as an Extension of Your Client’s Business
Each of the strategies above contributes to a greater whole. In total, everything we have discussed communicates the same core value: treating your client’s business as if it were your own. True investment in your client’s success can manifest in a number of different ways. Between taking on the responsibilities of a partner, adopting a leadership position in a key department, or accurately representing the organization when working with third parties, consultants thrive when they take the best interests of their clients to heart.
Looking for more information on how to improve overall client satisfaction and increase your rate of referrals? Get in touch with our office today to learn how Sebastian Lane’s consulting and coaching services can ensure that you are getting the most out of the relationships with your clients, old and new.
If you are interested in outsourced sales management services for your firm, we here at Sebastian Lane can help point you in the right direction. Feel free to reach out for further information, resources, and recommendations. Call Sebastian Lane Consulting at 443-534-6783 or email us at jesse@sebastianlaneconsulting.com.