Lessons Learned

We learn the most from our failures. Looking at the recent deals we have shaped and lost, I realized what I was taught in consultant schools are never more true -

1. Listen very carefully - the client is always telling us something, we can only hear it if we choose to listen. We are often too busy to credentialize ourselves and forget that, while clients can nod politely at our brillant solutions but really are expressing something else that we should have heard. It could be that I have a unique situation, help me with your perspectives and don't tell me you have been there done that and have the perfect solution for me. It could be that I know you can do the job but I want to know if this is the team I can and like to work with. A mentor once told me, ultimately, IQ is 20% of the factor and EQ is 80% what it takes to make it work. In order to develop the right EQ, start listening and listen very carefully. If we don't pay attention to these emotional details, we will be going to loss review sessions pretty quick.

2. Get on client's agenda - this is such easily said than done. I have a client, let's name him Bob. We signed a contract to deliver a project. A few days later when we were well into the ramp up phase, Bob called me and said the budget that was allocated to this project has been unfortunately put on hold. He apologized profusedly and I agreed to terminate the contract immediately. Although we lost this project, Bob and I became friends, now he knows that I am someone who he can trust in times of difficulty. I know I did the right thing even though lots of upfront efforts were lost.

3. Patience is virtue - in the time of recession, more people (myself included) tend to be more short term focused. There is a study that showed that people tend to be myopic when panic. Consulting is built on the basis of long term relationship and trust, which can't be built over night. The world is becoming more complex and connected, relationship must be nurtured in the old and tranditional way though. One of my colleagues develop relationship over the course of 10 years, wherever he visit, he calls up a client/friend and have lunch or dinner with him/her without specific agenda, just simply there to say hi and check in. He ends up building strong relationships with over 100 CMOs over the years, and he did it without asking them what he can sell them.