Thursday, March 4, 2010

Three Things the Market is Telling Independent Consultants... Are YOU Listening?


By Mark Snow
Despite economy-based perceptions to the contrary, demand for your services is growing. In organizations between 500 and 1,000 employees, our research shows that the time spent on management & leadership training will nearly double in 2010 – and at the same time training staffs in organizations of that size are shrinking.

That’s right. More training, less internal employees to do it. So that sound you hear is opportunity knocking… That’s the good news.

The bad news? You just can’t charge for it the way you used to. Here’s why;

1) Because Google knows the answers too.
Time to face it, folks. Information doesn’t carry the dollar value it used to. The Encyclopedia Britannica model of selling information is dead and gone. No answer is too hard to find anymore as long as you have an internet connection or cell signal. You need to bring more to the table if you want to get paid – at all.

2) Because they aren’t lying about their purse strings
Companies and budgets have been cut back, and are being watched like never before. It’s not that anyone begrudges you the living you want to make – but the universal switch to pay-for-results has begun. You can hop on, or get left out at sea without a raft. Consultants unwilling to be flexible about their pricing model won’t have to worry about it for long.


3) Because the other gal is hungry too
We, as consultants, all have our unique qualities and qualifications. But at the end of the day the only thing that matters is your client’s pain and your ability to solve it. Between now and the end of 2012 your competition will have doubled. Retirees, laid-offs, and jobless college graduates will turn to working independently – chewing on the corners of your established relationships, and racing you for new ones. If you shy away from competition you may want to consider posting your resume.

Consultants willing to provide extra value, show pricing flexibility, and position themselves ahead of the field are going to come out of our financial doldrums stronger than ever. That’s what our marketplace has announced to you. Are you listening?
Mark Snow is the President of the Performance Technology Group at HRD Press - A multi-national publishing house located in Amherst, MA.

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