Monthly Archives: May 2017

TNF #087: I love complicated clients

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Welcome Professionals…

…Without complexity, there would be no need for top management consultants. This is why I stated “Complexity is your friend, my friend” in TNF #003. Sometimes, when it feels like we are drowning in complexity, it is helpful to relate back to that statement.

I would like to even go one step further. “I love complicated clients!” From an outside-in perspective, some clients seem to be complicated. They have lots of politics going on in their organizations, project tasks and timeline are issue to a lot of changes, they have side-problems that need to be resolved, they have a peculiar way of communication and so on. I think we all had clients like this.

complicated

Of course, I prefer when things are running smoothly, just as planned. When everything is just easy-going. But this might be a short-sighted view. If everything is easy, my service is at risk of being replaced by a competitor that is offering a lower price. Without complexity and challenge my added value is at risk of being commoditized.

All these clients out there who move time lines, change assignments on the go, complain a lot, are lost in details, have to succeed in political fights, or are just having a bad day – they need our help. This is where we can make a difference through our professional service and our positive mindset. Those who an deal with complicated clients have a USP.

At least thinking this way helps when someone complicated comes up….

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!

TNF #086: Building a platform

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Welcome Professionals…

…As top management consultants, we continuously strive to attract clients to our services and to build a strong reputation as an expert. Both can be enhanced by establishing your own platform.

A platform is a format to connect with your target audience and to share value. Typical formats are a regular lunch/dinner table, a blog/podcast/YouTube channel, an E-Mail newsletter, a conference/networking event, a service club. Note: a simple LinkedIn profile is not a platform!

platform

The goal of a platform is to build relationships with a long-term focus. Value is shared generously to the target audience usually for free or for minor a subscription fee, but it is never transaction-based. You cannot pay directly for the value received. The value contribution of the platform builder needs to be different to the professional services that are provided for a fee. It needs to go beyond the typical scope of the business in order to stand out and attract the target audience. Then, a platform can be very powerful to reach and attract new potential clients.

In summary, here are the main success factors for building a platform:

  • Target a specific audience
  • Share relevant value generously
  • Stay persistent and establish a regular format
  • Foster multi-lateral relationships within the platform
  • Focus on building relationships, never transactions

A successful example for a platform was built by one of my friends, who is Partner at a leading strategy consultancy. He set up an expert circle for industrial service businesses about 8 years ago. Twice a year he organized a key note speech and discussion round for leaders of the service business. He has now reached a stage where the participants themselves suggest new members and funnel them into the circle. Members take a strong part in organizing events and even sponsoring the catering. Still, my friend is seen as the founder and chief curator of the platform and stands out as the expert for industrial service businesses which has finally led to many new assignments in that area.

Thursday Night Flight and the LinkedIn Group “Trusted Advisor – Success for Consultants” is a platform that was founded on the same building blocks, as you may have already noticed. We are well above 1’000 professional consultants now and for the future, I would like to see more interaction among members. So, feel free to connect and reach out.

What is your platform?

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!

TNF #085: Get more sleep

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Welcome Professionals…

…deprivation of sleep is a common epidemic among top management consultants. We touched on that topic in issue TNF #004. Under the title “Get the most out of your sleep”, I argued that we must ensure the highest quality of our sleep, since we have little control over the quantity of sleep we get. Now guess what: Quality and quantity matter!

Our brain needs sleep, otherwise it cannot get rid of toxic by-products of our neural activity. For a comprehensive summary of negative side effects from sleep deprivation and some general advise to sleep more and better, I suggest the following article by Dr. Travis Bradberry: “Why sleep is key to success”.

sleep

In my blog post TNF #004 I already outlined some consultant-specific tips on raising the quality of our sleep. In this issue, I want to emphasize on quantity. For most of us, we need to sleep between 7 to 9 hours to be fully rested. There are actually only very few individuals who need less. I am not one of those and you most likely neither.

When we deprive our brain of our individually required level of rest, we will fall short on performance. If we want to work at the peak of our potential, we must ensure to get enough good sleep.

Here are some consultant-specific tips:

  • Reduce daily commute, live near by the office and choose a hotel very close to the client location
  • Consider traveling on Sunday night instead of Monday morning
  • Learn to meditate in order to fall asleep quicker after work (not having to drink alcohol to cool down or use other substances)
  • Streamline daily routines (body care, dressing, packing) to the minimum time
  • Do your physical work out with bodyweight exercise to skip the gym (learn how in TNF #012)
  • Among team mates and superiors, promote a high performance culture that relies on healthy lifestyle such as getting enough sleep

The last point is clearly the most difficult, but also the most important.

Have a good rest!

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!

TNF #084: Small pain

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Welcome Professionals…

…I was at the dentist today. One of my inlays was broken and I decided to have it replaced as protection from potential further tooth decay. This preventive maintenance is costly, time consuming, and not really pleasant. As I was laying on the dentist chair, I thought about the analogies to our consulting profession.

small pain

What we would all agree to as a wise decision in dental care also applies to business. Accepting the smaller pain today in order to avoid the bigger pain in the future. Thinking through the various decisions within my 15+ years as a top management consultant, I can come up with many examples for the smaller pain:

  • admitting a mistake
  • asking an embarrassing question
  • changing staffing after a few days on the project
  • giving pushback on targets set by client/superior
  • scheduling a weekend shift before an important presentation

All these highly unpopular and sometimes painful actions have the potential to avoid a bigger and even more painful failure in the future. However, I sometimes had the idea that I might get away without any pain. I might get lucky, I thought. Well, very unlikely to get lucky on caries for the next 50 years with a broken inlay. Why not apply this wisdom to everyday business?

Welcome small pain!

Malte

Thursday Night Flight is brought to you by Malte Müller Professionals. Sharing best practices for top management consultants on topics like communication, client handling, problem solving, appearance, and fitness. Check out www.mm-professionals.com for more material and free resources!