In consulting work, the "28 rule" is often used. For example, you spend 20% of your energy to understand 80% of your customer's business, which includes the macro vision of the field, the development space of the business, the stage of the business, the business competition pattern, the moat of the business, the business model of the customer company, "people" and "system", and so on. Without the ability to learn quickly, it is difficult to understand these contents quickly.
In reality, 60% of people who can learn quickly are beginners and can already talk to customers. The other 20% need to get it from customers quickly through communication, cooperation and interview after entering the consulting state.
In consultation, "the right medicine" is the key to solving the problem, and understanding the symptoms is a very important part of the "key". If the diagnosis of "symptoms" is wrong, then all subsequent plans and efforts may be in vain.
In order to better understand "syndrome", we need good guidance and questions, which is like the process of "listening and asking" by professional medical staff when we seek medical treatment.
In consulting work, consultants meet different people. Some people are clear-headed, logical and thoughtful, some are vague and divergent, some are used to expression, some are used to silence, some like visual presentation, and some get stimulation from interaction. Therefore, choosing the appropriate guidance method and asking questions in the process can inspire each other to share, think and express, which is a very effective way to collect information.
Consultants with rich industry experience and consulting experience are most likely to be favored by customers. The reason behind this is self-evident, because customers think those experiences are valuable and can help them analyze, diagnose and solve current problems.
However, any solution is inseparable from the current business scenarios and pain points. Therefore, on the one hand, the consultant should learn about the current customer's business scenarios through rapid learning, guidance and questioning, and abstract and refine them on this basis, and link them with his own experience to find methods and ideas from experience to provide empirical research for the formulation of the plan; On the other hand, the consultant should constantly improve the existing experience or create a new experience system according to the information obtained from the real scene.
This is a process from phenomenon to systematization.
There is no panacea in this world, and there is no experience that can be completely transplanted without any modification and improvement. Even if the consultant is experienced, each customer case has its own characteristics. Therefore, with the understanding of the current situation and the support of theory and experience, the next thing the consultant should do is to visualize the problem and find solutions to specific customer problems. There should be not only customization of business, management and personnel based on current customers, but also practical innovation.
At the specific implementation level, the consultant should also give advice according to the customer's company culture. This is just like after we go to the doctor, the doctor will not only give the diagnosis and treatment plan, but also give the advice, precautions, follow-up arrangements and so on. For example, drink more water, rest more, drink less and smoke less. This is because we must have good living habits to ensure the effectiveness of the diagnosis and treatment program.
In order to better implement the consulting scheme, we need the support of company culture.
The diversity of clients' business, the complexity of consulting process and participants, and the limitation of not knowing all business information have brought great uncertainty to consulting work.
In order to deal with these uncertainties, we must be flexible.
Compared with the above "hard core" skills, this test is the soft power of consultants, such as flexible response to accidents, flexible response to rapid adjustment of direction, flexible response to plan reporting, and even flexible response to mutual cooperation between consultants.
Consultants are knowledge workers, and all their work results are presented through language or words. Even the best experience and solutions should be conveyed to customers through this medium.
Language ability is directly reflected in expression and communication, such as how to ask for information, express opinions, summarize reports and even respond to objections, which are all necessary skills for consulting work. In addition, the ability to control the writing is also very important. The conciseness, clarity, logic and organization of the writing are very important manifestations of the professional quality of consultants.
In addition, in order to introduce themselves, many consultants need to refine and summarize their own experiences and cases, and expand their influence through the writing and sharing of blogs and official WeChat accounts, which are the needs of developing customers.
This is a state of mind and an ability.
Consulting work is not only accompanied by applause and praise, but also with challenges, doubts, anxiety and even failure. No matter how senior a consultant is, he will encounter waterloo, and even often encounter waterloo.
No matter what you have achieved or suffered, you can always return to zero. This realm is also a kind of ability.
Only by returning to zero can we grasp more possibilities and constantly renovate our own experience. Before encountering external blows, we should first zero ourselves. This is a process of self-evolution and upgrading.
Finally, to sum up, consultants, as knowledge workers, often appear as the external brain of the organization. In order to give full play to the function of "brain", consultants should cultivate both hard skills and soft skills, and also cultivate their own psychological quality.