If you are a consultant you wished there were repeat orders from a client. True! But how does this happen?? It should set us off looking for the best reasons and methods to get such businesses.

Quite a few consulting firms have this Doctor like diagnostic approach. Of course, such an approach will help the client organization. The question is – are we always happy and satisfied with the way a doctor diagnoses a patient. Generally, the more specialized or tech-savvy a hospital that we go to, the more number of tests we undergo and many a times the result is the satisfaction that the ailment was a simple viral/seasonal fever.

Though the approach is conceptually the most apt in organizational consulting too, the costs and time involved are huge. Similar to the name and brand of the hospital, the consultant costs too are directly proportional.

We need to ask this question to ourselves as professionals!! When we talk of client relationship, do we mean better client service in quality or sheer quantity? The quantity part is mutually agreed by both the client and consultant at the initial stages of the engagement, whereas the quality is an on-going process.

To make the most of an engagement, we notice that many a consultant presents a variety of offerings (unless they are too limited in their focus and resources). At any given opportunity all of these are put in front of the client. So far so good!!

But look at this through the eyes of the client. They would only look at it as being thrust with more than what is required. The client will politely say, “We sure would like to get the best systems all round, but we’ll do that bit sometime later”

Now, it is good business sense to let the client breathe and see that he has got what he required first, instead of doing a dentist like job, saying, “this tooth is of course, damaged, but because there is a gap and the next tooth too is in a bad shape, to protect any one both these have to be treated now”.

Definitely, the interest is organizational development but in the ideal best interest of the consulting profession and the industry clients, it may be appropriate to take a phased approach rather than an ambushed approach. A simple diagnostic can be conducted using the reports existing, and then a map can be drawn to plug the gaps.

Phasing out the gap-filling exercise through business logic can impress the client with both — efficiency and tangible results.

Hope we all agree!!!

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