Phil caught me off-guard
yesterday.

He asked, “Do you have any
books or articles on file that would help convince our owner and the management
team to bring in a strategic marketing consultant to help get the company more
on track? It’s a simple question,” he said, “Why hire a
consultant?”

Later, I checked my shelves
and found just two books that I felt might help. There was nothing in my clip
files. So I jumped on to the internet. There was a plethora of observations, articles
and blogs. this observation from a consultant’s site was the most direct answer
I found:

“The
world is and always has been a complicated, dangerous and uncertain place.
Consultants offer hope at a price…With some luck you are buying into
relevant experience and judgment, and just as important, personal
integrity.”

Hope may be the underlying
reason to hire a consultant but how do you respond when someone on the
executive committee says, “Seems to me we’ve got enough smart people
around here to get that done without going outside the company.”

As a middle manager and even
as a VP I must admit that I had a similar attitude but it takes a very short
stretch with the letters CEO or President or Executive VP tacked on to your
name to come to the opposite conclusion.

Why would I hire a
consultant? Here’s what I told Phil:

“There are three reasons:

1.      An
objective viewpoint. Only an
outsider can see the company “without blinders.” An outsider can get
straighter answers from customers or clients and prospects as well as employees
about what is right and wrong with the company. An independent counselor can
“tell it like it is” without fear of retribution.

Unfortunately,
many business owners “can’t see the forest for the trees.” They are not
able to listen to customers and prospects and come to conclusions that are a
measurable shift from where they began. That viewpoint is the primary reason
that businesses fail.

Attitude
makes all the difference. Those businesses which continually strive to learn
succeed. Those convinced that they already know it all tend to fail.

2.      The wisdom
of experience. We accept the need to
train staff on software programs. There is no honor lost when we bring in a
specialist group to handle the networking of our computers. Even our officers
see the value in an occasional executive seminar.

We
don’t let our ego get in the way in the operational parts of our business. But
when it comes to growing the business we just can’t seem to disengage.

That’s
where experience pays off. The accomplished strategic consultant will tell you
that you cannot withdraw from the process.

The
consultant knows full well that he/she is a temporary member of your team, not
your replacement.

His/her
strength is in knowledge of your industry, the change you are trying to affect
and the perspective required to simplify the transition from where you are to
the next level.

The
consultant who has “been there, done that and got the tee shirt” is
more adept than any employee at spotting the potholes in the road leading to
your company’s future.

The
knowledge conveyed in books and articles and on the net is fine but only
someone who has been intimately involved in such change can claim the wisdom of
experience.

3.      Investment
in results. You want solid solutions
rather than quick fixes. You understand that they take more time, sacrifice and
discipline plus an incredible investment in foresight and patience.  You understand that the difference is between
investing in the future and mortgaging it.

You
manage as if tomorrow matters without ignoring the short run. You find the
trade-off between today’s profits and tomorrow’s growth but you never overlook
rewarding solid solutions because they are so hard to come by.

You
invest in results.

And
you use all the resources at your command, including consultants, to get the
results you’re seeking.

That’s how I answered that
simple question.”