HOW TO CHOOSE A STRATEGY CONSULTANT: Separating the Wheat from the Chaff

There’s a saying that you get what you pay for. There’s also the often-too-late realization that sometimes you have ended up paying way more for what you really got. Making a decision to hire a strategy consultant sounds easy. But it’s important to make sure you choose a strategy consultant that is right for the job. Because whether they might be master builders, business coaches, advisors or futurists, the task of separating the wheat from the chaff rests on your shoulders. So, who’s the wheat, and who’s the chaff?

 

A strategy consultant is, basically, someone who works with business owners to devise and develop a strategy that is capable of achieving the stated goals of the business. And here lies the tricky part. How do you define what capability really is? How do you know whether he or she has the expertise for what your business needs at this very juncture?

Five penetrating questions are sufficient to provide a general guideline for you to assess the consultant.

1. What is the real specialization of the consultant?
2. Has the consultant walked in your shoes- or is at least willing to try?
3. Does the consultant have a solution-focused mentality?
4. Are the solutions the consultant suggests pragmatic ones?
5. Does the consultant prove his ability to adapt?

Not everyone who calls themselves a business coach is truly able to coach you on the intricacies of running a business, in the same way that not every consultant who replicates a generalized marketing strategy to you has a proven specialization in the very industry of your business. Yet that is a catalytic element. Success requires a business strategy that has been tailored to meet the nuances of your industry, your marketplace and your business itself. A consultant needs to be a specialist in your industry, whether retail, technology, food, logistics, manufacturing, property or media & entertainment, to capitalize on his experience and firsthand knowledge about the unique challenges you face to bring maximum value to your business.

 

Better yet, if he has been in your shoes- and has walked in it. The best consultants are those who, firstly, can define what their business is and who they are. Someone who describes herself to have multiple professional interests and is at once a business coach, a consultant, a researcher and a futurist is way too much of a generalist to engage in your business. If your consultant has had personal experience what it means to build a business, to drive change and implement strategy and if he has direct knowledge of the real-world competitors, obstacles, opportunities and challenges your industry faces, you will likely receive practical recommendations for business success.

 

The consultant might not be Leonardo Da Vinci or Nikola Tesla- scientists passionate about finding and creating solutions to the real-world problems of their day and also futurists- but he has to formulate effective strategies that address your barriers to growth. Qualitative and quantitative analysis provide a critical depth of understanding of your industry but the consultant would have to be assessed on his skills in creating solutions for your business challenges. Merely obsessing about being able to charge you sizeable consultancy rates for telephone conversations does not take into consideration the fact that the solution to business meetings lies beyond a telephone or a mobile but includes global conferencing, video conferencing, emails, mobile chat platforms and it too disregards the information that the prospective client owns a tablet, a high-speed data connection and Skype.

 

Of course, solutions are of no use either if it lacks pragmatism. A suggested solution that appears to wish you well in your business but then is discovered to be impractical in its implementation to solve your business’ challenges and obstacles will mean that you have unfortunately paid good money for chaff.

 

That is why good consultants are present throughout the implementation process. Because good consultants who have firsthand knowledge, who have walked in your shoes and who are passionate about finding and creating solutions are convinced that with every business lies a situation that contains distinctive opportunities and what was successful for a similar client might need to be adapted in order to be appropriate for you.

 

There’s just one more thing that differentiates a good strategy consultant from a mediocre one. A good one is not illogically defensive and he will adopt a scientific, non-theoretical approach towards every predicament, which means that there is a continuous stream of cold, calculative self-assessment towards the very solutions that he will be presenting to you.