Here's the new edition of 'The Authority', helping consultants grow their revenue by sharing intriguing educational stories.
It’s my ultimate aspiration to create a bubble of calmness with this bi-weekly ‘think piece’, a place of stillness in the face of everyday stress. A chance to reflect on what really matters in your consulting work.
Did you already download my newest ebook with the best social media posts from 2021? If not, here's the download link again. Enjoy the reading!
The Big Question
Questions I get from consultants. And my answers.
I regularly post content on social media about what I call ‘the consulting service delusion’: an exorbitant focus on services instead of on expertise. I got several reactions and questions from a post on social media a few weeks ago, so I decided to explain the service delusion a little deeper in this newsletter.
"Are you a service provider or an expert? There’s a big difference between service providers and experts in consulting.
● SERVICE providing consultancies offer downstream ‘availability’ at low rates. They see their biggest challenge as getting people to deliver for them. They want to get the job done & get paid for it.
● EXPERT consultancies sell expertise. They see their biggest challenge as having a transformational impact. They want to make a difference, add tremendous value & be rewarded for it.
We live in the era of expertise.
Deep expertise will always win: strong reputation and visibility in the market, power in the sale, premium pricing, tremendous project efficiency, hiring clarity (yes, candidate fit), and many more awesome outcomes I learned to enjoy.
If you’d ask me, diversification of services in consulting is for the amateurs."
What is the big and ugly service delusion?
I have unsettled a few Linkedin readers with my ‘diversification of services is for the amateurs’ statement. I call it ‘THE BIG UGLY SERVICE DELUSION’ (often translated into appalling websites). Indeed, consultancies often make a big mistake in striving for a healthy pipeline.
They are making the mistake of focusing on 'PROVIDING MULTIPLE SERVICES', and they feel good about it. They become OUTPUT-ORIENTED and this results in offering a laundry list of services, a bottleneck to creating demand and a reliable pipeline.
Output and service-orientation also mean more competition, more commoditization, activity-driven, order-taker profile, and lower rates. A service-oriented consultancy will always leave a lot of money on the table in the long run.
In mature markets, it's almost impossible to win by having a so-called unique service. Don’t fool yourself. All your consulting competitors have pretty much similar service capabilities.
Move to an outcome-oriented offering
Instead, it’s much more efficient to move to an OUTCOME-ORIENTED way (instead of output) of consulting, expertise-focused instead of service-focused. It's easier for everybody in the team to focus on the 'OVERARCHING EXPERTISE' of a consultancy instead of creating demand for a service laundry list (where the heck to start?).
After reading this, please, please, remember again: services are simply a means to an end; the vehicle to get a client from where they are now to where they want to be.
Clients care much more about the problem-solving expertise and the transformational OUTCOMES they can achieve than about a long list of services. And creating demand for the overarching problem-solving expertise is just much more effortless. This is something I have experienced (and had to learn) myself in the past decade.
An example: ‘Workforce Of The Future’
Here’s an example of an output-driven consulting topic in the HR consulting space: the almighty ‘Workforce of the future’ hype (WOF). All (HR) consultancies seem to be ‘WOF’ experts these days, but I am still waiting for the first one (feel free to let me know) who can explain the outcomes of a ‘WOF’ consulting intervention. Do you know?
This is just one example of many. The list is endless.
Outcome-focus forces you to think much deeper
It forces you to envision the value you can add and the impact you can have, making you less vulnerable in the crowded, competitive consulting market. And if you can combine the description of the impact with…
● a bold contextual point of view (I call this ‘the signature voice’, see the previous newsletter); ● a clear description of your target audience and their prototypical challenges; ● a fundamentally unparalleled process to achieve a project home run; ● a supreme way of engaging all stakeholders in the client’s organization (to prepare for adoption success); ● an unmatched way of educating your audience on how to deal with their challenges…
…you’ll be the unbeatable hero in your market.
Final advice: transform your thinking
Most consultancy leaders suffer from service laundry list thinking. As I always say: you are not in the business of selling services but solving client problems. Transform your thinking and get over that big service delusion hump.
Would you like to send a question for one of the following newsletter editions?Please send it to me here.
The Disturbing Truth
Unsettling revelations from experts I admire. And from myself.
Every Monday morning, I share consulting-related advice on Linkedin to start the new week. Here is the quote from this week. Let the inspiration be with you (if you let it).
Topic 11-4-2022: Selling in consulting = building trust
Effective selling in consulting requires YOU to build TRUST in YOUR expertise. Share, educate, share, educate. Build and grow your reputation as a consultancy. Inspire your prospects with an abundance of ‘trust stuff’. Nurture them with the latest insights, trends, research, lessons learned, and use cases. Consistently. And it never stops.
(and there's no difference between being a solo consultant, a mid-cap consultancy, or a big consultancy firm)
Topic 18-4-2022: Fight the reactive thinking
Most consultants tend to operate from a fear-based mindset, which causes them to take almost any work that pays and keeps their options open so they don't miss out on potential income. This reactive thinking actually strengthens the risk of remaining in mediocrity.
The Irresistible Content
I write a lot. Here's the update from the past 2 weeks.
Rochelle Moulton and I share the same vision: The most reliable way for consultants to grow their business is by becoming authorities.
Her new book, The Authority Code: How to Position, Monetize and Sell Your Expertise, primarily targets solo consultants – as does Rochelle Moulton’s advisory services.
However, this book's wisdom and practical tips are applicable to consultants working at firms of any size. Why? Because authority-building is a bottom-up exercise. It starts at the individual level.
Sure, well-established, large consultancies have the gravitas of their brand name. However, these days, large consultancies have to compete against boutique smaller firms that use the power of the digital to expertly communicate trust and skills. So whether you are a solo consultant or a consultant within a large firm, building authority on an individual level is a must.
Rochelle’s book is a treasure trove of practical advice on how to position yourself as a consultant, how to monetize your expertise, and how to build and leverage your authority to sell to your ideal clients. It hits the nail on the head. Really, purchase it now and start reading. You will not regret it.
The Inconvenient Number
Evidence-based learning for consultants.
Your consulting challenges are interlinked
I came across a study on the top challenges that consultancies face. I have to admit, based on my conversations with consultancies, the results did not surprise me. Let’s first take a look at the numbers:
● 31% of consultancies report finding talent as their biggest challenge right now.
● 20% report being too busy working in the business instead of on it as their top challenge;
● 18% of consultancies report winning new clients as their #1 challenge.
What’s impressive to see is how each challenge ultimately leads to the other ones. When you don’t have enough qualified people working in a consultancy, the top consultants are left filling in the gaps, leaving them little to no time to grow their business. This lack of promotion, in turn, results in an unreliable pipeline of clients.
● Do you know who the top talent wants to work for (see my LinkedIn post about this topic)? Industry experts – recognized voices in the industry who have a stellar reputation for expertise and a proven track record.
● Do you know whom clients want to buy from? Trusted advisors who display their expertise through thought leadership address their pain points.
● Do you know when you have time to work on growing your consulting business? When you start saying no to opportunities outside of your narrow focus and deliberately make time for marketing and business development in the form of thought leadership. Every single week. No excuses.
These challenges feed off each other, throwing consultancies into a downward spiral. If you are finding yourself struggling with any of these, it’s time to re-evaluate your business model.
A sneak peek behind the curtains of my business. Luk's lab.
The most significant impact on my consulting career?
People often ask me what has had the most significant impact on my consulting career. Believe it or not, I don’t have to think about the answer for more than 3 seconds: my biggest ‘win’ has been my mental shift from a selling (in my early consulting years) to a helping & sharing mindset.
I have always experienced this helping mindset as an unparalleled mental guiding principle. It resulted in developing better educational content to help my audience make progress. It also made it easier for me to embrace the new-school marketing aspect (sharing educational content) in consulting (see my article about it).
I see many consultants already having made that mindset transition, but I also know many of you are thinking: I'm not going to do it, openly sharing my expertise. I get that. It's human nature to feel that way. I’ve been there, and it took me a while too. But if you can flip your brain as I did, it can hugely benefit your consulting business.
Business development rooted in educating
My business development message to consulting is straightforward: your business development efforts should be rooted in EDUCATING your audience as experts. Believe it or not, educating your audience is the #1 lever that can fundamentally change the growth trajectory of your consultancy.
Unfortunately, if you remain in a selfish selling mindset when you create content (if at all), hoping that someone will read it, click and buy something, your business will never benefit from it. It doesn’t work that way in a consulting space. You don’t build trust when you try to sell. Never.
If you struggle: why don’t you read Adam Grant’s amazing book ‘Give and Take’? I’ve reviewed the book in this article.
reader, here are my new services
The services you can book. Better consultancy firms, better consultants.
🅾️ A brand new initiative: A Solo Consultants Learning Weekend With Luk (EU-based)
I have opened an announcement list for my new initiative for Solo Consultants: a learning weekend! As soon as I have 6-8 candidates, I will send a private invitation (from Friday afternoon till Sunday eve, West-European location).
During the weekend, I will take participants through all my experiences, both as a consultant and as a guide and trainer for other consultants. The ultimate goal is to improve the way you do business as a solo consultant.
During the weekend, I will be searching for the 'unexplainable income plateau' that many of you have reached, and I will offer you candid, straightforward breakthrough feedback.
Being a solo consultant, especially in Covid times, can be isolating. That's why I will make it easy for like-minded solo consultants to support each other's goals and dreams.
The main objective? The Monday after, you will start a new era in your professional life, and your consulting approach will never be the same again. Promised!
Interested in joining? Add your name to the announcement list for a shot at the early bird pricing: Get on the announcement list and I will keep you posted. The locations will vary between Belgium, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Hope to see you there! More announcements will follow.
🅾️ A new service for small and medium-sized consultancy firms: The Consultancy Positioning Assessment
Do you really understand the perception of your consultancy through the lens of your ideal client?
Your consultancy positioning is your strategy! As Michael Porter said: “Strategy is about making choices, trade-offs; it’s about deliberately choosing to be different”.
Owners/partners should avoid figuring out their consultancy positioning strengths and weaknesses by trial and error. It takes way too much time.
As of March 2022, I can help small or medium-sized consultancies to fully grasp the perception of their consultancy, swiftly. No trial and error.
My assessment takes you through a rigorous process of diagnosing, researching, assessing, and comparing the touchpoints that connect your consultancy with your ideal audience for the years to come.
Does your online presence as a solo consultant support or stifle your business development?
As a consultant, your website and social media profiles are what your potential clients are basing their judgment of your services on:
What does your online presence say about you?
Are you just one of the many or does your profile stand out?
Do your prospects understand precisely what you do and how you do it or do they come across the same generic stuff that makes them forget about you in 5 seconds?
If you don’t stand out as a consultant in the digital space, your business development will constantly be a struggle. You will never be able to achieve organic pipeline growth. You will always feel like you have to sell, persuade, and settle.
My feedback will allow you to take your online presence from 'yet another unmemorable consulting service' to 'I have to get in touch with this consultant'.
