Every year, during the holidays, I take stock of what I've learned over the past year. It's cathartic, since most of my learnings come from mistakes. A couple of years ago, my big "ah hah!" was: you can't just get all your ducks in a row and have things work out, you also have to knock 'em all down yourself. This year, due to a particularly interesting end to NFL season and start to the playoffs, I'm a little late in processing the last twelve months' useful teachings.
The big light bulb from 2008 is, of course: trust your gut — it's usually right. If we'd listened to prognosticators, we'd have bought $100/barrel oil futures and bet on the Giants squeaking out a Superbowl win over Brett Favre. No one, it seems, knew anything last year. Our business felt wrong as far back as last May. Sales were down. "It's summer, it's cyclical, the sun is in the house of Pisces" we told ourselves. Nope. Business was just off and we felt it early. We made our adjustments in September and we're in good shape — but I wish we'd made them earlier. This year I'm going back to trusting my gut more.
Which brings us to segment of the show we've all been waiting for: my New Top 7 Rules of Professional Services.
1. Professional services is about trust and problem solving
From the learning: "no one really understands blue-ocean-synergies-with-long-tails."
I tried a lot of different ways of describing our business to potential clients last year. I used big words. I used business words. I used technical words. I used made-up words. I even used bolded, underlined words. But — I learned this yet again — it's not about the words. It's about two things: 1) does the client trust you as a human being? And 2) can you convince the client you can solve the problem.
That's it. It's possible to get to where you need to be without any words. Okay, that would be difficult, and awkward, but you get the point. You get over the trust barrier more from how you say it than from what you say. And demonstrating problem solving skills will come down to clear, simple logic and processes, not undecipherable frameworks which look they've been designed to combat space junk. Lawyers, accountants, consultants, engineers, bankers, and marketers — I defy you find a more fundamental underpinning to the services game.
2. Business professionalism represents a great means of differentiating
From the learning: "Many people lie and I don't know why."
This is a true story. We pitched the same client (Same company, different people) six times this past year. We got zero business. (Aside: this has helped us coin the term "once bitten, twice shy, six times stupid".)
The sixth time, this is how the conversation went, starting with a call from the client.
Client: "We'd like you to help us look at a new opportunity."
Us: "Great, but we're a little leery to put another proposal together."
Client: "No, no, we really need this."
Us: "Do you have budget for this?"
Client: "Yes."
Us: "really? It's set aside?"
Client: "Yes."
Us: "You're sure?"
Client: "Yes."
Us: "And you can make the decision? You don't need to go to your boss?"
Client: "Yes, it's my call."
So we spend 15 hours putting the proposal together. One week later — Us: "So, are we good to go?"
Client: "I just need to go to the CEO for budget approval…"
Why would he lie?! It's not like we weren't going to know. Ridiculous. We learned that going to the top dog is the only way to sell right now. A more professional means of handling things with us would have included being straightforward about the situation, or introducing us to the decision maker. We now see this individual as unprofessional. We likely won't work with him or recommend him to others. In this economy professionalism is going to take a lot of people a long way. In services, because competition is fierce, professionalism will be the minimum acceptable standard by clients.
3. Think from the client's perspective
From the learning: "Spend more time with your clients, they are your best friends."
It was a conscious decision last year: spend less time trying to be smart, and spend more time trying to understand. We tell our juniors to think from the client's perspective all the time, but that can be difficult in the absence of the client's actual point of view on the world.
And you can only get it by being there. So we engineered more report-backs and more working sessions into our process. It slowed us down but man, our work got even better, and most importantly it improved the odds of acceptance of the results (the magic "buy-in" we all look for). In this economy, clients will be antsy. Delivering a superior customer experience is more important than ever, and thoroughly understanding your clients is the first step. As my good friend Jeff Calvert says: "Have you hugged your client today?"
4. Never surprise the client. The services business is a journey and you are the client's tour guide.
From the learning: "The client is always right. Except when they're wrong. Now we're really consulting/lawyering/accounting/engineering/banking/marketing."
In football, here are two phrases you never want to hear: "Torn ACL" and "Roughing the kicker." In services, you never want to hear "Sorry?" or "But I thought you said last time we were in good shape?"
Services is one long, continuous conversation with your client — most of it unofficial and off-line. I have a buddy in consulting who once flew to Paris only to hear the proposed plan was "The highway to failure" from the client. This year, we had a client ask "You mean we should stop web advertising?" toward the end of project. In the former case, it was my buddy's fault, and in the latter it was my fault since we hadn't kept our respective clients informed enough throughout the process. If it's a day ending in Y, call your client.
5. No lazy thinking
From the learning: "I'm not as good at picking football games as I thought I was."
We landed our first client working in sports in 2008. Gold! I was so excited. Finally, a chance to put 30+ years of latent sports knowledge to use, and get paid for it. So of course I tracked down the NFL guy and start talking shop with him.
I got about 45 seconds in and realized my folly. Don't get me wrong, I'm obsessed, but football is this guy's job. He thinks about it constantly. He analyzes it. He reconsiders. He talks to other experts. Isn't that what we all do in our jobs, especially in professional services jobs? It should be. We have a saying: "No lazy thinking." In 2009, everyone in services will be looking for business, and clients will be looking around. There will be zero tolerance for lazy thinking.
6. It's always about the fundamentals
From the learning: "It's better to be good-fangled than new-fangled."
You know those businesses that you wonder about? The ones with crazy (not genius crazy, just crazy) ideas? And weird value propositions? And flighty leadership? The ones big on flash and light on thrash? You wonder how they stay in business.
Well, my friends, they will soon be short on cash. We worked with a sophisticated tech client looking at the SMB space last year. We thought the issues would be buried in a complex area of the business, perhaps in the pricing models or in the branding No sir. It was much simpler — product, service and customer experience improvements were the answers.
If we look at the restaurant business, my bet is on the slightly old-fashioned joints with well-established clientele, and not on the clever-one-word-name places that insist on putting their own twist (pan searing the fish in decadence and platitudes) on salmon Neptune. It's always about the fundamentals. Get them right immediately or you are in a lot of trouble. Oh, and just a question, where has all the green marketing gone?
7. On game day, we are in the Edutainment business. Tell a compelling story.
From the learning: "Sports analogies are better than graphs."
In services, the client is paying you to a) Help solve a problem, b) Figure out the right answer, and c) Not be a complete tool, making the experience at least somewhat enjoyable along the way.
Not necessarily in that order. I learned this lesson a number of times last year. I had been holding back a little — on humour and story telling and being a human being — to my detriment. Sure clients will scrutinize the data or the findings or the numbers or the precedents. But that's not really what they want. They want to know what it all means and what to do. ("Why?" and "So What?" are the most useful questions in professional services.)
I started using analogies more often. Wow. What a difference. I now see my role on report-back days as much chief story teller as smart-consultant-guy. If you lighten up a bit, open up a bit and make your work a bit more accessible, it may lead to all kinds of follow-on opportunities because clients may actually like you! Try it. It's fun.
SMB stat of the month
I have it on very good authority, from a colleague at one of the telco's, that the number one cause of irreparable damage causing BlackBerry's to be replaced — especially by SMB folks — is dropping the device in a toilet. I was very happy to learn this as I myself did just that right before Christmas. (Note: the engineers have cleverly installed litmus paper — remember grade 5 science class? — in the devices so that store reps can tell it's water damage). The insight is: SMB owner-operators and employees have taken multi-tasking to a (questionable) all-new level. Or smart phones should be water-proof. Take your pick.
Secret behaviours of SMB decision makers (for Enterprise executives sneaking a peek here)
There is much debate over pricing models, for products and services sold by large companies to SMBs. Should it include a discount? Maybe bundling is the way to go. What if extra services are thrown in? Of course there are additional factors, but if you look at pricing straight-up, we have good data which says lowest sticker price wins. Period. Simple is better than complicated.
Mark Healy, P.Eng, MBA is a Partner at Torque Customer Strategy, a boutique consultancy focused on customer experience, innovation and go-to-market strategy. Mark has completed over one hundred engagements in this new space over the last four years. He is a regular speaker and media contributor on topics ranging from marketing to managing professional service firms. Mark is known as much for his aggressive sense of personal style as he is for intense and engaging conversations. He lives with his wife Charlotte and their bulldog McDuff in Toronto. His full bio can be found at www.torquecustomerstrategy.com .
Mark Healy