The consulting industry has a mixed reputation. As one of the mostly-unregulated professions, the quality of service you receive from a consultant can range from transformative to damaging.
If you are considering hiring a business consultant, you can up your chances of a successful engagement by looking out for the following qualities, which should be displayed even in the pre-engagement 'sales' phase of the discussion. Consultants who display all of these qualities stand a good change of delivering a successful engagement. Avoid consultants who lack one or more of the following qualities and you'll save yourself a significant amount of time and money.
Even consulting firms with fantastic reputations and a great track record have a varying level of quality on their teams. Make sure that the individual people you are working with display these qualities - company reputation is not enough.
#1: Engagement
To be successful, a consultant needs to be properly motivated and engaged. The level of engagement your potential consultant displays will tell you a lot about how engaged they will be during the engagement. Lazy or disinterested consultants will not do a good job because getting under the skin of the client and its objectives is hard work. If your consultant is not personally interested in solving your problem, they won't contribute much even if they are very experienced in the field.
#2: Detail oriented/Inquisitive
A successful consultant will pay attention to the details. At first, this can be a little disconcerting, annoying, or even invasive. As the famous phrase goes, the devil is in the detail and a successful consulting engagement depends on understanding the nuances of what are often far more complex situations than you realize, and avoiding assumption at all costs. If your potential business consultant obsesses over the detail, even if those details don't seem to matter to you, go with the flow and be as open as you can be. It may be uncomfortable, but it is probably going to lead to a better outcome.
#3: Active listener
A great business consultant doesn't just stop at asking insightful questions. A great business consultants listens to what you have to say. I don't just mean they hear what you say, I mean they really focus in and fully understand what you have to say. If your potential business consultant asks intelligent follow-up questions after you speak, and really engages in a two-way conversation to check that they really understand you, chances are they are good active listeners. If they dominate the conversation, or say very little in response to you, run away.
#4: Experienced
Anyone can put on a suit and call themselves a business consultant. One of the key differences between a coach and a consultant is that a consultant is expected to contribute to solutions to business problems through the application of their in-depth expertise and experience in the problem domain. (For more information about coaching, see here). Make sure that your potential business consultant has a substantial and demonstrable track record in the field of expertise that matters to you. If your potential consultant is able to tell great stories about how they have solved similar problems in the past, that is a good start. But make sure you ask detailed questions about these stories - that will enable you to differentiate between someone who was actually deeply involved in solving the problem, and someone with nothing more than a well-rehearsed pitch.
#5: Outcome focused
A good business consultant will be focused on successful outcomes from the engagement, not simply the execution of a process. Beware of potential consultants who spend too much time trying to sell you a process, rather than doing a deep dive into what you are really looking to achieve. Don't be put off by consultants who challenge your definition of success - most experienced consultants know that clients often approach them with the wrong question or with a pre-determined solution in mind which is not necessarily the right or only option. A really great consultant will think laterally and offer alternative outcomes for you to consider. Be receptive to this approach as it can expand your thinking and lead to some very innovative ideas for your business.
#6: Open minded
Many consultants have tried to streamline the sales process by developing cookie cutter products and services that they will try to force-fit their engagements to. Now, you might get lucky and one of these predetermined engagements is just what you need. More often than not, that won't be the case. A good potential business consultant will explore your needs in-depth before recommending a program of work for the engagement. If the consultant leads with the sales pitch of their cookie cutter services before truly understanding what you need from them, this is a bad sign. The best business consultants are open minded and flexible, and will happily go to the trouble of thoughtfully designing an approach to an engagement based on the client's needs and best interests.
#7: Value oriented
Last but certainly not least, we need to talk about money. Engaging a consultant is an investment you are making on behalf of your business. A potential business consultant who doesn't understand the importance of return on your investment is an amateur and not worthy of your consideration. A great consultant should understand the value of the problem you are asking them to help solve, and ensure that the engagement is scoped such that you get a reasonable return on your investment.