Consulting is a Relationship Business

Consulting is a relationship business. A special product may make you competitive. Differentiated services may make you distinct. But only carefully crafted relationships will create a breakthrough firm.

— Alan Weiss, Million Dollar Consulting

In preparation to launch Rizers — my new company — I am reading Alan Weiss’ classic tome, Million Dollar Consulting. In the chapter on Breaking Paradigms he talks about the difference between average consultants, better-than-average consultants, and million dollar consultants. Average consultants sell products, such as workshops and training seminars. Better-than-average consultants differentiate their services to convey some kind of distinction. But million dollar consultants build relationships that are deeply valuable to the client and mutually beneficial to both client and consultant in the long run.

As I continue to share “The Networking Mindset” with workshops and friends, I am amazed at how much of life’s success comes down to purposefully building meaningful relationships. Stay tuned . . .

Similar Posts

  • Here’s To The Crazy Ones

    Here’s to the crazy ones.
    The misfits.
    The rebels.
    The troublemakers.
    The round pegs in the square holes.
    The ones who see things differently.
    They’re not fond of rules. And they have no respect for the status quo.

    You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them. About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them. Because they change things. They push the human race forward.

    And while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.

    This is from an Apple ad shortly after Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the mid 90’s. It always brings a tear to my eye. Adweek has paid homage by adding Steve Jobs to his rightful place amongst these crazy ones.

    Here’s the updated ad:

  • Rainy Sunday Afternoons

    Millions long for immortality who don’t know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

    Susan Ertz, Anger in the Sky

    I have to admit that I am puzzled by people who claim to be easily bored. I can’t recall ever being bored. Granted, I am an introvert, which may explain why I have not lived an over-active life. I have always had a long queue of interests that manage to keep my mind occupied. I grew up in the country. The vast countryside was my backyard and my siblings and I always had something to do. As I grew older I discovered books and the world of ideas. Again, no shortage of things to do on a Sunday afternoon.

  • Julian Schnabel

    In a recent episode of The Treatment, Elvis Mitchel interviews artist and director Julian Schnable. Elvis is struck by the idea that all of Julian’s movies are about artists whose view of the world is not understood by other people and so they are constantly trying to communicate with the world. Elvis says that the movies are ostensibly about art, but they are also movies about communications. They portray figures, who for some reason, can’t get an essential part of themselves communicated through any other means but their art. Julian replies:

  • Mortgage Debacle

    Gretchen Morgensen has written an insightful article in the Sunday Business Section of the New York Times. After the heartbreaking introduction of a homeowner in New Jersey who would like more than anything to keep her home, Gretchen offers the following insight:

    Lenders, government officials and loan servicers, who take in borrowers’ monthly mortgage payments, contend that troubled borrowers everywhere are being helped to stay in their homes by those overseeing their loans. But neither data nor anecdotal evidence supports this view. A recent survey of 16 top subprime loan servicers by Moody’s Investors Service found that for the first six months of 2007, an average of only 1 percent of loans experiencing an interest rate adjustment, or reset, had been modified.

    A few minutes of logical thought would lead one to assume that lowering the interest rate of troubled loans so that the homeowner can continue to make payments and keep the house would be the best result for all concerned. …

  • We Pay For What’s Important

    On Wednesday, in his NY Times editorial, Nicholas Kristof cited an article by the American Journal of Public Health stating that 45,000 uninsured people die annually as a consequence of not having insurance.

    We accept that life is unfair, that some people will live in cramped apartments and others in sprawling mansions. But our existing insurance system is not simply inequitable but also lethal: a very recent, peer-reviewed article in the American Journal of Public Health finds that nearly 45,000 uninsured people die annually as a consequence of not having insurance. That’s one needless death every 12 minutes.

    Today Paul Krugman has an editorial on the demise of American education.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.