After having come a long way in business consulting in various global organizations, after many cases of success and many also of failure, I have been able to confirm that having great knowledge is not enough, a great international career is not enough, I have even been able to check that it is not enough to master three languages or more.
The constant that I have been able to observe in my most outstanding business consulting colleagues has undoubtedly been the ability they show in generating the number one competence in their clients, which not only in consulting, but also in our lives will make a big difference.
This competence is relatively obvious and obviously the best results in my experience. Success cases were definitely accompanied permanently in the confidence that was developed, maintained and strengthened during the long processes of effective consulting.
In my opinion, trust should be reciprocal, since if your client trusts you but you do not trust him and his actions, in the long run it will become a process, expensive, unproductive and that will break at any time.
I have been able to confirm that the challenge lies in building trust beyond feeling the best or the one with the most successful credentials or methods. There are extraordinary consulting firms in various specialties in the world market and it is a constant that the ones with the longest life and longest permanence have achieved, have the trust of their clients.
In the same way, we must bear in mind that this trust that we are talking about is not built from a single person, the trust that strengthens the relationship is the one that was built through a team, that is, our client trusts the skills of a equipment.
The consolidation and positioning of a brand or in the case of our conversation that of a consulting firm lies in the trust that the whole generates, the one generated by an individual is not enough, since I have invariably been able to find consultants whom I have called wolves Solitary, they are great speakers and spectacular motivators, but surrounded by makers and executors of their desires and ideas, which makes them a specialist sustaining trust in him and only in him.
To close this article, I share 7 ideas that could add to the generation and consolidation of trust for your current and future customers:
1. Build trust from within your firm: make sure that your client sees in your Consulting a team with a wide diversity of talents all focused on the same purpose.
2. Maintain a culture based on the humility and honesty of the team, that each member has a high willingness to unlearn and question in favor of constructive self-criticism.
3. Develop links and alliances with Champions, any permanent or temporary member who represents your firm with your clients, before being an expert MUST be a generator of trust, he must have the 5CCC:
- Enthusiasm and energy Respect for the beliefs of others Humility to be apprentice and simplicity with high listening Great concise, congruent and convincing communicator Ability to understand to build on the ideas of others
4. Don't let your client feel alone or abandoned on their way to the goal, update yourself and keep learning.
5. Do not become indispensable generating customer dependency on yourself or your team.
6. Registers and establishes the scopes, deliverables and the times in which they will be achieved.
7. Respect the Culture you arrive at before trying to change course, especially when serving family businesses or corporations with stagnant leadership.
Soon I will be able to share experiences and success stories in a study that I have called, the ABC of a consultant in the ocean, now I say goodbye leaving this idea in your mind.
"No matter how big or complex your client or company is, in business consulting you will always have to attend to people rather than understand processes."
