Manage To Change

Sticky Situations: Partnership Gone South

You meet someone who is highly recommended by a colleague.

As you get to know each other it seems as though you share the same philosophies about collaboration, clients, and conducting business.

Your businesses are a perfect complement so you enter into a partnership and jointly work with your first client.

Early in the relationship your partner starts to get territorial. It’s “their way or the highway.”

You try to identify how you might be contributing to the issue. You try to adapt your style. It doesn’t help.

You discuss the issue with your partner, but they don’t see it. In fact, they think these discussions are a testament to your fine working relationship - you two can talk about the tough issues and resolve them. But, they’re not getting resolved, just avoided or ignored.

And, they’re getting worse!

It’s starting to impact the client. They’re not just disregarding you. They’ve started acting this way toward the client.

Now what do you do?

Other Sticky Situations

Sparing Feelings or Being Cruel?

Eavesdropping?

Managing Your Boss

To Call or Not to Call

The Art of Consulting

My clients often know what they need before I arrive.

So, why do they hire me?

Sometimes their knowledge is buried in the organization. The information exists at some level, but it hasn’t gotten to the right place or into the right form to inspire action. I help dig it out, refine it, and package it for decision making and execution.

Other times, decision makers feel they’re on the right track, but they’d like validation from an outside party. Is the organizational knowledge bubbling up (sideways, or down) accurate, current, and complete?

They could also be looking for a fresh perspective, one that isn’t tied to organizational practices or biases.

Consultants can also help fill resources gaps until someone is hired or peak demand subsides.

In whatever role I find myself, I’m almost always amazed at how smart organizations can be. I might help refine or target their ideas, but they already have a collective wisdom that is pretty spot on.

My job is to help the process along: communication and execution.

So maybe consultants are people who take the watch off your wrist and tell you the time, but I’m hoping we offer a little more than that!

Bonus: One of my favorite jokes about consultants. I considered naming this post "Give Me Back My Dog" but didn't think most people would get it.

In Good Hands, Stuff & Nonsense

In Good Hands

A car accident is probably one of the worst experiences you can have. First there’s the worry, then the clean up.

Volvo (and seatbelts) handled the worry.

Allstate handled the clean up.

They have been great. They got my car, paid off my loan, sent me a check, handled all the medical bills directly, AND my insurance hasn’t gone up.

How could I ask for anything more?

Stuff

I have three email accounts that I access through Outlook and I wanted to add one more today.

Simple – right?

Wrong. After 6 hours and a bit of “compromising on my requirements”, I have a passable solution.

I know many of you are “solopreneurs”. What do you do for IT support?

Nonsense

My husband sent this picture to me in 2001. It helps with frustrating days.

How to tell if your ass is too small:

Great Finds

If you’re self-employed and have ever struggled to articulate your business strategy, Tony D. Clark, Success from the Nest, has written a must read series about the business hierarchy of needs.

While Tony’s intent is to assist the self-employed, I feel his hierarchy can be applied to any information or service oriented business as a way to understand the value it offers its customers.

Hierarchy of the Successfully Self-Employed (part 1)
Freelancing is for Suckers (part 2)
All the Aggravation of Employment, Without All the Perks (part 3)
You May Already be an Expert...You Just Don't Know It (part 4)
Gurus Share More by Doing Less (part 5)

Another one of my new favorite blogs has been Michelle Kraft’s The Krafty Librarian. She discussed the pros and cons of UpToDate on two separate blog posts.

Are Your Doctors Addicted to UpToDate?

UpToDate Discussion Continues

For those of you not familiar with medical publishing, “UpToDate is designed to get clinicians the concise, practical answers they need when they need them the most - at the point-of-care.”

Plus, here’s one more from Michelle that points to some great reference material: EMR and the Role of Librarians.

If you’re in the medical information business, Michelle’s blog is a great find!

Selling Time

If you work on your own, once you’ve decided who you are, what you do, and who it benefits, you still have to figure out how you want to conduct your business.

Would you rather have one client fill 100% of your availability for an extended period of time or do you prefer to have more than one client at a time for shorter periods?

Neither answer is right or wrong. It depends on your goals.

If you’re a freelancer a lot of work over a long period of time might be just what you want.  It represents security, time savings (less time looking for work), and consistency (working with the same people).

If you’re building a business having a full time client may leave you no time to find future clients, develop diverse streams of revenue, or experience diverse settings and challenges. Ironically, you may feel less secure with “all your eggs in one basket”.

Do you sell your time?

Have you thought about which model you prefer?

A Whole New Word

How valuable is it to meet new people or hear new ideas?

Must every person we meet or every place we go be classified as business or personal?

Isn’t business personal? Doesn’t my personal growth impact my business?

We can get into a discussion of tangible and intangible benefits, but I hate the idea of reducing my relationships to accounting terminology.

I’m a whole person, interacting with other whole people, working hard, and having a whole lot of fun in the process.

I realize I’m likely preaching to the choir. But for those that aren’t singing, I’ve coined a new accounting-like phrase.

From now on everything I do for which there is no apparent immediate value I’m calling pre-tangible.

It all educates me, expands my thinking, or redirects my approach (to life and business). It’s all valuable.

Some of it just doesn’t look that way yet!

Learning Through Business Development

Building relationships and learning about organizations is a large part of any consulting business. 

Spending time getting to know the people, issues, and opportunities within a company is the only way I know to identify real needs and determine if the skills I offer (or represent through partners) can effectively address them.

I might talk with people in organizations several times before a potential engagement is even identified.  

There are also times when I sign confidentiality agreements and perform at least a cursory review of strategy, product, process, or project ideas in order to create a proposal.

I’ve always enjoyed this part of consulting.  

But, it didn’t occur to me until recently just how valuable business development activities are as a learning experience.

By building relationships and listening to leaders describe their companies and their aspirations, I become more knowledgeable and gain a broad and diverse view of my industry. 

An effective balance between business development and service delivery allows me to maintain a healthy business and a fresh perspective.

What more could I ask for!!

The Free Agent Trap

When you’re building your own business it’s best to diversify.  

Work with multiple clients, maintain positive relationships with potential clients, and continually add new contacts to the mix. 

I knew that! 

But, after working as an employee for many years, I became accustomed to giving a company 100% of my time.

When I first started consulting, I unwittingly continued that pattern.  

While I worked on a contract I devoted all of my time to it and failed to keep aggressively developing my business. 

Each time a contract ended I had to start building my pipeline all over again.

Here’s what I do differently now. 

I set aside time to make calls, meet colleagues for lunch or drinks, and follow up on potential business leads every week. I build this time into my calendar and do it – no matter what. 

I also set a minimum level of activity I consider acceptable for those times when I’m exceptionally busy with paying work. My minimum is meeting one colleague or potential client for lunch and making ten introductory or follow-up contacts every week. 

To keep my brain (and my contacts) fresh, I also attend at least one professional function every quarter.

Finally, I’ve put a follow-up system in place. It’s not fancy. I use Outlook to remind me when I should be contacting someone. 

What are your strategies for balancing your workload with business development? 

After talking to some of you, I’ve realized I’m not the only one that has fallen prey to this trap. 

But I’m probably one of the few that have done it twice in one year. 

Shame on me! Never again!

Solopreneurs: Making Bus Dev Relationships Work (Part 3 of 3)

When considering subcontractor/contractor, qualified lead, or partnership arrangements (defined in part 2), you need to work with the right people and define as many of your terms as possible up front.

Work with the right people

1. Look for companies and individuals that share your values and priorities, management style, client relationship philosophies, and work ethic. Of course, that means you need to know your own preferences first.
2. Consider what kind of work they do.
   • For qualified leads, you might look for associates that offer complimentary services to your own and are not in direct competition with you.
   • If your goal is to do more of what you do, then a subcontracting relationship may be best.
3. Be sure you can have tough conversations with them.
   • You’re going to have to talk about money, clients, overhead, and many things that are both private and difficult to discuss.
   • Before you consider a relationship, make sure you start these conversations and see if your potential associate responds in a way that you feel will lead to future success. Make sure you’re comfortable with their style!
4. Look for personal qualities that are important to you: honesty, integrity, responsiveness, etc. If you feel unable to determine someone’s qualities, ask someone that knows them, ask them for references, or wait – get to know them a little better before entering into a business development relationship.

Once you’ve found people with whom you feel confident that you can tackle the tough questions, tackle them up front.

Define the terms of your relationship up front.

1. Set a common vocabulary.

o Make sure that when you define terms you’re all talking about the same things.

o Be precise (include scenarios in your discussion) and ask clarifying questions. Be careful not to make assumptions.

2. Define what kind of work you each want to do, compensation, roles and responsibilities, client management, and client follow-up guidelines. Be specific.
3. Document it all and make sure you all still agree when you see it in writing.

Insuring everyone understands and agrees upon how they fit together will increase the likelihood the relationship is a success.

Solopreneurs: Business Development Relationships (Part 2 of 3)

As a small business owner or a solopreneur, business development relationships are among the most difficult to manage.

To start exploring these challenges, we’ll need some common language to describe the types of relationships that exist. 

We’ll start simply (by clarifying terms) and add detail as we discuss how to make these relationships work (a later post). 

Contract/Subcontract
The least complicated relationship is where one person (the subcontractor) works on someone else’s contract (the contractor). The subcontractor and the contractor determine a compensation rate in advance. It could be hourly, flat, or based on a fixed price per deliverable.

The important distinction is that the subcontractor has not brought in the business and is compensated only at their predetermined rate.  

They are also not immediately entitled to follow-up with the client to pursue future work. The client is the contractor’s client.

Qualified Lead
Suppose you introduce a strong business lead (a customer) to someone outside of your company (an associate)?

Through your relationship with that customer, you determined they had a need in line with your associate’s capabilities. After gaining the customer’s permission, you introduced your associate to the customer.

That’s a qualified lead.  

If a qualified lead develops into a signed contract, you may be entitled to a “finder’s fee” from your associate (a percentage of the contract or a flat amount) – even if you don’t work on the contract in any capacity.

After that initial contract, both businesses (yours and the associate’s) have a relationship with that client and either may follow-up with them in the future.  

Partnership
In this case you and another entity (a partner) pursue work together. You both contribute equally to business development efforts and, while a contract with the client may be signed by one party or the other, the financial risks and benefits of the contract, as well as the client contact itself, are shared in some predetermined manner.  

Combinations
It is possible to combine these roles. You may be the subcontractor on a project for which you provided a qualified lead. In that case you might not only be entitled to your predetermined rate, but also a “finder’s fee”.  

Relationships
All of these arrangements are based on relationships: between you and other businesses, between you and your customers.

Everything we’ve covered so far must be viewed through the lens of your customer’s needs and preferences.  

Those needs trump all else!