👨🏫 Consultants, in the journey since a company was consolidated, not everything is triumph, in this process neuralgic situations arise that depend on a whole gear so that it does not culminate in red ranks. For this, we believe that there are characteristics of a good consultant.
Many of these brands have an analysis and logistics department whose task is to determine these types of failures on time and execute strategies in favor of them. But does it always happen this way? Is there an exact methodology for this department to find and implement precise actions? In this article we explain a bit of everything, bringing with us the 13 characteristics of a good consultant.
⏭ Nowadays we know the professional within the market who ensures to carry out a series of one-on-one accompaniment strategies with companies. this, which transmits his knowledge and experience to others in order to more easily achieve a goal in particular, determine the starting situation and lead the brand in a series of practices for its benefit, here we call it: Consultant.
At this academy we believe in the characteristics that a consultant must take to carry out their work with agility and professionalism, achieving the impulse of their career and the advantage of having a portfolio of clients satisfied with their work.
With that said, here are the 13 Characteristics of a Good Consultant, written, implemented, and curated by your Consultant Academy.
Let’s answer the question: Are consultants only from these times?
Let’s talk a little history 🤓
This professional has been on the “payroll” of many governments for decades, and it is that, strictly speaking, a consultant is one who is in charge of advising: A role that throughout history has been covered by priests or shamans and that since the 1940s and In the 50s of the 20th century, and especially in the United States and Western Europe, it became officially professionalized thanks to the rise of consulting companies.
Most kings, if not all, had a group of advisers within their parliament; They held the position of right hand, eyes and strategic mind of the leaders, kept their experiences at bay and based on consulting meetings the consensus reached various solutions for the problems of the state.
Today, the same thing happens.
What is the role of the consultant?
When we talk about a consultancy, we refer to the habit of listening and understanding the situation of the brand that is not requesting our expertise on the subject.
So, regardless of the area, the consultancies are based on helping the client in a matter of which they do not have enough knowledge to resolve it and that for the good of the brand needs a strategy.
🚨 Note: This client can be a company or a natural person, what defines it is the search for someone with authority in a niche of interest to respond to their needs. So it is important to know that a legal consultant without real estate knowledge cannot provide the service to the client who is looking for help in the real estate environment.
The process can be done by a professional or a team made up of several specialized consultants, which is common to find in large companies that provide advice or consulting.
We would love to know, is this your case? We read you in the comments!
The role of the consultant is broad, but these are some of its main functions:
🏆 Diagnose problems or aspects that can be optimized.
🏆 Define the solutions and improvements that must be made.
🏆 Set goals and design strategies to achieve them.
🏆 Chart paths to achieve results.
🏆 Get advice and focus on specialized skills that don’t exist within the business.
🏆 Help improve business performance.
13 characteristics of a good consultant
1️⃣ Know how to listen
A consultant is an expert in their area, has the necessary experience to provide support to the brand, perfectly manages knowledge and tools within the segment in which it operates, however, each business model has different characteristics, and faces very different problems.
Bearing in mind that each business has a different way of operating, the consultant must have the ability to listen to his clients. At the moment, it is necessary to know what he is facing and in what starting situation is the company for which he advises, since any detail can be the difference between the success and failure of the consultancy.
🚨 Important: Knowing how to listen will help the consultant to better understand the company, its needs and to determine which methods should be implemented to achieve the objectives by applying the knowledge that is available.
2️⃣ Have a general and specific vision
Many times a consultant is hired to solve a single problem. But, within the characteristics of a good consultant, is the ability to observe even the smallest details. At the beginning of the work, you face issues that interfere between the strategy and the final objective of the client.
If you do not have a comprehensive overview, you run the risk of working superficially, ignoring important details that could influence more than others that “seem” more important.
🚨 Important: The good consultant is one who sees the brand as a whole, considering and analyzing all the details of the identified problem and those involved in that situation.
3️⃣ Know your own limits
Take into account that the consultant is someone with authority in the area in which he works, but that does not mean that he knows everything and that there is no question or difficulty session on his part. Therefore, it is essential that you know how far you can go and when it is time to request help or in some other case: Reject a job.
🚨 Important: We recommend that you be transparent, because it is better to be so than not being able to offer the best or frustrating customer expectations. This will talk about your work. In addition, based on ethics, the consultant loses the opportunity to retain customers who could hire him in other circumstances or even recommend his work to third parties.
4️⃣ Be consistent
Human interacts with human, the consultant for his part deals with people daily, so it is necessary to have good communication to transmit the knowledge he has and which can help guide clients in the best possible way.
If the problem lies directly with the companies, it may be that they have to face divergences between the objectives and statutes of the organization and the complaints of the employees, which demands even more articulation.
🚨 Important: The consultant must have the ability to be part of the solution, involving good communion and oral expression from the beginning when conversing with the client. This ability works to gain people’s trust, transmit security and professionalism.
5️⃣ Ability to adapt to time
In detail, the client adds more value, it is the time factor, emphasis is placed on the duration that the consultancy will have and all this happens because whoever contracts this type of service is usually in a hurry to see their pain resolved. The same thing happens to us when visiting the doctor, waiting for our discomfort to be resolved.
🚨 Important: Of course, the consultant does not always manage to work within the period that the client expects, so although it is an important characteristic, we recommend you to be patient with what comes your way, since it is better to leave all the details analyzed than to miss one per analyze.
Because, generally, whoever hires does not know what must be done in the situation that is happening and, therefore, is not aware of the time it takes to achieve the final result.
It is recommended that the consultant should be clear with the client about the time it will take to complete the process and, most importantly, that they meet the established deadlines.
Related content: Strategies to overcome objections to a service proposal
6️⃣ Identify opportunities on time
Let’s see, let’s see, if it is true that opportunities are bald and you have to grab them by the hair, it is important that we have a certain ambition with our work because whoever works with consultancy cannot wait for clients to knock on their door, they must also the desire to go out and look for job offers is born in the consultant.
🚨 Important: The consultant must invest in networking by visiting:
- Workshop.
- events.
- Forums.
- Groups on the subject to become known.
Achieving for this: The dissemination of his work and obtaining the trust of potential clients. In addition, you must be aware of the trends and demands of your target audience to adapt and position yourself against the competition.
The timely identification of opportunities depends on a lot of study and dedication, since the market prioritizes up-to-date professionals, with an eye to the future, with the mission of continuing to document themselves in this regard and, above all, willing to change what is necessary to always offer the best for the brand that hired them.
Do you consider that it is a characteristic of a good consultant? We read you!
7️⃣ Involve all those responsible
It may be the case that as a consultant you are faced with more than one collaborator being involved in the situation. What will you do? If you are a consultancy with more than one client, you need to manage the sensitivity of including everyone involved in the process.
If it happens that the company for which consulting services have been hired needs to implement a new project. Then, the entire organizational functioning must be carefully evaluated, to understand which areas will be affected by the change.
🚨 Important: This diagnosis will be essential to make everyone participate in the process, with this you will ensure that there are no failures when executing the defined actions and tasks.
8️⃣ Build trust
Getting your client to trust the work you do depends at all times on what you are capable of doing. Generating trust is one of the most important objectives that a consultant must achieve, and it is not a simple task, since it requires a lot of effort and dedication.
🚨 Important: The best way to gain the trust of clients is through professional work, solving their REAL needs, but above all, knowing that as a person you will not fail them either. Doesn’t it give you an equal or greater feeling of confidence when reading this?
9️⃣ Have specific knowledge
We cannot be in everything at the same time, even if we want to, the phrase “He who covers a lot does not squeeze much” is fulfilled, and in this sense it is necessary that we base ourselves on a specific area in which we feel experts and that we demonstrate our capabilities with eyes closed. This is undoubtedly the most important…