It’s a consultant’s job to help you optimize your business, identify areas of trouble, and innovate solutions to remedy problems and achieve your goals. Often, however, people can be reluctant to bring in a consultant. If some of your colleagues are hesitant, here are some talking points to help convince them that hiring a consultant is the right choice.

Break Down the Bottom Line

A consultant is valuable. To convince your colleagues, don’t just tell them—show them. Break down the numbers that illustrate why a consultant is your best option, and present them with real data; it’s hard to argue with numbers and facts. Show how the cost of a consultant in the short term will provide a long-term benefit. For example,

• Show how much revenues would increase, assuming that implementing an operations consulting expert’s efficiency strategies would increase production by just 1%.
• Show how more efficiently allocating of a department’s workload could allow you to use existing resources rather than hiring extra personnel or paying for overtime.
• Project how much an engineering consulting firm’s redesign of your product could allow you to save on materials and production while maintaining quality.

Experience Matters

Find a consulting firm that specializes and has proven success in your industry. Many consulting firms specialize in certain industries or market segments; a firm that specializes in your industry will know what’s working and what isn’t for other companies and be on top of the latest trends and technology.

Find a firm that has experience with businesses like yours and projects like yours. If you’re a small, struggling clothing business looking for turnaround consulting, for example, you’ll need a consultant with different priorities and experience than a multi-million-dollar sporting goods company seeking to optimize production or distribution. Make sure you clearly identify and communicate what you’re hoping to achieve by hiring a consultant so you can ensure you hire one with the experience to help your particular project succeed.

A proven track record establishes credibility and can help demonstrate value to your team. You may have heard horror stories of companies that paid too much money to consultants who gave bland advice, wasted time and resources, and offered no real return on investment or long-term value to the business. After you identify your needs, do your research to find a firm that has experience doing what you need them to do, whether that’s operations consulting, engineering consulting, ROI consulting, or a combination of projects. Get recommendations from trusted colleagues in your professional network, and ask your consulting candidates to provide references. If you can show your team that a respected competitor or colleague got great results for their business by using a particular consulting firm, that credibility will go a long way towards convincing them to hire them for your needs.

Make Introductions

Get your colleagues in a room with your preferred consulting firm, and let the consultants prove why hiring them is the right course of action. Don’t underestimate the power of a face-to-face meeting; a good consultant will be best able to explain the value they offer to your business. This meeting should be an opportunity to let your colleagues ask questions and voice any concerns they have about the process, the return on investment, the time commitment, or anything else. It’s also a great way for the consultants to meet the people they would be working with and make sure they “click” with your team. Allow the consultants to convince your team that they are the right solution for your situation and offer concrete action items for your project.  

If you’re ready to see for yourself how a consultant can help your business succeed and grow, contact Cornerstone Consulting Organization. Our executive and senior business management consultants have a wide variety of experiences, areas of expertise, and technical specialties to give you the best business consulting services in Huron. Contact us today to find the consultant that’s right for your organization’s needs.