Help with Sales
My first serious venture since leaving the security and status of employment (Sales and Marketing Director at Ernst & Young in London) was running a business called Help with Sales. I fell into this by accident as I simply started off by helping a few companies I knew with their sales approach.
I also got involved with coaching staff and teams on improving their sales effectiveness. To date, it is still the most enjoyable part of my varied weeks. But there are lots of consultants around and ironic though it may seem, I have never yet had to sell my services at Help with Sales! The work has always come through from word of mouth and referrals from satisfied customers.
With the growing number of unemployed people out there, especially some very talented under-employed people now available, there is a growth in the supply of consultants out there. I can understand the suspicion that companies will naturally have towards consultants. An Angel I met in Madrid lamented that he hates ‘wealth advisers’ and always asks them “what qualifies you to advise me on my wealth?”. I can understand the sentiment, but do think it is misplaced.
I am highly suspicious of strategy consultants. If a company that I had invested in had hired a team of them, I would ask for the immediate resignation of the entire board. The business of devising strategies and implementing them has to remain the exclusive domain of the executive management team of a business with the non executives providing a good sounding board and advising on alternative strategies for consideration. Hiring outsiders for this is tantamount to accepting you are not up to the job.
But when it comes to consultants with specialist skills that you do not need to have permanently in your business, it makes perfect sense to hire consultants for very specific projects. Many companies have horrible experiences with consultants (and I would love to hear your stories both good and bad). And of course it makes sense to hire people who can ‘upskill’ your team. But make sure you always take references from former clients or employers before you engage consultants.
I am still kept busy with occasional projects from Help with Sales and with my move to Canada, I am particularly interested in hearing from companies based in England wanting to sell into Canada and the USA and from companies based in North America looking to sell into England and Europe.
I could not end this blog about consultants and teachers without a great quote. As Woody Allen puts it, “those who can do, those who can’t teach, and those who can’t teach – teach gym”.
