Consultant’s Corner

Complexity of decisions…

I was sitting through an online demo of a software tool this morning when I was struck by some powerful emotions.  You see I was looking to purchase the software as a means to better run a start up business I’ve been dreaming about for some time. The software was quite impressive and did a lot of things that a small business owner could really take advantage of.  Half way through the demo however I was struck however by this wave of emotion. It was a combination of excitment, dread, and fear, all at the same time.  I’ll explain…

The excitement was obviously because I could see the potential in what this tool could do. Leveraging technology to get a ton more done? That’s what I’ve helped clients do for almost 2 decades now. As the customer now, I get it. Great concept! With this new gadget, tool, gizmo, etc.  my mind was racing with all the possibilities.

That’s when reality comes creeping back in…..  The realization and self doubt, that holds many of us back from trying new things and new opportunties, etc.  The “doubter” in me started to come up with all the reasons why this purchase would be “bad”. Here’s a few, I bet you could come up with more:

1. You don’t the time or resources to figure all this out…

2. I don’t really have the business plan solidified enough to know what I need so how do I know what features are really importan (this is really about knowing what you need vs. what you want).

3. Most days I can’t even get a decent sales letter written, how would I take advantage of such a complex tool and process?

4. Its a waste of money right now because I’m not ready to implement.

AND SO ON….

I had to take a step back and say WOAH! What’s happening here?  It clicked for me on two levels.

First, and maybe most obvious,  I have some more planning and thinking to do on the business side about what I really want to do with this endeavor. (That’s probably pretty common).

But more relevant to this blog was the 2nd revelation. “I wonder how many times I do this to my clients?“…..

How many times have I or the team been in front of a client and working with them on a solution or consulting engagement that, from the outside point of view, was blatantly clear they needed (and of course I had the abilty to really help)?  How many times have I say demoed software features, or talked about all the great things they could do and how exciting it was and I potentially failed to realize the fear I might be creating in my customers?

How many sales or engagements have we lost because of that? Because of my over excitement and optimism in helping customers, how many times did I miss the signals?

So I share this same thought with you and ask you the consultant, the  same question….

Are you aware of what conversation is going on in your clients heads?

Are you ‘overselling’ your position because you think they are interested in steps 9, 10, and 11, when really they are focused and stuck on step 2 or 3?  As a consultant, we are hired in as “experts” who have worked with many customers across many industries and “have seen this before” experience.  How many times however, does that knowledge and experience get in the way because the same client that hires us for that experience, gets easily overwhelmed by that volume of knowledge?

I look forward to your comments and experience on this topic…  Hope you have a great and productive day.