We recently had an experience that all clients can learn from.
A client prospect called us to inquire about our strategic planning consulting services. We had a very solid conversation about their needs and our experience. The chemistry was good, and the client said they wanted to take advantage of our standing offer for an initial, “no-fee, face-to-face consultation.”
We made it clear that the best way to “exploit” this type of introductory meeting was to block out enough time to allow for a thorough review of our approach, as well as a robust, extended, Q&A. Of course, given the subject matter, we expected the executive team to be there, but we also encouraged them to invite additional key people so as to permit vetting of our approach by a richer mix of the Company’s stakeholders.
“We’ll carve out at least a couple of hours,” said our contact, “so we won’t be pressed for time.”
The Best-Laid Plans . . .
To our surprise, the first email meeting invitation specified a one-and-a-half-hour session. OK, we thought. That’s still enough time to do justice to the content. We’ll just compress a bit.
The second email meeting notice, sent just a day or so before the session, informed us that the time slot had been reduced to one hour “in order to accommodate calendars.” Now we began to be concerned. We told our client contact that we would arrive a full half-hour before the scheduled start-time so as to be sure we could dispense with set-up, etc., to make the most of the significantly reduced meeting time.
When we arrived the day of the meeting – right on time – we found ourselves stranded in our client contact’s office. The CEO and COO had appropriated his reserved conference room, and it was obvious to us that he didn’t have the “clout” or confidence to “call” them on his prior reservation.
We waited. And waited. With the result that we weren’t given access to the conference room until fifteen minutes after the scheduled meeting start time! Now we had only forty-five minutes for what had originally been promised as two-hours.
Failing the “Calendar Test”
We set up hastily and fired up our introductory lap-top presentation as attendees began to file in. And it was then that we got our biggest surprise: the CEO of the Company would not be in attendance – had never planned to be there. In fact, of the only five people who would attend, two of them (IT and Quality) would have to leave within fifteen minutes, and one of them, the CFO, would arrive fifteen minutes late. The only two participants attending the meeting in its entirety would be our original client contact, VP of International Business Development, and the VP of Human Resources.
At this point we were reminded of one of our guiding maxims: The first test of organizational priority is whether or not people make time for something on their calendars!
Needless to say, we were beginning to question this Company’s level of commitment to this prospective strategic planning effort. And, we also had serious doubts as to how much support this organization would give to our client contact throughout the process as he tried to organize and orchestrate the kind of involvement and cooperation we would need in order to be successful.
As is our custom, we were candid about our concerns. We observed that in thirty years of strategic planning consulting, we had never experienced a meeting of this type without the CEO – arguably the most significant player in the context of strategic planning – in attendance. We said that this absence, plus the twice-reduced time slot, and sparse attendance raised questions in our minds. Did the organization, we asked, recognize the commitment in time and effort required to develop and align on a solid strategic plan? Was the CEO on board? And so on.
In the final analysis, it took us only until the next day to decide that there were too many “warning signs” in this Company for us to take the risk, and we respectfully declined to pursue this strategic planning engagement any further.
Qualification: It Works Both Ways
Our rationale for declining is something every client who contemplates the hiring of an outside consultant should keep in mind. As we told our prospective client: “You see this meeting as an opportunity to evaluate whether we will provide enough of what is required for you to be successful. But please keep in mind that we see this meeting as an opportunity for us to determine whether you will provide us with enough of what is required for us to be successful for you.”
It seems to us, from our experience, that clients rarely, if ever, conceive of the possibility that a consultant will ever actually turn down a prospective engagement. Yet no consultant, however talented, well-schooled, or experienced can ever succeed without effective, sincere support from the client organization. So for the consultant, there can be greater risk in taking a questionable engagement than in losing a possible business opportunity.
Taking an ill-advised engagement just to “get the business” risks being unsuccessful on a client’s behalf. When that happens, just ask yourself: Who is the client going to blame? In this context, a lost or declined engagement is only a temporary loss, but a damaged reputation can be permanent. And that is the trade-off any savvy consultant considers when confronting any potential new business opportunity.
So the next time you or your company are in the market for consulting help, don’t take your prospective partner for granted. Remember: while you’re evaluating – so are they!