Selling Services for Consultants

Many consultants mistakenly believe that by defining their expertise broadly, they’ll appeal to a wider audience and land more clients. The less specific you are, the less likely it is clients will think of you when they need help.

Why would clients turn to you for their most important projects? Be prepared to answer these questions during your first conversation with them:

• What, exactly, are you offering? Is it strategy development, financial management, operations improvement, sales and marketing advice, technology development, change management assistance, or something else?
• Why is it needed? What specific business problem or opportunity will your services address?
• How will the client be better off after having worked with you?
• What’s really different about your firm, its services, results or approach?
• What quantifiable benefits and results can your client expect?

If you can’t articulate the answers in a minute or less, keep working. You may only have that one minute to make a first impression on a client, so make it count.