The Top Consultant

by Markham, Calvert

• ISBN13: 9780749442538
• ISBN10: 0749442530
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2004-11-01
• Publisher: Kogan Page Ltd

Summary

The Top Consultant is a guide for all consultants looking to develop their skills, provide a first-class service to their clients, and become expert practitioners. In this fully revised new edition of what has become a standard text, Calvert Markham shows how consultants can develop their performance in a wide range of areas.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Acknowledgements	xi
The nature of consultancy	1	(10)
What is consultancy?	1	(2)
Why use consultants?	3	(2)
The nature of consultancy practices	5	(1)
The role of the consultant	6	(1)
What sort of people become consultants?	7	(1)
The relationship between the practice and the client	7	(1)
Consultancy skills	8	(3)
Managing a consultancy business	11	(14)
Leadership in a consultancy practice	11	(2)
Intellectual property in a consultancy practice	13	(2)
Managing consultants	15	(5)
Organization structure within a consultancy practice	20	(5)
Product definition and marketing in consultancy	25	(14)
Product definition	26	(5)
Marketing consultancy	31	(6)
Promotional activities	37	(2)
The consultancy sales process	39	(22)
The consultancy sales process	40	(1)
Relationship development	41	(5)
Prospection	46	(1)
Developing the proposition	47	(2)
Pitching for the sale	49	(2)
Organizing for selling	51	(4)
Monitoring sales performance	55	(4)
Developing sales performance	59	(2)
Conducting specific sales transactions	61	(38)
Becoming a consultancy salesperson	61	(4)
The ingredients of selling performance	65	(2)
Purposes of selling -- what we are trying to achieve	67	(4)
The sales process	71	(1)
Establishing a dialogue with a prospective client	72	(3)
Conducting selling transactions	75	(10)
Converting the ITT to a sale	85	(5)
Developing selling skills	90	(9)
Consultancy problem solving	99	(38)
The varied nature of problems	99	(5)
Making sense of a client's predicament	104	(12)
The problem solving approach	116	(6)
Data collection	122	(10)
Data analysis and conclusions	132	(5)
Commercial aspects of consultancy	137	(20)
Determining fee rates	137	(2)
Expenses	139	(2)
What do we tell the client?	141	(2)
Terms of payment	143	(3)
Other methods of generating revenue in consultancy	146	(4)
Using subcontractors	150	(1)
Non-time-related charges	150	(1)
Terms of business	151	(4)
Client's terms of engagement	155	(2)
Operating a consultancy project	157	(36)
The structure of a consultancy project	157	(3)
Contracting: terms of reference	160	(14)
Diagnosis: Managing consultancy projects	174	(5)
Intervention	179	(11)
Closure	190	(3)
Managing client relationships	193	(24)
Why the client relationship is important	194	(2)
Account management	196	(5)
Factors contributing to the quality of a relationship	201	(8)
Monitoring the client relationship	209	(2)
Creating satisfied clients	211	(6)
References	217	(2)
Index	219	(4)
Further reading from Kogan Page	223

Excerpts

1 The nature of consultancy What is consultancy? Why use consultants? The nature of consultancy practices The role of the consultant What sort of people become consultants? The relationship between the practice and the client Consultancy skills 2 Managing a consultancy business Leadership in a consultancy practice Intellectual property in a consultancy practice Managing consultants Organization structure within a consultancy practice 3 Product definition and marketing in consultancy Product definition Marketing consultancy Promotional activities 4 The consultancy sales process The consultancy sales process Relationship development Prospection Developing the proposition Pitching for the sale Organizing for selling Monitoring sales performance Developing sales performance 5 Conducting specific sales transactions Becoming a consultancy salesperson The ingredients of selling performance Purposes of selling -- what we are trying to achieve The sales process Establishing a dialogue with a prospective client Conducting selling transactions Converting the ITT to a sale Developing selling skills 6 Consultancy problem solving Drawing the boundaries The structure of business problems The variety of consultancy problems Making sense of a client's predicament The problem solving approach Data collection Data analysis and conclusions 7 Commercial aspects of consultancy Determining fee rates Expenses What do we tell the client? Terms of payment Other methods of generating revenue in consultancy Using subcontractors Non-time-related charges Terms of business Clients' terms of engagement 8 Operating a consultancy project The structure of a consultancy project Contracting: terms of reference Diagnosis: Managing consultancy projects Intervention Closure 9 Managing client relationships Why the client relationship is important Account management Factors contributing to the quality of a relationship Monitoring the client relationship Creating satisfied clients