I have posted on this before, and no doubt I will again, there are four rules I use to assess every consulting engagement. I also use these to measure the performance of my consultants, and to help build their career development plans.
An engagement is a success when we have achieved:
1. Problem Solved. What they bought us in for initially has been achieved.
2. Happy client (Because this is not always linked to the first point)
3. Reference-able work.The client is happy to answer the telephone on our behalf, write a LinkedIn recommendation, provide an email testimonial or speak on what we did at a conference.
4. Repeat work.
The more you look at these four simple statements the more you realize it covers most of the skills and phases involved in every consulting engagement.
Managing relationships, making sure expectations are understood and clearly communicated, targeting the problem with the most efficient solution, ensuring that everyone is very well aware of the value provided, and converting success into more success via the repeat works options.
If you manage consultants, or if you need some way to measure your own performance, then I recommend these four simple measures.
If you get these right, then the real measure, revenues, will happen automatically.
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Showing posts with label Strategy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Strategy. Show all posts
January 26, 2010
January 25, 2010
A little practiced secret to growth
If you work in engineering, as I do, then you find yourself drawn to the large refineries, processing plants and petrochemical industries at some stage or other.
Sounds fair right? Lots of machines which must have lost of need for engineering.
Sounds fair, but it is wrong. In fact, if you are in my field then refineries and process plants are the last place you wan to go. Why? Everyone else has had the same thought as you have.
This means your growth is slowed because you have to sacrifice profits. And if you don't sacrifice profits you don't make the cut. Because for these companies, people like me aren't scarce. A new one knocks on their door every day.
You can take a lot away from this idea. Issues like extraordinary value, strong personal relationships with buyers, and strong brand equity all spring to mind.
But the real point, the one I have spent the past five years learning and relearing, is don't go to the lakes where all the fishermen are. Even IF their are lots of fish there.
If this is so simple and so obvious why isn't everyone doing it? The sheer size of the prize, regardless of how much the odds are actually stacked against you.
It is far better to fish where there are fewer fishermen about, even if the size of the prize is smaller. You will get further quicker by offering scarce services to industries where nobody else is looking. That might mean an industry sector, a left out department, a project or a new methodology.
Growth Rule? Go where others aren't.
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Sounds fair right? Lots of machines which must have lost of need for engineering.
Sounds fair, but it is wrong. In fact, if you are in my field then refineries and process plants are the last place you wan to go. Why? Everyone else has had the same thought as you have.
This means your growth is slowed because you have to sacrifice profits. And if you don't sacrifice profits you don't make the cut. Because for these companies, people like me aren't scarce. A new one knocks on their door every day.
You can take a lot away from this idea. Issues like extraordinary value, strong personal relationships with buyers, and strong brand equity all spring to mind.
But the real point, the one I have spent the past five years learning and relearing, is don't go to the lakes where all the fishermen are. Even IF their are lots of fish there.
If this is so simple and so obvious why isn't everyone doing it? The sheer size of the prize, regardless of how much the odds are actually stacked against you.
It is far better to fish where there are fewer fishermen about, even if the size of the prize is smaller. You will get further quicker by offering scarce services to industries where nobody else is looking. That might mean an industry sector, a left out department, a project or a new methodology.
Growth Rule? Go where others aren't.
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January 23, 2010
Doing one thing exceptionally well...
Being a generalist is good to give you somewhere to hide when specific sectors collapse. But it doesn't inspire awestruck devotion the way being able to play the guitar like this does. (you HAVE to check out that link to YouTube, it will change your view of what the guitar can do)
Tommy Emannuel is a guitar legend. The guy that even the guitar gods of this world speak highly of. Why? because he is a nerd. He lives in his guitar and has played so much his hands look deformed. But god is he good...
I play. Not well, but I can play. I picked it up in high school and just decided that nothing else was going to happen in my life until I taught myself how to play. (Same as how I learned Spanish)
But heres the thing.. I can play that song!! I picked up the beginnings of it from an impromptu lesson he gave on stage here.
Okay... so it doesn't sound quite like Tommy does it... but it still sounds damn good.
Good enough to stop the music at any party I play at, or turn heads in most rooms. I try to stop after it because Stairway to heaven just isn't a great follow up.
This is the benefit of being able to do one thing really, really well. it gets noticed. people sit up and realise that this is how it should be done.
Whether you are delivering a course, serving wine, playing guitar (another Tommy link) or re-writing code. If you are good at it, really good, stop-still-and-watch-good, people get it. They appreciate it, and they tell others about it.
What is it that you do really, really well? Or what could it be...?
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Tommy Emannuel is a guitar legend. The guy that even the guitar gods of this world speak highly of. Why? because he is a nerd. He lives in his guitar and has played so much his hands look deformed. But god is he good...
I play. Not well, but I can play. I picked it up in high school and just decided that nothing else was going to happen in my life until I taught myself how to play. (Same as how I learned Spanish)
But heres the thing.. I can play that song!! I picked up the beginnings of it from an impromptu lesson he gave on stage here.
Okay... so it doesn't sound quite like Tommy does it... but it still sounds damn good.
Good enough to stop the music at any party I play at, or turn heads in most rooms. I try to stop after it because Stairway to heaven just isn't a great follow up.
This is the benefit of being able to do one thing really, really well. it gets noticed. people sit up and realise that this is how it should be done.
Whether you are delivering a course, serving wine, playing guitar (another Tommy link) or re-writing code. If you are good at it, really good, stop-still-and-watch-good, people get it. They appreciate it, and they tell others about it.
What is it that you do really, really well? Or what could it be...?
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January 21, 2010
Do you even HAVE a strategic markting plan?
For a group of people who specialize in advising others, consultants tend to be atrocious at following systems, processes and administration in general.
So if you were your client, what would your advice be for your strategic marketing plan?
First - Have a goal right? Right. What is the goal of your marketing plan? Is it brand equity? Make the phone ring? Develop a community? (A la Tribes) Or to become a household name in your area?
Second - Work out who you are trying to reach. Do you work for businesses? The public? Both? Neither? (Maybe governments)
Where do they hang out? What do they read, listen to, watch? How can you get your name and brand into their world?
Third - How can you reach them? And if the previous questions weren't daunting enough for you, this one is a real hard one.
Unless you are totally new to consulting, marketing and the world of business you will be well aware that the internet has changed absolutely everything. So where does that leave you?
Okay... enough annoying questions. The strategic marketing plan for my personal brand is as follows:
Goal: To develop enough trust based relationships to move the world.
Method: Via regular creation of stunning content. This means thought leadership, practical and actionable advise, and providing answers to the questions burning the world of consultants out there.
Trust Based Assets: The Blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, The Newsletter and Podcasts. (Coming soon...)
The measures: Hmmm... I have set out some goals that I want to achieve.
#1 is to get the online forum fo LinkedIn to 16,000 by the end of this year.
#2 is to continue the 80% open rate for the newsletter, with an attrition rate of less than 5%. (As it is now)
#3 is to generate $150,000 this year through online sales of mentoring, books and associated items.
What is your strategic marketing plan? How does social media factor into that? Which platforms will rocket you through the next barrier and how will you ie the offline world into the online world?
There are of course a lot more questions here about business model, geography and so on... but I hope these thoughts are useful at least.
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So if you were your client, what would your advice be for your strategic marketing plan?
First - Have a goal right? Right. What is the goal of your marketing plan? Is it brand equity? Make the phone ring? Develop a community? (A la Tribes) Or to become a household name in your area?
Second - Work out who you are trying to reach. Do you work for businesses? The public? Both? Neither? (Maybe governments)
Where do they hang out? What do they read, listen to, watch? How can you get your name and brand into their world?
Third - How can you reach them? And if the previous questions weren't daunting enough for you, this one is a real hard one.
Unless you are totally new to consulting, marketing and the world of business you will be well aware that the internet has changed absolutely everything. So where does that leave you?
Okay... enough annoying questions. The strategic marketing plan for my personal brand is as follows:
Goal: To develop enough trust based relationships to move the world.
Method: Via regular creation of stunning content. This means thought leadership, practical and actionable advise, and providing answers to the questions burning the world of consultants out there.
Trust Based Assets: The Blog, LinkedIn, Twitter, The Newsletter and Podcasts. (Coming soon...)
The measures: Hmmm... I have set out some goals that I want to achieve.
#1 is to get the online forum fo LinkedIn to 16,000 by the end of this year.
#2 is to continue the 80% open rate for the newsletter, with an attrition rate of less than 5%. (As it is now)
#3 is to generate $150,000 this year through online sales of mentoring, books and associated items.
What is your strategic marketing plan? How does social media factor into that? Which platforms will rocket you through the next barrier and how will you ie the offline world into the online world?
There are of course a lot more questions here about business model, geography and so on... but I hope these thoughts are useful at least.
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January 20, 2010
Value is great, but to really sell - you need to be a scarce resource
People will buy it if it is worth having. But if everyone has it, then you are competing on price and you can easily be pigeon holed with the rest of the usual suspects.
The trick is to create the perception that you are a scarce resource.
My own approach to scarcity is based on a few of the following facts:
Experience working in numerous cultures, countries and industry sectors. A scarce view of industry problems and solving them.
Experience with some of the largest projects in my area globally. Scarce experience in driving through change in large organizations.
Experience in specific methodologies. I worked for free for my mentor for a period of about 18 months. This guy was recognized as the best in the world in his field. Scarce expertise in applying trusted methods.
My track record, referees and recommendations on LinkedIn. provides me with a scarce level of trust within the industry. Trusted by those who others trust.
A consultant can paint themselves as a scarce resource through their track record, brand and skill sets.
But there are many other areas such as:
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The trick is to create the perception that you are a scarce resource.
My own approach to scarcity is based on a few of the following facts:
Experience working in numerous cultures, countries and industry sectors. A scarce view of industry problems and solving them.
Experience with some of the largest projects in my area globally. Scarce experience in driving through change in large organizations.
Experience in specific methodologies. I worked for free for my mentor for a period of about 18 months. This guy was recognized as the best in the world in his field. Scarce expertise in applying trusted methods.
My track record, referees and recommendations on LinkedIn. provides me with a scarce level of trust within the industry. Trusted by those who others trust.
A consultant can paint themselves as a scarce resource through their track record, brand and skill sets.
But there are many other areas such as:
- Access to limited and valuable industry knowledge. (Benchmarking type stuff)
- Large size and ability to scale to global proportions
- Small size and the ability to be flexible, lost cost of overheads and personal.
- Scarcity of thinking. Thought leadership is underdone in consulting and springs a lot from taking a contrary viewpoint.
- Ability to provide bundled solutions and software programs
And so on... the range of areas where you can prove a level of scarcity is limited only by your imagination.
If you get it right, and promote it well, hen it will become a magnet that will draw clients to you.
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January 13, 2010
Second is first loser
If you are not playing to win then you are wasting everybody's time.
In the third quarter of 2009 Google reported revenues of 5.7 billion, over three times what its nearest competitor, Yahoo, made on Search engine advertising.
This is not unusual yet we often don't expect it. We think number 1 is just edging out number two. And that they are nearly neck and neck.
Not in CRM with salesforce.com versus the world, not in ERP with SAP versus oracle vs Infor, and not with Cola where Coca Cola remains the leader with 1.5 - 2 times market share of their nearest competitors.
If the game is worth playing, and you have a realistic chance of winning, then it is your obligation to go for first place.
Many games are not worth while. A blazing entrant into the newspaper industry will be fighting with entrenched brands for a shrinking prize. Why bother...?
But if it is worth playing, and you really could win, then do not settle for second. Second is first loser.
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In the third quarter of 2009 Google reported revenues of 5.7 billion, over three times what its nearest competitor, Yahoo, made on Search engine advertising.
This is not unusual yet we often don't expect it. We think number 1 is just edging out number two. And that they are nearly neck and neck.
Not in CRM with salesforce.com versus the world, not in ERP with SAP versus oracle vs Infor, and not with Cola where Coca Cola remains the leader with 1.5 - 2 times market share of their nearest competitors.
If the game is worth playing, and you have a realistic chance of winning, then it is your obligation to go for first place.
Many games are not worth while. A blazing entrant into the newspaper industry will be fighting with entrenched brands for a shrinking prize. Why bother...?
But if it is worth playing, and you really could win, then do not settle for second. Second is first loser.
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The worst time to develop a new service line...
...is when it is popular.
By the time you hear about a hot stock it is already too late, the real money has been made and you are just the sucker to take the fall at the end.
By the time you get into Salesforce.com training the market will already be saturated. That means you will be fighting against established brands, established track records and the holder of many relationships. (And he who holds the most trust based relationships wins right...)
The problem with a saturated market is that number one almost always earns two to three times what number two earns. And sadly, you are number 53!
The beauty of business is that there is always another playing field. You just don't know how to get there...yet. Instead of going where they are, try to go where they are headed to.
Instead of Salesforce training why not start working on Google App Engine consultancy?
Instead of the one hundredth company to deliver sales training, why not start to deliver an outsourced sales force?
Instead of providing SAP business flows, why not start to deliver services to help companies escape from gigantic on premise behemoths?
You know your market better than I do, and you know what your clients need probably better than they do. So why would you dive into a market that is going to tear you to pieces?
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By the time you hear about a hot stock it is already too late, the real money has been made and you are just the sucker to take the fall at the end.
By the time you get into Salesforce.com training the market will already be saturated. That means you will be fighting against established brands, established track records and the holder of many relationships. (And he who holds the most trust based relationships wins right...)
The problem with a saturated market is that number one almost always earns two to three times what number two earns. And sadly, you are number 53!
The beauty of business is that there is always another playing field. You just don't know how to get there...yet. Instead of going where they are, try to go where they are headed to.
Instead of Salesforce training why not start working on Google App Engine consultancy?
Instead of the one hundredth company to deliver sales training, why not start to deliver an outsourced sales force?
Instead of providing SAP business flows, why not start to deliver services to help companies escape from gigantic on premise behemoths?
You know your market better than I do, and you know what your clients need probably better than they do. So why would you dive into a market that is going to tear you to pieces?
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July 8, 2009
Offline Free as a business model
I am not sure whether it was Malcolm Gladwell's review of Chris Andersons new book, Free: The Future of a Radical Price, in the New Yorker Magazine, or Seth Godin's swift rebuttal; but something has made the entire Internet light up with opinions and speculation about Free as a business model. (My 2c here)
The key to this model seems to be the low costs for production and distribution on the Internet. But personally I think there is a little more to it than that...
The basis is simple. Give away some, or most, of what you offer with a view to making a profit on the higher end or premium stuff. In one way or another his is the model for LinkedIn.com, The Aberdeen Group, DimDim.com, ProjectOffice.net and many others.
But can a similar thing work offline? I think so...but not quite the same.
I have a colleague in Canada who consults in engineering. His strategy has always been to put a guy on their site for free for the first month. Then at the end of the month if they didn't want to keep him there he would move on.
According to him he has rarely (he says never actually) had to take the consultant back after that first month.
I have similar experiences with subscription based services, which I really like. Th concept is that the client pays a flat fee every month, some months she uses a lot more than she pays for, other months she uses less. Not exactly free, but definitely lower cost.
"Free" is a good concept to include in the reports you write. Going that extra mile to deliver something a bit extra, a bit different, and a bit more value for the same cost.
I'm sure this concept has a long way to go in the offline world... any advice?
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June 11, 2009
Your work and your business
There is a pretty famous business fable about Ray Croc, the founder of McDonalds, where he states that hs actual business was not food but fuel, and his assets were actually the real estate that the restaurants were built on.
True or not it is a great story, and one that I have held in my mind throughout my career. What actually is yiour business?
During the day mine is working with clients in engineering related areas. Well...my team does that, I market and sell. Well... I help clients to achieve unreachable value. (Which we would all like to believe right?)
Anyway, my real business...the thing I really enjoy and the thing that actually defines me - is this blog. I teach, thats the long and the short of it.
I teach clients, consultants, managers - whoever. And I teach them things that they can use to improve their lot in life. It has bought me some really incredible success. I have taught people in horrible conditions in the middle east who were able to improve themselves and get out of their situation.
My work is engineering, my passion is writing - my business, on all sides, is to teach and to create environments where others can learn.
What's yours?
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True or not it is a great story, and one that I have held in my mind throughout my career. What actually is yiour business?
During the day mine is working with clients in engineering related areas. Well...my team does that, I market and sell. Well... I help clients to achieve unreachable value. (Which we would all like to believe right?)
Anyway, my real business...the thing I really enjoy and the thing that actually defines me - is this blog. I teach, thats the long and the short of it.
I teach clients, consultants, managers - whoever. And I teach them things that they can use to improve their lot in life. It has bought me some really incredible success. I have taught people in horrible conditions in the middle east who were able to improve themselves and get out of their situation.
My work is engineering, my passion is writing - my business, on all sides, is to teach and to create environments where others can learn.
What's yours?
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June 8, 2009
The quest for the remarkable
Nothing is so commonplace has the wish to be remarkable. Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.This is what drives us away from each other into individual free agent silos instead of huddling together as the masses did during the industrial revolution.
The desire to be remarkable, the desire to stand out and to be truly worth remarking on. But beware...its a trap!
Remarkable can be simple, it doesn't have to be world beating. Amazon.com has truly remarkable customer service. Never let me down, even when I was in the furthest reaches of the world.
Facebook is busy trying to plot and map the worlds relationships... maybe a step too far I think. At least, I'm not too interested in it. Remarkable? Yes. Useful to the person on Main Street? (Where is that place anyway?)
LinkedIn is far less remarkable in terms of functionality, yet it holds the worlds business community to its core. Its remarkableness is in its simplicity, and the user privacy protections it offers.
Twitter is a functionally stripped down micro blogging tool. How many people have remarked to you about it?
Google was remarkable because it was simple, accurate and fast. Not the functionality clutter that Yahoo was thrusting into the marketplace.
Seth Godin is remarkable because he tells us things we already know, or suspect, and does so in a way that creates new imagery and inspiration in a generation of marketers.
In your search to be remarkable, and we are all on that journey whether we recognize it or not, don't get paralyzed with analysis, don't wait and procrastinate while waiting for that earth shattering idea.
Instead, look to what you can do simply that will make others want to remark about you to their colleagues and peers.
I hope that post was at least a bit remarkable ... sure a purple cow would blow my mind... but a really big bull is sometimes worth mentioning as well. ;-)
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The tyranny of time
There has been an incredible increase in the number of things that I know nothing about.
Everything I learn shows me a whole panorama of things I have yet to learn. And as information flows more freely and faster, that is increasing every single day.
I have always held dear the thought of finishing my Microsoft advanced application developer certificate, or learning how to program in Ajax properly, or to become a really proficient practitioner in Human Error factors.... but I will probably never do any of these.
I just don't have the time. The internet lays the world out before us and tempts us to try to do it all, learn it all and have it all... but we can't.
Time is not a resource, it is a priority, I could learn Ajax, or finish the Microsoft thing, or even get into Human Error practices, but I have chosen a different set of priorities.
At least I realize that I am doing it... what about you?
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Everything I learn shows me a whole panorama of things I have yet to learn. And as information flows more freely and faster, that is increasing every single day.
I have always held dear the thought of finishing my Microsoft advanced application developer certificate, or learning how to program in Ajax properly, or to become a really proficient practitioner in Human Error factors.... but I will probably never do any of these.
I just don't have the time. The internet lays the world out before us and tempts us to try to do it all, learn it all and have it all... but we can't.
Time is not a resource, it is a priority, I could learn Ajax, or finish the Microsoft thing, or even get into Human Error practices, but I have chosen a different set of priorities.
At least I realize that I am doing it... what about you?
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June 6, 2009
Get Big Quick!!
Starting a consulting company, or any company, with the goal to be really big is extremely hard.
Being BIG is underrated, particularly today with the fleet of self help gurus telling you that you can fly solo and make it. But when you are big, it changes everything.
Clients leave their doors ajar for you, initial contact is often them pulling you rather than you pushing them, and passive revenues beat chasing the next contract any day.
BIG doesn't mean numerous, or next door to Google, it means BIG.
Seth Godin is BIG. His books fly of the shelves, his speeches gov viral, and his blog posts are daily fixes of alternative perspectives - often with some real cashable value associated with them. But he is one man...
On the other hand - Oracle is BIG too. And despite Larry Ellison's reputed manner - there are thousands of them!
How many times, every day, do clients say "Get SAP", "Get IBM" or "Get Seth Godin"?
How many times every day does Salesforce.com leverage it's existing user base, which pays repeat income, to sell even more services?
I work for a big company right now in the business development area, I have worked for small firms all my career prior to now. The difference is stark...
1. You have access to capital if you have a strong justification.
2. You have repeatable income streams.
3. Competitive advantage becomes almost unchallengeable. Particularly when it is incomparable depth and breadth.
4. Clients call to see us.
5. You can work on other stuff and in other areas.
6. Annual predictability beats the heck out of monthly uncertainty.
BIG is definitely being demonized of late, but if you want to get BIG - whatever that means to you, then here are a few things that I see as key steps.
1. Develop trust based assets. (BIG or small, there is just no comparison)
2. Develop subscription based services. Repeatable income for software programs, IP licensing, maintenance fees, subscription member sites etcetera.
3. Develop sale-able IP. Books, presentations, documents, reports, videos, audio books, podcasts - whatever. Something that can be monetized because of the scarce advice and value it contains.
4. Use additional revenues to create foot holds in related but separate markets.
5. Measure and continually improve your repeat work ratios.
6. Become what you fear. What is it that you fear in your particular niche? How could somebody try to push you out of your present revenues streams? Be that...
BIG is underrated and demonized a heck of a lot. But BIG changes everything...
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June 1, 2009
I am so glad I don't see things like you do!
"Listen, you just don't see the problem from my perspective"My answer to this? "Great! Because from your perspective there is no solution!"
Solving problems is what we do. It is what compels clients to hire us, and our proficiency at it is what will compel them to give us repeat work. And to do that we cannot just offer them amplified versions of their own perspectives.
This is my fundamental problem with benchmarking and other imitating approaches. In the final analysis all you are doing is applying other peoples perspectives to the problem - which at best means you are just a marginally better (or worse, or just different) version of your competitors. Not the best way to get to market leadership...
The much-hyped BING from Microsoft is a classic example of this. Seth Godin slammed their approach of being the next Google - but it goes further than that I feel.
The problem they see is search. They allowed Search to get away from them and Google have turned it into a multi billion dollar industry via Adwords and search advertising.
But the reality is that the battleground is not search at all... the battleground is organizing information! Search is just the way it is done today.
A way to organize information that is simple, easy to use, accurate and accessible is the battleground - not search; thats just the symptom.
So while Microsoft is developing a better search (remembering that value not functionality is what sells of course) Google has been hard at work developing the organizing platform.
Wiki notes for search results, the ability to post reviews on anything and everything, Google maps and the ability to perform local business searches, Google profiles, blogging, Feedburner, their Google Wave, and so on... they are already miles ahead on organizing information.
And thats what everyone wanted in the first place. Yahoo thought they had the answer to organizing information by dominating the portal market - turns out their visitors were actually looking for simpler approach than a directory.
Applying a different perspective can be as easy as correctly identifying the problem, or as complex as coming up with a whole new way of dealing with the issue.
The latest thinking on how to prevent Tigers from becoming extinct is to farm then and eat them. If you give them a commercial value then they are likely to be kept alive. Frightening? Maybe. Working? Appears to be...
One persons aggression is another persons debating style. One persons problem is another persons opportunity. Your goal is to come at the problem from a number of angles. Identify the real issues, which are often different from what people are struggling with, and look for new ways to deal with the issue simply, rapidly, and effectively.
Our role after all is to create, find and spread leading practices...
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May 28, 2009
The Abdication of Leadership
Consensus is the abdication of leadership - Margaret Thatcher
I love clients where there is a strong leader. A person who can review what is going on, work out when she needs additional information, then make a call.
On the other hand - I really do not like clients where it is all management by committee. Everyone talks about it, but nobody actually realizes that they are doing it.
Consensus leadership has long been the great downfall of the left of politics, and one of the key reasons why Europe is rapidly fading as a world power. it is also the reason why governments cannot run businesses, and why anything managed by a committee is boring and achieves less than it could have done.
Consensus leadership is driven by fear. fear that there will be dissension, fear that parts of the crowd will feel excluded, fear that... if it all goes wrong - you will be the person that everyone will be pointing at.
And so you should be. This is the burden of leadership. You are either up to it or not. But don't seize leadership and then squander it by passing everything to a committee..
May 27, 2009
Strategy springs from fear...
Just a few years ago Oracle and SAP were giving backhanded compliments to Salesforce.com and the whole SaaS movement. They saw it as a non-issue. They believed their client base would hold together and that this upstart technology could not threaten their strangle hold on the worlds Enterprise resource markets.
Today both of them have a toe in the water via NetSuite and Business by Design.
At some point the threat of SaaS started to keep the leaders of these companies awake at night. The threat of decaying revenue streams, reducing profitability, and a shrinking market to try to get it back from.
So they joined the fray, and they were the first of the big players on teh field. The goal? if it is going to be, then try to control what it looks like. Try to influence the market to make sure that profitability and revenue is sustained at least.
Sudden death has always been a threat. Telegraph versus morse code. telephone versus telegraph, and email versus land mail.
Even today we see it in HD versus Bluray, VHS versus Betamax, Atari versus Nintendo.
What are you scared of? SaaS eating your industry footprint? Hotel chains giving away more stuff like movies, internet access and breakfast while maintaining quality? Competitors outsourcing their back office functions to drive down billing costs? Being commoditized as the recession forces out of work professionals into your field at reduced costs?
The list is endless...
If these things frighten you, if they are keeping you up at night and seem to be near inevitable - then do it first.
Start your own market before somebody else does it to you. Beef up the value chain of services you offer to separate yourself from the pack, get rid of (outsource) everything that takes up time and look to maximize your use of the free and cheap technologies that abound these days.
If you don't then somebody else will...
Today both of them have a toe in the water via NetSuite and Business by Design.
At some point the threat of SaaS started to keep the leaders of these companies awake at night. The threat of decaying revenue streams, reducing profitability, and a shrinking market to try to get it back from.
So they joined the fray, and they were the first of the big players on teh field. The goal? if it is going to be, then try to control what it looks like. Try to influence the market to make sure that profitability and revenue is sustained at least.
Sudden death has always been a threat. Telegraph versus morse code. telephone versus telegraph, and email versus land mail.
Even today we see it in HD versus Bluray, VHS versus Betamax, Atari versus Nintendo.
What are you scared of? SaaS eating your industry footprint? Hotel chains giving away more stuff like movies, internet access and breakfast while maintaining quality? Competitors outsourcing their back office functions to drive down billing costs? Being commoditized as the recession forces out of work professionals into your field at reduced costs?
The list is endless...
If these things frighten you, if they are keeping you up at night and seem to be near inevitable - then do it first.
Start your own market before somebody else does it to you. Beef up the value chain of services you offer to separate yourself from the pack, get rid of (outsource) everything that takes up time and look to maximize your use of the free and cheap technologies that abound these days.
If you don't then somebody else will...
May 21, 2009
Consulting - Duck Style !!
Ducks are great swimmers. On the surface they glide along effortlessly without breaking the surface, or breaking a sweat it seems.
But underneath they are going hell-for-leather trying to keep the whole thing going. Frantically paddling away in order to power themselves through the water.
If you could see that you would be less impressed. They would no longer be "gliding" and would look more like they were battling to stay afloat. The illusion would be shattered and they would probably lose your confidence.
In your clients eyes, are you gliding or battling to stay afloat? Regardless of what the reality is, what is the perception that you give to those whose confidence you need to hold?
There are some conversations that do not need to escape your head. When a client asks you to deliver 10 experts for a project you need to be thinking about where you will source them, but the clients only needs to know that you will deliver.
Keep all of the hard and frenetic work under the surface and glide from project to project.
But underneath they are going hell-for-leather trying to keep the whole thing going. Frantically paddling away in order to power themselves through the water.
If you could see that you would be less impressed. They would no longer be "gliding" and would look more like they were battling to stay afloat. The illusion would be shattered and they would probably lose your confidence.
In your clients eyes, are you gliding or battling to stay afloat? Regardless of what the reality is, what is the perception that you give to those whose confidence you need to hold?
There are some conversations that do not need to escape your head. When a client asks you to deliver 10 experts for a project you need to be thinking about where you will source them, but the clients only needs to know that you will deliver.
Keep all of the hard and frenetic work under the surface and glide from project to project.
May 19, 2009
The *real* secret to innovation
The real secret to innovation is time. Time to think, refine, develop, market and test.
And time is one thing we just do not have very much of anymore. And as we get larger with greater revenues there is less and less discretionary time available to us.
We now have a team of consultants to keep active and earning. Our primary concern has always been sales, but with a growing team and a model relying on selling daylight hours, (days really) the pressure is really on to get more sales, more often, and keep the pipeline full. At all times keep the pipeline full.
The time it takes to be innovative is being used to keep the momentum up.
If you want to be more creative and more innovative then the first thing you need to do is free up additional discretionary time. Time where you can ponder and think. Separating the model from selling billable hours only is key.
Subscription services, membership fees, IP to leverage in the marketplace through licensing, whatever. Any and all tactics are welcomed as means of pushing the voracious appetite for activity away from survival and into thriving.
Time is the basis of innovation, in fact you will probably get more innovative with your business model just trying to deliver yourself additional time.
And time is one thing we just do not have very much of anymore. And as we get larger with greater revenues there is less and less discretionary time available to us.
We now have a team of consultants to keep active and earning. Our primary concern has always been sales, but with a growing team and a model relying on selling daylight hours, (days really) the pressure is really on to get more sales, more often, and keep the pipeline full. At all times keep the pipeline full.
The time it takes to be innovative is being used to keep the momentum up.
If you want to be more creative and more innovative then the first thing you need to do is free up additional discretionary time. Time where you can ponder and think. Separating the model from selling billable hours only is key.
Subscription services, membership fees, IP to leverage in the marketplace through licensing, whatever. Any and all tactics are welcomed as means of pushing the voracious appetite for activity away from survival and into thriving.
Time is the basis of innovation, in fact you will probably get more innovative with your business model just trying to deliver yourself additional time.
Why Wolfram Alpha is not going to change the world
During the great ERP boom of the 1990's and early 21st century, every consultant involved in the game realized that if you are competing on a tender on issues related to detail functionality you have already lost. (Even if you win)
If you find yourself in this situation you have already failed to impress them with the value you and your company can bring. In fact, they see you as such a commodity that they have reduced the decision to mouse-clicks, screens and reports.
A shocking state of affairs.... and when this happens if you win, then you lose.
Any variations have to be hard fought over, any bids for additional consultancy is likely to fail and when the project finishes it is very likely that your engagement will finish also.
I say this because I am watching the furore on the web over the new Wolfram Alpha search engine. Today I have read everything from Google Killer, through to "Not ready for beta" through to wide ranging intellectual debates about whether search is broken or not.
They missed the point... and the point is - if it is all about functionality then you have already lost!
Facebook is far more functional than LinkedIn, yet my purposes are better served on LinkedIn. it is way more functional than Twitter also - yet I am a dedicated Tweeter. (I deleted my Facebook profile)
Siebel was more functional than Salesforce.com in the early days. I don't know how they compare now and I don't care either. I'm staying with Salesforce.com.
If it is all about functionality then it is an argument about diminishing returns, marginal differences and small variations. And often this is not nearly enough to win a client, cause a revolution, or shift opinions.
FriendFeed is far more functional than Twitter, but they will gain the center stage, Wolfram Alpha may be better at answering questions than Google but they also will never take the center stage.
If people are going to change then it needs to be for a greater cause than the trouble it would cause. I am sure that there are more functional B2B networking platforms out there than LinkedIn, but everyone is already on LinkedIn - so it doesn't matter.
SAP used to have a very proud claim that they never showed product during the sales process. Why? Because "nobody ever got sacked for buying SAP". Right?
It was the CFO's tool of choice, every board knew it was the wise choice to make, and if you do a Google search on SAP jobs all you see is companies looking for people, if you did it with one of their competitors the results were filled with people looking for work.
SAP's brand sold the product. The value that their prospects perceived they were able to deliver.
If your negotiations are stuck on functionality or (say) the comparable skills of employees, instead of the value that engaging your company will surely bring - then you have already lost.
Contracts aren't won on functionality... even if you do win!
If you find yourself in this situation you have already failed to impress them with the value you and your company can bring. In fact, they see you as such a commodity that they have reduced the decision to mouse-clicks, screens and reports.
A shocking state of affairs.... and when this happens if you win, then you lose.
Any variations have to be hard fought over, any bids for additional consultancy is likely to fail and when the project finishes it is very likely that your engagement will finish also.
I say this because I am watching the furore on the web over the new Wolfram Alpha search engine. Today I have read everything from Google Killer, through to "Not ready for beta" through to wide ranging intellectual debates about whether search is broken or not.
They missed the point... and the point is - if it is all about functionality then you have already lost!
Facebook is far more functional than LinkedIn, yet my purposes are better served on LinkedIn. it is way more functional than Twitter also - yet I am a dedicated Tweeter. (I deleted my Facebook profile)
Siebel was more functional than Salesforce.com in the early days. I don't know how they compare now and I don't care either. I'm staying with Salesforce.com.
If it is all about functionality then it is an argument about diminishing returns, marginal differences and small variations. And often this is not nearly enough to win a client, cause a revolution, or shift opinions.
FriendFeed is far more functional than Twitter, but they will gain the center stage, Wolfram Alpha may be better at answering questions than Google but they also will never take the center stage.
If people are going to change then it needs to be for a greater cause than the trouble it would cause. I am sure that there are more functional B2B networking platforms out there than LinkedIn, but everyone is already on LinkedIn - so it doesn't matter.
SAP used to have a very proud claim that they never showed product during the sales process. Why? Because "nobody ever got sacked for buying SAP". Right?
It was the CFO's tool of choice, every board knew it was the wise choice to make, and if you do a Google search on SAP jobs all you see is companies looking for people, if you did it with one of their competitors the results were filled with people looking for work.
SAP's brand sold the product. The value that their prospects perceived they were able to deliver.
If your negotiations are stuck on functionality or (say) the comparable skills of employees, instead of the value that engaging your company will surely bring - then you have already lost.
Contracts aren't won on functionality... even if you do win!
May 3, 2009
Google may have missed it...
If you believe the hype, and as there isn't much of it I tend to, then the next step in the evolution of the internet, the next iteration of the worlds newest layer of infrastructure is about to be released this week.
Wolfram Alpha is a Harvard invention, which will give precise, well researched and referenced, answers to any question you post it.
I found this article here , and it shows even more how the next step forward often comes from the place that you least expect it.
Wolfram Alpha is a Harvard invention, which will give precise, well researched and referenced, answers to any question you post it.
Tom Simpson, of the blog Convergenceofeverything.com, said: "What are the wider implications exactly? A new paradigm for using computers and the web? Probably. Emerging artificial intelligence and a step towards a self-organising internet? Possibly... I think this could be big."
Wolfram Alpha will not only give a straight answer to questions such as "how high is Mount Everest?", but it will also produce a neat page of related information – all properly sourced – such as geographical location and nearby towns, and other mountains, complete with graphs and charts.
The real innovation, however, is in its ability to work things out "on the fly", according to its British inventor, Dr Stephen Wolfram. If you ask it to compare the height of Mount Everest to the length of the Golden Gate Bridge, it will tell you. Or ask what the weather was like in London on the day John F Kennedy was assassinated, it will cross-check and provide the answer.
I found this article here , and it shows even more how the next step forward often comes from the place that you least expect it.
April 29, 2009
Can you compete? (Pt 2 of 3)
The first post in this series was all about defining some of the more powerful areas where competitive advantage can exist.
But what can you do now, today, to try to define your own competitive advantage in your marketplace. The answer is... actually quite a lot.
The secret to all competitive advantages, in fact to all commerce, is scarcity and value. If you are able to create or highlight something scarce that clients will value then you are ahead of the pack.
It is hard to overstate this - your network is your key competitive advantage and if you don't have a very extensive one then you need to start building on right now.
Your network can inform you of great roles before they are advertised, of looming tenders and contracts, they can introduce (refer) you to others who need your expertise and they can give you repeat work.
In the vein of scarce and valuable it is more important who you know than how many people you know. (Yet another argument against Linkers on LinkedIn ) If you are in marketing I probably cannot help you to generate revenues directly, but the VP of Marketing for Ford, or Tesco or maybe even Google. (Unlikely I suppose)
When IBM bought PWC for $8 billion they did so partially because of their "boardroom access"; code for network of course. I have held more than one position in Europe and Latin America partially because of my network, and my clients benefit from the fact that I can facilitate networking opportunities across industries and countries.
So uniqueness of knowledge is not going to happen...but scarcity could do.
I have worked on reliability engineering projects in the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Australia. There are precious few people in the world who can make a statement like that. That makes my ability to understand large scale change and how it is affected by cultural differences (or more importantly how it is the same) is pretty scarce. It's an advantage.
Your combination of experiences and skills are scarce, nobody else has exactly what you have - you just need to know how to weld them into a competitive statement. Maybe its your combination of skills. An engineer with an economics degree, an economist with a degree in ancient history, a marketer with a passion and intimate knowledge of adventure sports.
Whatever it is - sifting through all the things you can do and have done will help you to find which can be combined to produce a competitive advantage.
Under any circumstances, at any time, and in any market; if you can show that you have done this or similar in the past. And you have a line of people who are willing to tell about how you were able to draw immense value while doing it, then you are head and shoulders above.
This is particularly true within specific industry verticals. Your track record of achievement makes you a "safe pair of hands" for people to place their trust in. Someone that industry members will gladly tell their colleagues about , and someone that competitors will compare themselves to. (The greatest of compliments, and not a bad marketing tool either)
In essence... you can draw competitive advantages out of what you are today. Should you invest time and money in creating scarce IP - definitively! Should that stop you from speaking about competitive advantages that you already possess ...never!
But what can you do now, today, to try to define your own competitive advantage in your marketplace. The answer is... actually quite a lot.
The secret to all competitive advantages, in fact to all commerce, is scarcity and value. If you are able to create or highlight something scarce that clients will value then you are ahead of the pack.
Network
Your network is probably the greatest trust based asset that you can have. An address book filled with colleagues, former clients, associates and service providers who all trust your character and your ability to do what you say you can do.It is hard to overstate this - your network is your key competitive advantage and if you don't have a very extensive one then you need to start building on right now.
Your network can inform you of great roles before they are advertised, of looming tenders and contracts, they can introduce (refer) you to others who need your expertise and they can give you repeat work.
In the vein of scarce and valuable it is more important who you know than how many people you know. (Yet another argument against Linkers on LinkedIn ) If you are in marketing I probably cannot help you to generate revenues directly, but the VP of Marketing for Ford, or Tesco or maybe even Google. (Unlikely I suppose)
When IBM bought PWC for $8 billion they did so partially because of their "boardroom access"; code for network of course. I have held more than one position in Europe and Latin America partially because of my network, and my clients benefit from the fact that I can facilitate networking opportunities across industries and countries.
Do not doubt the competitive advantage of your network. Whether it helps you to get in touch with people who can give you work, or whether it actually drives others to contact you or refer you.
What do you know?
In a hyper connected, information overloaded world unique knowledge is exceptionally rare. And when it exists it is generally a temporary situation.So uniqueness of knowledge is not going to happen...but scarcity could do.
I have worked on reliability engineering projects in the Middle East, Latin America, Europe and Australia. There are precious few people in the world who can make a statement like that. That makes my ability to understand large scale change and how it is affected by cultural differences (or more importantly how it is the same) is pretty scarce. It's an advantage.
Your combination of experiences and skills are scarce, nobody else has exactly what you have - you just need to know how to weld them into a competitive statement. Maybe its your combination of skills. An engineer with an economics degree, an economist with a degree in ancient history, a marketer with a passion and intimate knowledge of adventure sports.
Whatever it is - sifting through all the things you can do and have done will help you to find which can be combined to produce a competitive advantage.
A track record of achievement
Related to the others, this is also a killer competitive advantage.Under any circumstances, at any time, and in any market; if you can show that you have done this or similar in the past. And you have a line of people who are willing to tell about how you were able to draw immense value while doing it, then you are head and shoulders above.
This is particularly true within specific industry verticals. Your track record of achievement makes you a "safe pair of hands" for people to place their trust in. Someone that industry members will gladly tell their colleagues about , and someone that competitors will compare themselves to. (The greatest of compliments, and not a bad marketing tool either)
In essence... you can draw competitive advantages out of what you are today. Should you invest time and money in creating scarce IP - definitively! Should that stop you from speaking about competitive advantages that you already possess ...never!
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