A very large part of my Impactiviti business is client-vendor “matchmaking” – recommending optimal providers to my clients for their outsourced training and marketing needs. It’s a pretty unique business model in the industry and immensely enjoyable.
However, I have to admit – I still love consulting.
When you’re inside a company, your ideas are unavoidably shaped and constrained by current conditions – existing people, platforms, and processes – so that it is difficult to step outside and take a big picture view. Being able to come in from the outside and ask fresh questions, and suggest new directions, is incredibly gratifying. Sometimes, in a very short period of time, an entire new strategy can emerge.
There’s nothing quite like that. It’s like a long-overdue “Reset”!
And, at times, I need it too. I’m in the process of re-focusing my professional identity and branding, and at some point, even though I provide consulting in those areas, I plan to engage some external help. Why? Because I can’t step outside and see myself and my business clearly. I need another voice. A different creative perspective. Someone not in my little box.
It’s more than OK to admit you need an outside perspective. Some consultants earn a bad name for the entire field by charging an arm and a leg for recycled ideas and a value that doesn’t go beyond CYA (“well, Big-Shot-Consulting-Group said we should do it this way!”) But others do it right – bringing not just industry knowledge, but a new way of seeing and thinking.
(btw, I provide direct consulting in the following areas for pharma/biotech: Sales Training strategy; Technology Platforms for Communication and Training; Social Media Strategy. Outside those areas, I can provide recommendations for other consultants…)
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