Three Roles Consultants Can Take with Their Clients

by Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan, Organisational Provocateur

Originally the idea behind consulting was about giving advice and guidance for clients, so they can solve their own problems better, quicker and at higher certainty. It was about giving clients tools, techniques, systems and processes, so by hiring consultants once, they can both solve their existing problems and learn from the consultants how to do it the next time without re-hiring them.

Then came the accountants and those monstrous giants (yes, I refer to the big five or whatever) with their armies of junior staff, and they ended consulting as we knew it. Instead of helping their clients to solve their problems, they started contracting themselves out as outsourced labourers, doing work for their clients.

It worked, and still works for them because they can overstaff the project, and although their hourly rates are not that high, based on the total fee of the whole army of labourers, they can make a living.

Let's not go into the damage and disasters they have caused to their clients over the years, but instead let's discover how what roles are open to us in client work, depending on how we want to be regarded as.

And then the downward spiral continued.

Then how come so many clients got so grossly misguided about the nature of consulting that commissions and contingency fees have become so fashionable? So, let's discover what has happened over the years of history of consulting and make sure history does not repeat itself. Let's make certain that we are hired as real advisors not as outsourced labourers.

There are three distinct roles consultants choose to position themselves in, and depending on their roles they are perceived and compensated differently.

Let's call the three roles the role of "The Expert", the role of "The Hired Gun" and the role of "The Collaborator". They have different levels of "catching clients fish" and "teaching clients how to fish" components. So, let's dissect each role with their advantages and disadvantages.

Role of "The Expert"

This is actually what buyers say to experts: "I have this big, hairy, ugly problem, but I have neither the time to find the problem nor the inclination to solve it for myself. You say you are an expert in this field, so just come in and do it for me. Feel free to do whatever it takes, and keep me informed. But do not waste my own and my staff's time and resources. You are responsible for everything and I will judge you at the end."

So, let's see where the relationship falls flat on its face. Buyers remain passive throughout engagements, and dump all responsibility and some authority on consultants. Consultants accept the role and do the work. Every now and then they ask for some assistance from buyers, but basically they do clients' projects.

The control of implementation is in the consultant's hands. The buyer is barely involved. The consultant does all the relevant donkey work. There is no collaboration, for the expert is supposed to solve the problem without "bothering" the buyer with the details. There is no transition of skills for the emphasis is on quick fix. The buyer's role in this kind of "relationship" is to judge the consultant after the event.

The problem with the expert role is that it overlooks the human element of problems, that is, the commitment of people at the client's organisation. People say: "If it were important enough for us to get involved, the boss would be involved too." In this role consultants become independent.

Typical expert roles are that of many lawyers, accountants and engineers. They basically say: "My trade is so complex that no ordinary mortal would understand it anyway, so I'd better just shut up and do it."

Role of "The Hired Gun"

If the role of the expert is not bad enough, the role of the hired gun is even worse. This is actually what buyers say to hired guns: "I have this big, hairy, ugly problem, but I have neither the time nor the inclination to solve it for myself. I have determined what to do to solve the problem, so as long as you are cheap enough, come in, follow my instructions and do it." This is the situation in which consultants end up as wage slaves.

In this "relationship" buyers retain total control and expect hired guns to passively react to buyers' demands. Every decision is made by buyers and every step of the project is defined by buyers. Buyers take full control of the project, but dump full responsibility in the lap of the hired gun.

The problem here is deeper than most people think. Taking control while relinquishing responsibility is like a virgin prostitute, that is, an oxymoron. And anyone who wants to treat advisors that way must be a moron.

The control lies with the buyer, but the advisor has all the responsibility. If the buyer made the wrong diagnosis, and something misfires as a result, the consultant gets blamed for all the adverse effects.

Mind you, when the project pans out nicely, the buyer is likely to take credit for everything, since s/he was the mastermind behind the whole gig, whereas the consultant was just a workhorse to do the brawn work.

In these situations consultants hardly ever recommend anything, for they reactively follow the buyers instructions. There is no collaboration but a very rigid master-slave relationship. Now you know who is who.

While in the "Expert" situation the buyer inspects and judges the consultant's work at the end of the assignment, in the "hired gun" role the buyer very closely scrutinises the consultant. Questions like: "Can you do it faster?", "Can you save money on this and that?", "Can you work on it over the weekend?", "Can you take care of your own expenses and not to invoice us?" and "Can you leave me and my people alone to do our work and not bug us with your problems?" are pretty common. In this role consultants become totally dependent on buyers.

Buyers' commitment is fairly low, and they expect consultants to produce the "miracles". Buyers know all they have to do is to bark orders, and their well-trained consultants - just like well trained dogs - will sit, lie or even fetch small logs if needed.

Typical hired gun roles are that of many IT consultants, web designers, graphics artists. They basically say: "I don't care about your objectives and goals. Here is your computer, website or a logo, give me your money and get lost.

Role of "The Collaborator"

This kind of relationship is based on mutual trust, respect and the notion that clients' issues can be solved by synergistically joining clients' - mainly content (what we do) - skills with consultants' - mainly process (how we do it) - skills. BMW does not hire experts on how to build better fuel pumps, but does hire consultants to assist them to put together self-directed teams to effectively manufacture those fuel pumps, efficient quality control systems to check those pumps and distribution systems to profitably take those pumps to consumers.

Clients in collaborative relationships fully understand the "you get what you pay for" adage. Consultants do not solve buyers' problems. They empower and enable buyers and their people to solve their own problems leveraging on consultants' skills, resources and connections. Buyers' people are actively involved in projects at every single stage. Buyers and consultants become interdependent. They share accountability, risks, however, responsibility lies with buyer, for they make the final decision.

The need for control disappears and gets replaced by joint decision making and negotiation. Both parties have the right to suggest, recommend, provoke, object and argue.

This is the only relationship that has the vision for long-term, that is, to solve problems in such a way the they stay solved and never surface again. The other issue is raising the bar. This is the only relationship that can also focus on raising the bar, instead of merely restoring the status quo.

The problem here is that many buyers need urgent help and dismiss the value of true collaboration. They just say "we can collaborate next time, but right now fix this quickly". For example, the buyer may say this to a marketing consultant: "Look, I hate marketing, so just bring me prospects who are ready to buy my stuff and I will pay you a commission on sales." At this point you have the right to accept the gig or turn it down.

Unhealthy consultant-client relationship

In these unhealthy relationships consultants work as outsourced labourers for their clients. The buyer says: "We must reduce sales talent attrition." And the consultant says: "All right, I get started right away." What is the problem here? The buyer simply barks an order and the consultant tries to implement it. The consultant is the only person in the equation who has made a commitment to reducing attrition, and the consultant alone becomes responsible for reducing attrition.

People at the buyer's company may not even have been informed about the new initiative, thus have no inspiration to implement changes. So the consultant works with these lower lever implementing people who are not even engaged in the desired outcomes of the project, because the buyer demanded results from the consultant but not from his/her own people. At this point consultants can choose from three bad options: Kicking up a fuss to the buyer, ignoring implementation or becoming martyrs by doing it all alone.

Healthy consultant-client relationship

In these healthy relationships consultants work as collaborators with their clients and their people. The buyer says to his/her people: "We must reduce sales talent attrition." And the implementing manager says: "All right, I get started right away. I need help, so let's hire a consultant and with his/her assistance we can reduce attrition now and also learn how to do it in the future for ourselves." In this engagement buyers put their demands to their own people, and if necessary they hire consultants.

Now everyone has made a commitment to improvements, thus all the people involved have the same objective in mind.

Let's remember, it is the client's responsibility to achieve the desired results with the consultant's assistance, not his/her birthright to achieve it by demanding results from the consultant. As Jim Rohn says, "Nobody can do your press-ups for you."

Copyright 1997-2011 Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan. All rights reserved. You are free to use this article in whole or in part. One favour though: Can I ask you to you include complete attribution, including a live website link. Also, would you mind letting me know where you plan to publish the article?

The attribution: This article was written by Organisational Provocateur, Tom "Bald Dog" Varjan of Dynamic Innovations Squad, a firm specialising in helping consulting firms to sell their expertise at the highest margins. Get Tom's free Practice Management Black Paper when you sign up for his monthly newsletter, Commando Consulting: Lessons And Practices From The Ultimate Professional Service Firm, The Military. Visit Tom's website at http://www.di-squad.com/black-paper.html.

Headquarters : Free Stuff : Blog : Solutions : About : Contact : Privacy Policy

As you grow your people, in return, so they grow your firm