Qualification, not qualifications, is the key

Over the last year or so I've talked to lots of consultants - some have given up on tendering for business because they say it never works, but others have been very successful. Sometimes the problem is that the particular sector is just too competitive and there are so many bids the process becomes a lottery - but I've noticed one things that all the successful people have in common (Mike Nott who's just won his very first tender is a typical example!) .

They all spend a lot of time and effort working out exactly which tenders to go for and reject many more than they actually respond to. Mike calls this 'developing a discerning eye', that is knowing what is right for you and what isn't - but that's something that can take time to develop so I thought I'd help a bit by developing a check list of things that you should consider before putting pen to paper and writing that proposal. Let me know if you think it's useful.

Marketing doesn't work! - or does it?

I quite often talk with consultants who tell me they've tried networking or direct mail or email marketing - or any other form of marketing and 'it just doesn't work!' - so they've given up. Very often when you chat a little more it seems that it's not so much that the technique involved doesn't work but that the particular variety they've used simply hasn't fit their business and personal style.

A common complaint is from people who've signed up for a local networking group and feel they've spent the whole time referring business to other people and getting nothing back. The problem usually is that these are consultants who need to work with larger companies because their experience is best suited to a corporate environment - and the truth is that large company executives don't generally attend local networking lunches (unless they are themselves trying to sell something!).

If you're targetting larger companies and want to meet the right people then you need to work out what events they do go to - which will probably be the large and relatively expensive conferences that help people keep up to date with their industry. This may seem like a costly approach but 1 good contact in the right industry has to be better value than lots of lunches that get you nowhere!

The same targetted approach applies for all marketing so if you've tried it and feel it hasn't worked you may need to adjust your sights and aim at a different set of people or companies. But whatever you do, don't give upas that definitely won't bring in any new clients!

How can Skillfair improve?

David's blog about successful companies beign curious about their customers and their place in the world reminded me that it's time for our annual customer survey. Web based companies seem to find it harder in some ways to work out what their customers think - we can measure what our customers do online very easily and some get obsessed with 'abandoned shopping cart ratios' and 'click to £' rates' and so on. But that doesn't tell us what customers think about us or why they come back time after time, or leave without paying.

Since it's that insight into customers minds that is really vaulable and allows us to change what we to do to provide a better service the survey is really important to us. If you can spare 5 minutes to complete it we'll be very grateful, and will enter your details in a draw for a free place at this year's conference or a free Skillfair membership.

To take the survey just click here

What makes a successful company?

I’ve studied and worked with all sorts of businesses for more than 30 years and have been mulling over recently what it is that makes some successful and others not.

I've come to the conlusions that it’s not luck but leadership with the right philosophy supporting an open and enquiring culture that makes a successful company.

So when you look at how your company or your clients’ companies work, what characteristics should you expect to see:

• Over-arching an insatiable curiosity about the worlds in which the company does business and recognition that change is the way of life driven by these worlds.
• Commitment to innovation as a way of life driven by the worlds in which the company lives and controlling the way the company responds
• Recognising that your customers choose to buy because you offer them a reason to buy that is relevant to them
• The company is right-sized to be part of any of the communities in which it lives and that people in the company are also part of the community
• Processes and structures within the company are only relevant as long as they serve the needs of the customers and the wider communities.
  

These features apply just as well to a one-man-band as to a large corporation - for more depth and ideas on what effect these features have on a business click here

What do clients think about consultants #1

We follow up on all the projects that clients post directly on Skillfair and in the main they're very please by the level and quality of the response. But there are a few things that clearly make their lives difficult and that astute consultants would do well to take note of!

Last week we had a very specialised request for help with an engineering problem which attracted only a handful of responses. The client had followed them all up but was 'amazed at how few people had properly filled in profiles' - his very sensible suggestion was that consultants should get a friend or business contact to review their profile to spot any gaps or areas that need to be expanded.

We already send a profile status email to our members every 2 months to remind them to keep up to date, but we've now added a facility to allow you to send your profile details to a contact as well, just login and got Edit Profile. While we were at it we've also add the ability for any Skillfair user to refer any consultants details to a friend - so if you see anyone on the site who looks particularly useful why not pass their profile on?

PS I should point out that we only follow up with clients who've posted projects directly on Skillfair - I'm afraid calling 100-200 public sector organisations every week to see how their tenders went is beyond us :-(

Skillfair 2009 Consultants Conference - early bird discount

We really enjoy running our annual conference, but I have to admit that getting the speakers and agenda sorted out can be very stressful - particularly as time starts to tick past and there are still loose ends to fix. Jo has done a great job this year and we have a really nice mix of short presentations, networking sessions and longer workshops - which I think will make it a very relaxed but worthwhile event.

The 18th November seems a long time away at the moment, but I'm sure that by then we'll all be in need of a bit of a boost - so if you fancy a trip to Manchester to network with other consultants and experts in their field why not book your place now? Just go to www.skillfair.co.uk for details.

There's a £25 discount available off the already reasonable price of £150 if you book before 31stAugust