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February 27 - March 5, 2025
Most struggling consultants don’t have a VISIBILITY problem, they have an IMPACT problem.
To become highly visible, you need exposure (of course), but you also need to be perceived as relevant and a source of value.
Based on my work with consulting firms across a wide range of disciplines, I’ve found Five Marketing Musts that are the backbone of increasing your visibility. They are: • Writing • Speaking • Trade Associations • Digital Presence • Networking
Every consultant needs to engage in at least two of the Five Marketing Musts. Which of the five you prioritize depends on a single factor: what you will actually tackle consistently. If the notion of being in the spotlight on stage turns your legs to jelly then don’t make speaking your first priority. If penning 250 words is less appealing than trimming your aunt’s toenails, pick one of the other marketing vehicles.
Supplement your marketing with “Bread & Butter” projects from two sources: 1. Pro bono 2. Subcontracting
One of the most frequent questions I’m asked is how much time you should devote to marketing and building visibility. If you aren’t overloaded with clients and projects, the answer is easy: every free moment. If you’re swamped with work, the answer is still easy: carve out at least 20 percent of your time for acquiring new clients.
Five Quick Writing Tips
Pile on the examples and stories.
Write compelling and interesting vs. different and new.
Make your writing actionable.
Edit.
Be prolific.
Obviously, plagiarism isn’t acceptable and you’re within your rights to combat wholesale theft of your IP. But overall, just don’t sweat it. First, there’s enough consulting business for you to build a profitable practice, even if your competitors “steal” your ideas. Second, when people other than you are promoting your ideas, the ideas become more credible. You don’t want to be the only person talking about the benefits of daily chocolate on productivity. More buzz is better for your business. And, as the originator of the theory everyone’s talking about, you’re the one with the most
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Finally, if Yuri Yusimi can solve his bakery problem by merely reading an article or buying a book, do you really think he’s going to spend $50,000 or $500,000 hiring you? Of course not. No amount of content you reveal can chase away a big consulting gig. In fact, the opposite is true.
A well-crafted speech can uncover needs, spark wants and illustrate the value of solving the problem you address. Voila, you have covered Know, Like, Trust, Need, Want and Value in about an hour. Get those Six Pillars of Consulting Success working for you and boom, new clients will be knocking on your door.
Whether you get them in person or have to leave a voicemail, you’re going to say the exact same thing: YOU: “Hi, Yuri, this is <introduce yourself>. You attended my P-spot presentation on Monday. I like to follow up with everyone who’s attended one of my sessions because I know that sometimes questions come up a day or two later. So I wanted to make myself available in case you had questions. And, of course, to get any feedback.”
Your digital presence should revolve around five tactics: • Website • Periodic Content • One-Off Content • Webinars • Social Media
Your website may offer a bit of information about you, but the focus of the site shouldn’t really be about you… it should be about your prospects!
The more, strong, vibrant, enriching relationships a person has, the wealthier he is.
If you embrace my relationships = wealth philosophy, it will transform what you do and how you do it. For instance, you’ll naturally embrace Right-Side Up thinking, endeavor to determine what others need, and build relationships in order to enable others’ success. Ironically, this relationships-focused orientation will create better financial results than the typical, money-focused worldview.
Segment Your Prospects by Relationship Strength
The letter you’ll assign each person is either A, B or C. An A is for people with whom you have a strong relationship, strong enough that they’d call you back if you called them or shoot you a reply if you sent them an email.
Assign a B to people with whom you have a decent relationship, but not strong enough to categorize them as an A.
Finally, assign a C to everyone else.
Then Segment Your Prospects by Influence Now go back through your list and assign everyone a 1, 2 or 3. Label people who can hire you directly with a 1. Think of a 1 as a decision maker. CEOs, division presidents, general managers, and maybe even vice presidents can be decision makers.
Assign a 2 to anyone who can influence the decision to hire you but doesn’t have the authority or position to bring you in. Sometimes these are technical experts. Other times they are just highly influential people—key opinion leaders, thought leaders, and well-respected figures within your industry.
Everyone else warrants a 3. Nice people to know, but they don’t have much impact on your ability to win a project.
Now Identify Your Network Core
Your network core—the small crowd that’s going to receive high levels of love and nurturing from you—are your A1s, B1s, and A2s.
Strive to be the type of person you would want to work with while letting the best parts of your personality shine through in your marketing, emails, and conversations. Clients enjoy magnetic characters. Similarly, your marketing materials should always include a smiling, relaxed image of you. Prospects will scan through your website, looking for a picture of you. They want to see whether you look friendly and seem like someone they would want to work with.
The high school rules and rewards of popularity still operate to a certain extent in the business world. It pays to be the light-hearted soul everyone wants to be around, rather than emulate Grumpy—who was cute as a dwarf in Snow White, but not an ideal model for attracting clients.
Every conversation ends with: 1) scheduling the next phone call, and 2) a request for introductions.
If I was asked to pick the one piece of advice most likely to double a consultant’s revenue, it would be this: Never, ever, finish a conversation with an active prospect without agreeing to the date and time for the next conversation.
YOU: “Yuri, this conversation has been extremely helpful. If I get a summary of our discussion over to you by tomorrow, when would you be available to go through it? How does Wednesday afternoon look?” YURI YUSIMI: “Uhm… I’m not sure how Wednesday afternoon is going to pan out. Why don’t you send me the document and I’ll give you a call by the end of the week.” YOU: “If you don’t mind, let’s try to get something on the calendar. I know how busy you get and my schedule gets pretty crazy too. So, it always seems to work better if we can find a time up front that works. How does Thursday at 9:00
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Tell your prospect at the outset that you’d like to cover six topics. This previews where you’re headed and demonstrates from the start that you have a robust process. Simply knowing you’re being deliberate starts to create a safe space for him to share. The six topics you’re going to cover are: 1. Situation 2. Desired Outcomes 3. Indicators of Success 4. Perceived Risks and Concerns 5. Value 6. Parameters
1. Situation The first part of your discussion investigates why the prospect is looking for assistance. Prospects are usually willing to talk quite a lot about this, and part of your challenge is focusing them on the precise information you need.
There is ALWAYS a catalytic event and you need to uncover it.
6. Parameters Now let’s turn to the final section of the Context Discussion: timing, budget, people, and other issues that will affect the scope and your approach.
I usually lead with people, time, and money, but also include geography, or language requirements, or anything else that seems appropriate.
What is Not Covered in the Context Discussion • The detailed approach or process you’ll propose • The number of consultants and analysts on the project • How you’re going to interact with the client • Project fees • Contract structures • Pretty much everything else
Closing isn’t something you do. Closing is the result of everything you’ve already done.
Stage 1: Agreement to the Context The next, very important step after you conduct a Context Discussion is to summarize the highlights of your discovery conversations in a document called… wait for it… the Context Document. (Creative, right?) As a reminder, the six stages of the Context Discussion that you’re going to recap in the Context Document are: 1. Situation 2. Desired Outcomes 3. Indicators of Success 4. Perceived Risks and Concerns 5. Value 6. Parameters Your Persuasive Story There’s more to a Context Document than summarizing the discovery conversations on a few pages and
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The underpinnings of emotional persuasion were captured succinctly by Blair Warren, author of The One Sentence Persuasion Course, in 27 words: “People will do anything for those who encourage their dreams, justify their failures, allay their fears, confirm their suspicions, and help them throw rocks at their enemies.”
Your proposal is not meant to highlight why you’re great. It’s designed to reassure prospects that you’ll achieve their goal.
Three Guidelines for a Perfect Consulting Proposal
1. Focus on Their Outcome, Not Your Tasks
2. Provide Reassurance
3. Offer Alternatives
If you’re operating on a razor thin margin, you’re unlikely to spend any extra time or effort on a project. You’ll resist changes to the project plan even when they’re warranted, and you’ll have to negotiate a change order (ugh!) every time any additional work is needed. In contrast, with a healthy margin, you have the freedom to rework, adjust, and give “extra” to achieve the desired outcome, while still turning a profit. Yusimi’s goal is to achieve an outcome, not to spend a certain amount of money. When you’re focused on outcomes, you realize your fees could often double or even triple and
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Early in my consulting career I learned what my mentors called, “making dust fly.” As soon as you win a project you need to show some very obvious activity to make it clear the project is in motion and valuable activities are underway. Why? Because between the time a client gives approval for a project and the time the project actually gets underway is dangerous territory. Even after they’ve signed your proposal, clients are fretting about their decision. “Should I have signed this? Was this the right choice? Is this going to work out?” There’s always the chance that buyer’s remorse sets in
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