le - The Art of Consulting: How To Attract High End Consulting Clients, Make More Money and Work Less Hours

To my mother and father for theirnever-ending

love, ongoing support and for alwaysbelieving in me.

Preface

Insanity isdoing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results - AlbertEinstein

If I were to ask you Why do you think consultants struggleto build a thriving consultancy?... What would your immediate response be?Would it be Oh... because they are not as competent as the big firms or theymay not have enough resources to solve their clients problems?

What if I were to tell you that what really separates youfrom being a highly successful consultant or running a successful consultancyfrom those who struggle to grow or fail outright is directly proportional toyour ability to find high end clients to serve. In fact, this is the mostcritical function in exponentially growing any consulting practice.

So before we move forward, lets define what a high endclient really is. In laymans terms, a high end client is a client who ishighly qualified and is willing to pay you more than what you are worth. Thereason why I say more than what you are worth is because just by having aclient pay you more than what you would normally charge will naturally elevateyour standards to further value yourself, your skills, your team and just abouteverything linked to you which may have been non-existent prior to thatbreakthrough moment. Hence, this book will arm you with the skills in sayingno to clients who arent in alignment with your vision and values and moveforward to leave additional room for high end clients who are most suited to yourservices. I know, this sounds rather counter intuitive but stick with me untilthe end and Im sure I wont disappoint.

Finding high end clients to serve is as important to yourconsulting practice as the air that you breathe is to your personal survival.Then why do so many consultants rely on unpredictable, unreliable, anduncontrollable methods such as traditional networking, content marketing andsocial media marketing to find high end consulting clients? Why leave anythingto chance when there is an alternative that can guarantee with 100% certaintythat you would reach high end clients whenever you needed to? Why not put inthe extra effort required to craft your high value relationship building skillswhich will inevitably make you indispensable in your industry? I wrote thisbook to share that alternative with you. The system, strategies and principlesthat I outline in this book will help you to find a nearly unlimited supply ofhigh-quality, prospective clients, regardless of your industry or area ofpractice. They will help you gain a significant advantage over your competitionby beginning your interactions with those clients from a strategic position ofpositive impact, implicit trust, and perceived competence. When I beganconsulting in 2012, I knew very little about finding, reaching, and connectingwith prospective clients, particularly high end clients. Over the years ofstrategizing with associates who dealt with the big four (i.e. Ernst &Young (EY), Deloitte, etc.) and personally consulting more than 60 SMB (smalland medium business) clients from diverse industries alongside implementingjust about every lead generation technique you can imagine (i.e. Facebookadvertising, LinkedIn marketing, Search Engine Optimization, Content Marketing,etc.) I learned a number of strategies and techniques that other firms employedto find high end clients which resulted in exponentially growing my consultingfirm. But it was not until October 2012 that out of my frustrations,experiences, triumphs, and failures compiled to become the genesis of thesystem outlined in this book. Over the years, I refined, advanced and updatedthat system with new techniques and strategies as I grew my consulting firmwith clientele from all over the world (all thanks to mobile communicationtechnology). After a number of sleepless nights of strategizing and iterating Iconsolidated all the techniques and strategies into the system that you willlearn in this book.

The World Is Changing. Fast.

If you have ever met me personally you would often hear mesay that we are no longer in the information age but in fact in thetransformation age. So how does this have any level of significance in thefield of consulting? First, let me define what each type of age is:

Information Age (1990-2012): a period in human history characterized by theshift from traditional industry that the industrial revolution brought throughindustrialization, to an economy based on information computerization. -Wikipedia.

Moreover, I am sure that many will agree with me that Googlein fact was the primary driver for absolutely changing the game of theinformation age. Possessing the ability to be able to empower the end consumerto decide what they wanted and when they wanted it produced a global shift frombuyer beware to seller beware. In addition to that, the Information Age wasall about connecting with others all over the world. Connecting with others viaFacebook, forums, messenger platforms and many other channels only to find thatwe became further disconnected from ourselves.

Transformation Age (post 2012): the period of humanity where we have becomeoverwhelmed with information and are in dire straits to find a thought leaderto show us the way. - Hung Le.

Yes, thats my own saying and not from Wikipedia and heres why it makes awhole lot of sense at the time of writing this book. Ive coached and mentoredhundreds of consultants who are constantly overwhelmed with the latest andgreatest marketing fads and hacks which promise the world that you can getmore consulting clients without talking to anyone. Now just think for a momentabout what consulting really entails... in fact, consulting is and always willbe a relationship based business. So why on earth do we fall victim for theseinformational products which promise us such absurd results? And how can youpossibly build enough trust to close a deal with a high end client just bysending clicks to your website? Some food for thought as we move forward...

Tony Robbins said it best when he said were drowning ininformation and starving for wisdom . The transformation age has been the result of new growth and new growthcomes as a result of new thinking and for consultants who are ready to embracethis new way of thinking then you will not only transform both you and yourbusiness but also further position yourself as a thought leader in yourindustry.

The New Opportunity That Lies Ahead

If you have been struggling in your consultancy for quitesome time, dont feel bad. Its not your fault. In fact, its not you its yourapproach. So say its not me, its my approach. Hence, moving forward I willchallenge you to take on a new approach to how youve been trying to grow yourconsultancy in the past and all I ask is for you to give me your 100% focus andcommitment for achieving the breakthrough youve been waiting for all along.

Theres a great analogy in the fashion industry which stateswhats old becomes new and that is so true in the field of finding, reachingand connecting with high end clients. Mobile communications has allowed allforms of consultants to not be limited to only having local clientele but alsonational and international clients in order to further exponentially grow yourconsultancy business and possess the opportunity of building a business aroundthe lifestyle you deserve. The problem is however, the absurd promises thatcome with it (e.g. free guide explains how to get clients with the push of abutton, etc.). Consulting is and always will be a relationship based businessand those who choose to think otherwise are doomed to fail. So whilst yourfellow consultants are chasing the next social media or content marketing hack,I would strongly encourage you to recite the quote from Mark Twain:When youfind yourself on the side of the majority it is time to pause and reflect. Andin all honesty, theres no better time to implement the system mentioned inthis book as we both watch the herd of consultants fall victim for everysocial media fad being pitched left, right and center.