Tom McMakin - Never Say Sell: How the Worlds Best Consulting and Professional Services Firms Expand Client Relationships

TOM McMAKIN

JACOB PARKS

Copyright 2021 by Tom McMakin and Jacob Parks. All rights reserved.

Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey.
Published simultaneously in Canada.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is Available

ISBN 9781119683780 (Hardcover)

ISBN 9781119684169 (ePDF)

ISBN 9781119683803 (ePub)

Cover Design: Wiley
Author Photos: Carlie Auger

Tom dedicates this book to his parents, Dave and Jackie.
Thank you for everything.

Jacob dedicates this book to his wife, Amy, who displays courage, grace, and kindness in the face of arduous challenges.

A Place in Time

Outside, a new day dawns in the east, the sky daubed with great washes of purple and orange. It is May 1st, and today is the day our manuscript is due. We are just putting our final touches on the draft, numbering pages, and adding in the endnotes as puffed-up robins strut through the newly green grass.

Yet on what should be a day of celebration, we feel somewhat melancholy; the moment is stained by the COVID-19 pandemic that hangs over the world like a shroud.

We don't have to tell you the news washes over us every day in unrelenting waves from all corners. Healthcare workers are overtaxed. There's not enough personal protective equipment. There's more death. It is a sobering time a time when all of us have our heads down and are just a little more focused on our work, if we are lucky enough to be decamped at our kitchen tables taking Zoom calls.

It is against this backdrop that this project has taken on a fresh urgency for us. During a time when our institutions and mores are being stressed, we need the help of smart people to navigate through and beyond our current raft of challenges. To us, this is the essence of why we have written this book to help all of us build more durable bridges between our experience and insight and the challenges that this expertise can help.

Although we're not on the front lines with the nurses in Queens or the ER doctors in Kirkland, we should still be asking ourselves each day, How can we help? As experts of all different stripes, there is a need for the solutions we offer; the world needs all of us to lean in more.

We hope you find this book useful not only to help build back any prosperity you may have lost in this crisis, but, more importantly, to think anew about how your unique background, skillset, and wisdom can help your clients architect a brighter future for their communities and their customers.

Thanks for picking up this book. Stay safe.

Tom and Jacob

Walt Shill looked around the room at his client team. He had gathered them from far reaches of the globe to review Accenture's previous year's work with a major client with an eye for how they might increase their mandate over the next year. As they reviewed the different elements of the business that could benefit from Accenture's skillset, a handful of suggestions were made by team members with a deep understanding of this client's business model (supply chain optimization, back-office centralization, and a new technology for budgeting, to name a few) when, abruptly, the brainstorming was interrupted by one member of the team who said, What are we doing here? We don't want to be ambulance chasers!

Shill, a passionate man, erupted.

• What are you talking about? We are the fucking ambulance! If you don't think we can help people and that we can add value, then you need to look for another job. We have a moral obligation to use our skills to solve their problems.

Our observation, after a collective 50-plus years in expert services, is that there is a strong correlation between expert services and aversion to what is perceived as selling. Interestingly, it seems to grow stronger as you move into job descriptions that require unique degrees or certifications, such as the legal or accounting professions. A photo on a bus bench might be effective for a realtor, but it would be unimaginable for a top-tier attorney. Somehow, we think if we are good, the world should beat a path to our door. But the truth is that experts should feel a moral obligation to assist clients in need: We should be the ambulance when our clients need help.

We're jetting back and forth across the country visiting clients. It's Friday afternoon, and we are looking forward to finally spending a weekend at home. Jacob, the younger of us, is thinking about the prospect of winning Spokane's Hoopfest for the third year in a row with his in-laws. Tom is dreaming about scouting for elk in southwestern Montana in preparation for hunting season.

We are coming off a two-day string of meetings in Manhattan with clients and prospects. It's been a fast-paced and satisfying trip, but as we contemplate our travel home, with the long layover and dozens of follow-up emails from our last two days, we both let out a sigh.