10 Tips to Utilize Your Marketing Consultancy Time

CONDUCT BACKGROUND RESEARCH ON CLIENT

Prior to the marketing consult, conducting background research on your client will drastically cut down time in your consultation. As a marketing professional, it is important to have an excellent understanding of your client. Ensuring you have a good idea of their level of expertise allows you to gauge their ability, understanding, and knowledge, as well as providing you an idea on how their potential can be measured if they choose to proceed with your services.

CONSTRUCT CONSULTATIONS TO MEET THE CLIENT’S NEEDS EFFECTIVELY

Before any consult, it is critical to establish your client’s needs and wants. To ensure you are not wasting your client’s time and energy, you must establish whether your client is looking for a marketing consultant or an agency, as some clients often confuse the two. A marketing consultant is responsible for constructing strategic marketing plans to help businesses start to implement it but does not implement it for them, while a marketing agency handles all marketing activities for a business. Always be transparent with how your services will be delivered to avoid disappointment.

Next, allocate appointments to the most appropriate professional. Now that you have identified what the client’s needs and expectations are, you can redirect them to the right marketing professional. Not only does this demonstrate your firm’s ability to provide a diverse range of consulting services, but it will also provide your client with a comprehensive and personalized plan that best suits their needs.

SET AN AGENDA

Set an agenda to utilize consultation time by staying focused on the key aspects of your client’s history and by executing the best solutions where appropriate. Most of the relevant information emerges from the client within the first few moments of the consultation and can be ascertained by avoiding interruption and giving your client the space to express their concerns.

Once your client has expressed their concerns, you can then summarize their points into an agenda. This helps marketing consultants better manage their time efficiently.

  
INCORPORATE SHARED DECISION MAKING

Marketing consultants should use the information gathered during the consultation to explain the key findings to the client. It is essential to explain how the consultations will progress with the use of open-ended questions and inquiries allowing time for the client to digest the information, while also giving them the opportunity to ask questions. Utilizing shared decision making in this process may help avoid ambiguities, ensuring that the client understands their current situation and the plan of action. It also assists in increasing the client’s feelings of satisfaction, now they are wary of the risks and benefits of the available options, which may save even more time in the future.

TEMPLATIZE THE WORK PROCESS

Another great tip is to templatize your work process to build efficiency. To avoid the blame on poor communication, templates can reduce problems relating to lack of planning, disorganization, and inexperience. If your firm has many types of projects and deliverables, a workflow template ensures your team stays on track. Templates for workflow have a profound impact on project speed, consistency, quality, and cost, and help with maximizing marketing productivity.

UTILIZE YOUR MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM

There are many ways to make your marketing team successful. One way is to effectively use your team to share workloads, thereby making the best use of consultation time. The experience and expertise of all the marketing consultants combined can identify areas of deficiency and at the same time, review the skills mix of the team.

COMMUNICATE THE STAKES AND CONSEQUENCES­­­

If there is a clear fit between the client and your services, clearly communicating the consequences will help outline the client’s concerns. There will be instances where consultants will encounter reluctant clients, making it harder for a firm to bridge the gap between their stated needs and the value you’re providing. However, if you are a consultant willing to win, try to quantify your findings in more meaningful ways that are relevant to the client’s problem area.

ADAPT CONSULTATIONS TO INCORPORATE NEW WAYS OF COMMUNICATING

Many consultation firms are using a triage model of communication due to the pandemic. With more consultation options available through video, telephone and online platforms, clients can decide the mode of consultation. Remote consultations have found to reduce meeting duration, and benefit both parties with more channels of communication.

CREATE A PORTFOLIO

Your portfolio adds credibility to your practice, with client testimonials being a great way to build trust with business customers or prospective clients. While it defines credibility and the level of expertise offered, it also brings the opportunity to convey your overall brand message, while also generating new leads and sales.

 
FOLLOW UP WITH CLIENT

If there are any other issues that were not addressed during the consultation it is good to let the client know that these issues can be brought up in another appointment. This ensures that the consultation does not overrun, avoiding situations where the client feels they have been rushed or that they have not been heard.

The best consultants do not simply stand out with solely a marketing degree or certifications, but it will be those who utilize their time well. If you are looking for more information on how your firm can benefit from marketing consultancy, get in contact with one of our Marketing Eye consultants today.

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