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« Where Do 200 Service Pros Get $72.5 Million? | Main | The Best Lessons »

November 05, 2006

Comments

Charles H. Green

It's good to see these laid out. They are precisely the guides to consulting professionalism I grew up with (circa 1976-95), and it's refreshing to see how well they hold up.

If I may add a few of my own:

1. I have always found that, paradoxically, quickly confessing what I don't know is a lot faster route to being trusted than continuing to try to prove how much I do know;

2. My ability to "sell" a client on something not right for them is vastly overrated; and on those rare cases when I do end up selling something I am not right for, I regret it vastly more than the client does;

3. Don't bill for travel time outside business hours or on weekends;

4. Conflict between clients is an opporutnity to add value well beyond the contract--it offers a chance to truly help the client organization reconcile some basic issues;

5. The problem is NEVER what the client said it was in the first meeting (thanks to Maister for that one);

6. Just about nearly pretty much all the time, tell the truth; never ever ever tell a lie;

7. The client is, first, your ongoing reputation; second, the hiring organization; third, the relationship; fourth, the person who hired you.

8. Pursuing relationships nurtures transactions, but pursuing transactions kills relationships;

9. Construtive confrontation is always preferable to peaceful disengagement--unresolved conflicts never get better on their own, only worse.

Thanks for the reminder about always dress one tiny notch better. We used to have one about always flying coach, with the boogeyman story about watching the client walk past you in first on his way back to coach). Running my own firm now I no longer do that, but it's arguable even now.

Luca9200

Great post - thanks for sharing it.

I would add one more rule: carefully avoid typos in everything you write. They make you look sloppy at best, illiterate at worst. I guess " 's " plurals and misspelled foreign capitals are some of the most common ones...

MB

You make some great points, though I am torn between agreeing or debating with you on the last one.

Yes, it is good to be sharply dressed when traveling. …and on international flights, it has an unintended benefit: you look the part when you are in front of an immigration officer. But then, if you are traveling from Boston to Bangalore, do you want a suit and tie when you also want to catch up with some sleep to thwart off the jet lag…and meeting with the team at the other end?

Sheamus

Greetings from Canada!

Discovered your blog this morning via accmanpro.com and glad I did!

Lovely focus for your blog and intersting post!

I'm going to read Services Safari in detail over the next week.

Best wishes for an awesome week ahead!

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