Commando Consulting, October 2010

Getting Clear on Clients' Expectations to Maximise Consulting Engagements' Value

By Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur

Podcast version: MP3 Version. Right click the link and click "Save As".

Do you know that what is called a "French kiss" in the English speaking world is known as an "English kiss" in France. The two countries just can't agree on the exact definition.

The same disagreement often happens between consultants and their clients over certain terms of their engagements. And while those terms may or may not include French kisses, they certainly include terms like fees, payment terms, guarantees, who does what, etc.

And what is the result?

Every time we talk about performance in the context of consulting, it's almost always about consultants' performance, and it's hardly ever about clients' performance.

In many people's eyes, consulting is essentially contract labour. When clients don't have time or inclination to do something themselves in-house, they hire consultants to do it FOR them.

People tend to talk about consulting engagements as if, in return for their fees, consultants toil away to build their clients' businesses, while clients are passively sitting, dangling their feet or playing golf.

So, in many cases, clients don't even want to get involved in engagements. They just demand results, and that's all they do. They regard consultants like janitors.

"All I want is clean toilets and spare me of the gory details."

But improving clients' performance is not about consultants' performance. Engagements must be collaborative, so the results are created jointly.

When clients hire outsiders and merely demand performance from them, it's not consulting but outsourced labour.

The key difference is that when clients hire outside labourers, they know exactly what the problem is and what to do to solve it.

When hiring consultants, clients know only the symptoms that they experience. They hardly ever know the driving causes of the symptoms.

Clients and consultants together diagnose the situation, establish the real causes of the symptoms and develop solutions to eliminate the problem.

Also, performance has a lot to do with who you are, that is, it is more of a mindset than a sequence of tasks. Performance is about energy, excellence, commitment, caring, the courage to say "I don't know that". Good consultants have all these attributes and consistently work on improving them.

But The Main Problem Lies With Some Clients' Performance

Clients are far from being equal. Some are serious about improvements and are willing to work with their consultants to improve the situation, while some just declare themselves to be hyper-busy and merely demand improvements from their consultants.

This is why we have to "manage" clients' expectations. Manage may sound like a manipulative word, but I don't have anything better right now. There are so many clients out there who have no idea how to work with consultants, so often they work with them as if they were contract labourers.

One red flag is when prospects ask consultants...

"So, what can you do for me?"

This phrase alone indicates that buyers either regard consultants as outsourced labourers, employee minus all the benefits, or they are not familiar with the way consulting works.

Then what buyers often do is that they read some books on how to manage consultants. Not surprisingly, most of those books are written by former or current procurement agents who regard consultants are fungible vendors.

But instead of managing either parties, we have to manage engagements and expectations.

In order to exceed clients' satisfaction, we must exceed their expectations, but unless we have a clear baseline for those expectations, they are impossible even to reach, let alone to exceed.

What Do You Need To Do To Manage Expectations?

Be Clear With Time Frames

You finish the project on time. What does "on time" exactly mean to you and your clients? Are you on the same wavelength? If your "on time" is next week but your client's "on time" is tomorrow, then there is a problem.

If you are late just by one day, the client's expectation is ruined. You think you are days ahead, but failed to meet the client's expectation. Give yourself time to complete your projects without stressing yourself.

Yes, there are urgent things, but they call for "urgent" fees. And your urgent fees should be significantly higher than your normal fees.

Be Clear About Your Purpose Of Being In Business

There are two distinct choices here: Either short-term money grabbing using any means possible or building long-term relationships to improve the client's condition.

Using sports language, if your eyes are on the scoreboard, you will drop the ball rather sooner than later, and regardless how hard you stare at the scoreboard, your score will go down.

However, if you focus on playing the best game of your life, totally love what you do and truly care about the people you do it with - both colleagues and clients - the scoreboard will take care of itself.

Yes, we have to monitor the score board but constant staring at it is not necessary.

Be Clear With Your Agreements

Document everything you possibly can. Yes, there are people we can do business on a handshake - ideally each client, but we all need the clarity of documentation.

And this detailed documentation is not for legal reasons, so parties can cover their arses but for clarity. Those documents become implementation templates all for participants.

Clearly spell out what you do and what clients must do in order for the project to succeed. Lay down time frames and activities that lead to the accomplishment of the jointly developed objectives.

Be Clear With Consequences

There is a good chance that you will stick to your agreements, since your money depends on it. After all the client may well invoke your guarantee policy. Let's assume you offer a good guarantee on your services just as value-based consultants should.

But what if the client says halfway through the project...

"I'm too busy to carry on working with you, so just finish everything for me."

Do your agreements have a Riot Act that spells out what happens if clients don't "show up" at their ends of the engagements? It is not the client's birthright, but the client's responsibility to successfully complete the project. You are accountable for your end of the project, but as the ultimate decision maker, the client is responsible for the project.

I suggest you take a look at the Responsibility Assignment Matrix (RAM) model, also known as RASCI matrix. It describes the participation by various roles in completing tasks or deliverables for a project or business process. It is especially useful in clarifying roles and responsibilities.

In RASCI, there are five roles in projects...

Responsible: These people work in the trenches to complete various tasks for projects. They have significant expertise and experience at working on these tasks. For each task or activity, there must be only one "Responsible" team member.

Accountable: These people own the projects. They are the ultimate authorities. They have yes/no/veto power over every aspect of the project. When projects go well, they are in the spotlight being praised, but when the shit hits the fan, they are called on the carpet and it's their necks on the block and balls in the sling.

Supporting members: These people indirectly support projects. For instance, IT professionals keep the project team's technology up and running.

Consulted members: These people play an indirect or advisory role, and whose contributions are in the form of special knowledge or expertise.

Informed members: These people have to be kept in the loop on the project's progress even though they have no direct or indirect role in the activity. These people need to be notified of important decisions and included on the list to receive regular status reports.

You can see an example for the RASCI chart here.

Be Clear With Excuses

If something goes wrong, as it does sometimes, just tell clients and move on to correct it. Explain what's happened and correct the mistake. The main point here is that you communicate clearly with clients what happened and make a new commitment to rectify the problem.

Be Clear On Promises From Clients

It takes two to tango. If your partner sits down, you will work too hard but still look silly to be alone on the dance floor trying to do some tango-looking moves. You have to hold each other accountable. If you notice clients don't hold up to their ends of agreements, confront them openly and explain they are slowing down their own progress.

Be Clear On Your Concerns

If the project starts off on the wrong foot (client's lack of commitment, wasted time, late from meetings, being unprepared), then you have to discuss that because it can escalate into serious problems. Make sure your voice is not blaming, just stating the facts and your feelings about those facts. Say everything from your standpoint. For example:

"I feel frustrated when this [fact] happens, and if it happens again, I have no option but to end the engagement."

If clients discontinue the project, they save you from a lot of aggravation. If they continue, they will be more attentive in the future. Stipulate payments for this event in your agreements. Will you refund their money or not?

Now let's look at the other part of performance, where we discuss how to set up projects in such a way right from the beginning that clients are fully involved, so they feel the weight of responsibility and realise the end result depends on them. If we consider that clients have the right to say the final word, it also means they are fully responsible for the success of the project.

Yes, we are accountable to fulfilling our ends of the gig, but on the final analysis clients call the shots. Therefore it is important to maintain shared responsibility all along the way. So, in the next 12 steps we take a closer look at how we can...

Plan And Orchestrate Your Clients' Involvement In Projects

Step 1. Defining The Problem And Long-Term Implications

Ask clients what they think the problem is but always dig deeper. There is a very good chance that what clients tell you are just mere symptoms. Low sales figures are hardly ever caused by lack of sales skills. It is more likely caused by low self-esteem, insufficient interpersonal skills or crappy marketing.

It is more related to who the person is than what the person does. 80% of a firm's limitation lies in their people, that is, in who they are and not what they do. In order to have the right things, we must do the right things, and to do the right things we must become the right people.

If you're a vegetarian, and your target market is slaughterhouses, then you have a problem.

It has everything to do with our perspectives. Possible request from the client can be...

"Joyce, you say the problem is low sales, but I see a high level of turnover among sales staff. Let's investigate the reason why they are leaving so quickly after being brought on board."

Step 2. Defining Learning Objectives

One of the objectives of every single consulting gig is to share knowledge with clients, that is, teaching clients how to fish, instead of just giving them a fish. It is important that we empower and enable our clients, so next time they can solve their problems without our assistance, although, they are likely to call us for quick fine-tuning, critique or feedback.

However, clients can only learn what they expect to learn, so it is our job to make clients clearly define what they want to learn. Possible request from the client can be...

"Jack, whatever we do together during this project, I want you to be able to do it on your own the next time. How can we create the most effective learning environment for your people, so they have the best chance to maintain the realised improvements, and if the problem comes up again, they can solve it?"

Step 3. Deciding To Do The Project

This is the starting point of the project, that is, the preparation for recommendations. At this point you and your client decide that the problem is serious enough to warrant your intervention, be it a study, a report, a focus group, etc. Possible request from the client can be...

"Jodie, we have established that due to high sales talent turnover you are falling further behind on your annual sales projections. Your idea is to run a sales education program, but I believe people leave because corporate culture is too repelling for them to stay. Instead of a sales program, I suggest that we take a closer look at your corporate culture to reduce and/or eliminate those hostile factors that make people leave so soon. What do you think about this approach?"

Step 4. Defining The Project's Scope

Based on your intuition, past experiences, education, etc., that is, process skills, you know what aspects of the problems to study. Your clients, based on their content knowledge, know how to blend your processes into their contents.

Possible request from the client can be...

"Jim, this is the point where we blend our individual skills and define the details of the project. I require your full participation, so we can produce measurable results within three months the latest."

Step 5. Deciding Who Will Be Involved

This is a serious point because if you mismanage things here, you can easily become an outsourced labourer, not a consultant. Remember this: Clients want you to do the whole project hook, line and sinker. They also want you to create as little interruption in their busy schedules as possible. This is the time to create a client-consultant project team, so you can start sharing responsibilities.

Yes, it is always easier to do everything ourselves, but we must consider the client's learning and full involvement if we expect full commitment. In the worst case if the client insists on your doing everything, which is often the sign of low level commitment, you can just walk away from the gig.

Although if you set value-based fees, and get paid in advance, you hardly ever have to worry about this issue. Also, the more you involve the client's people and the more you rely on them, the more committed they will become to the implementation of the recommendations.

Possible request from the client can be...

"Joanne, let's finalise who will be on the implementation team, their roles and accountabilities (as per RASCI). If we do it now and document it, it will make the project run smoother and quicker."

Step 6. Defining Tasks And Methods

This is a discussion over how to do the initial part of the project, how to start working on putting together the recommendations. What shape will the recommendation take? Will it be a report, how big and how detailed will it be. Will it be a educational program, workshop, seminar, focus groups, etc. What exactly must be collected in order to compile pragmatic recommendations?

You are also teaching the client how to do this stage the next time without your involvement.

Possible request from the client can be...

"James, having defined the project's objectives, let's assign the appropriate tasks to the appropriate team members. Also, let's set up the right communication channels among members, so everyone knows who to interact with and how."

Step 7. Collecting Data

Here you and the client are moving into collecting the appropriate data for the project. Again, make certain that you do part of the work and the client does the other part.

There are two snags here:

1. People in the organisation may withhold information from you because they perceive you as an intruder who came in to change the status quo, and possibly eliminate their jobs. They also think you have some power over them. Both assumptions are incorrect. You were invited to change the status quo, and you cannot have power over people unless they voluntarily give their own power away. That is a sign of low self-esteem and self-confidence. Many people do hand over their personal power and beg other people to domineer over them


2. Some data offered to you may get distorted or totally out of kilter because some people have too much vested interest in the status quo, and will do their best to prevent the organisation from changing. Possible request from the client can be...

"Janet, I want to reserve two of your junior managers to work with me, so we can interview people together and they will also learn how to facilitate focus groups and how to document the results. Also you will personally interview these five people. How do you feel about this engagement?"

Step 8. Funneling And Summarising Data

Your clients have to create databases into which data is collected. It is important that data collection is set up in such manner that the slightest chance of discrepancy is eliminated. Possible request from the client can be...

"Jennifer, everyone will work in a CRM system set up in Salesforce. You are to get the program set up for each team member with the appropriate access rights. You're the admin person with full access. Then we will practise it a few times just to get it right.

Step 9. Analysing Data

This is the time to pull together all team members and analyse the findings. This is the point where many consultants think that clients' lack of certain knowledge disqualifies them from analysing the data. Never mind clients' level of knowledge.

Request their commitment of being there and basically see what you do and the team are doing. Possible request from the client can be...

"Jay, although you have said that you are a computer layman, but I want you to be at the data analysis meeting because you have high level of knowledge on how the company works and we need your contribution from the operation's angle."

Step 10. Conducting The Feedback Meeting

Set up the feedback meeting in such a way that you present a bit and the client's people present the majority of the findings. You are the unbiased outsider, but the client's people know the details of the operation. Possible request from the client can be...

"Fred, at this meeting Eric will present our findings on hardware, Erica will present on software and I will present on how your people relate to the existing system as a whole. I want you to record the meeting, listen to it a few times and get back to us if you have any questions. If you find our findings valid, then based on that we can start developing our recommendations."

Step 11. Presenting Recommendations

At this stage you and the client combine your process skills and the client's content expertise. Possible request from the client can be...

"Jason, based on the feedback you received the other day, here are our recommendation for the new computer network. Again, Eric will make recommendations on hardware, Erica on software and I recommend some changes regarding how your people can use the system more effectively."

Step 12. Deciding What Actions To Take

One crucial point where so many consulting projects fall flat on their faces is the implementation after you have made your recommendations. Clients often say, this is a good idea and we will think about it. Make sure right at the beginning that you are there when the "battle" starts.

It is very hard or even impossible to fight a battle that is based on a general's strategy but right after the planning session the general was sent home and the captains take over.

If necessary, stipulate in your agreements that you want to be involved in the implementation and you want to be posted on results. Possible request from the client can be...

"Janice, as we agreed at the beginning of this project, I want to be involved in the implementation process and see how improvements unfold, so I may be able to offer some guidance and ideas along the way. How do you feel about my involvement?"

Each of these steps engages the client in full collaboration, which also reduces resistance towards implementation and increases the guarantee for success. It also increases your value to the client, so the perceived investment in your services further shrinks in comparison to the magnitude of improvement you help to create.

Be guided by this old saying: If clients could have done it, they would have already done it. But they have failed with their past attempts and that is why you are there.

If you chicken out of the implementation process, clients are likely to get stuck in the same mud they had been before you turned up, and may even blame you for the mess. Remember, that is precisely the reason why many companies hire consultants.

The CEO is not going to blame his own retarded son-in-law, the marketing director.

"Let's hire a consultant. We are so screwed up that there is no way he can help us, but at least we can take out our frustration on someone and kick the crap out of him without harming each other."

On Summary

The reason why so many consulting engagements go apeshit is because there is no common understanding of what successful engagement means.

Many clients want consultants to stay around throughout the implementation cycle, which can take over one year, but don't want to pay them for it.

It's like telling professional soldiers that they have to go to war but get paid only for active fighting time. But there is a lot more to wars than active fighting.

Many clients agree with the completion date, but when they have problems, they go back to their consultants with some odd requests and expect to receive free additional help.

And while time is not what consultants sell, it is still the most precious commodity we have. If that additional help is some short phone calls or some general templates or forms, that's fine. But if it's extensive hands-on work, then it's a no go.

Nothing nasty, mind you, just adhering to the scope of the engagement and making sure we deliver according to the value we get paid for.

So, look at your engagements, and how you can synchronise them according to the value you've been hired to deliver.

And if you've enjoyed what you've read here, then come and let's discuss this newsletter issue on my blog...

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