The following are a few of our favourite management consulting and selling professional services articles and the stories behind them. If you'd like to receive our new articles about selling consulting each month simply e-mail us at cal@beyondreferrals.com indicating so. There is no cost, we don't share our subscriber list, and unsubscribing is a simple one step process.

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2009 Canadian Management Consulting Industry:
Trends and Outlook

Produced by CMC Canada the voice of management consulting in this country, the 2009 report is a great read for consultants working in the Canadian sector. Written and prepared by Carolyn Vose and Associates it is the result of over 400 consultant surveys as well as interviews with consulting thought leaders. A copy can be purchased for $300 CDN ($150 CDN for CMC Canada Members) at www.cmc-canada.ca If you have questions about the report or its content please feel free to e-mail Cal at Cal@BeyondReferrals.com

Designing A Culture of Selling (PDF)

This article was written specifically for the architecture industry but has relevant lessons for partners in all types of professional services firms.

What's The RFP Costing Your Firm? (PDF)

Originally published in the Jan/Feb 2008 issue of CA Magazine, this article exposes the incremental costs to buyers of professional services that choose to select vendors using an RFP process.

While appropriate for commodity purchases, the RFP has no place in the selection of consultants, lawyers, engineers, and other professional services.

UPDATE: A Decent Proposal was selected as one of Canada's Top 5 best marketing articles by the Canadian Business Press at the 2009 Kenneth R. Wilson Awards, produced by the Canadian Business Press. The award goes to a feature article describing the application of a new technology, method, equipment, technique or practice that facilitates improved communication between buyers and sellers in any sector.

Sales Predator or Good Neighbour? (PDF)

Inspired by a common challenge faced by many lawyers, this article resonates with any professional that has wondered how to speak to friends and family about their practice and potential business without making anyone uncomfortable.

Selling Consulting When You're Too Busy Consulting (PDF)

This article was originally written after our spring 2007 speaking tour of western Canada where we presented to CAMC groups on how to keep their sales process functioning - even when they are swamped with work. In the fall of 2007 it was republished at Rain Today where their 35,000 readers quickly made it one of the ten most downloaded articles of the year.

Click here to find out about upcoming Selling Consulting When You're Too Busy Consulting events around North America.

From Layoffs to Payoffs: Getting Out Of A Sales Slump (PDF)

This was one of our e-newsletter articles that was reprinted in Rain Today, an online consulting journal. The article was prompted by a client asking for immediate help. Sales were slow and they needed revenue fast. “Cal I need to get out of this sales slump” was the comment that inspired the title. In March 2006 I was informed that the article made the Top Five Most Downloaded List at Rain Today. My suspicion is that unfortunately, the title resonated with a lot of consultants.

Client Service Doesn’t Attract Clients (PDF)

When we first began writing about the use of “positioning” in the consulting world there weren’t many others writing about this. Recently there have been dozens, possibly hundreds of articles on the topic – with only a few actually worth reading. The importance of positioning is underlined in this article because it connects to other decisions – like customer service levels – that you will make as part of building your practice.

The role of customer service is also one of the few issues upon which I respectfully disagree with consulting guru David Maister.

Key Performance Indicators of Sales Success In A Professional Services Firm (PDF)

Beyond Referrals uses management and behavioural science as the basis for our advisory processes. We don’t rely on a “here’s what worked for us” type of approach, and if we did, this article would never have been accepted for publication and presentation at the prestigious World Congress on Total Quality Management.

All articles remain the copyright of Beyond Referrals. If you are interested in reprinting one of our articles please contact us at nadia@beyondreferrals.com.

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