1. To supplement existing staff.
2. To bring perspective and objectivity.
3. To provide a proven methodology.
4. To raise accountability.
5. To share special knowledge or skills.
As a consultant, I have an opinion, but I would enjoy your feedback. What do you think? Do consultants play a role in helping organizations with membership marketing or should this be entirely an inside job? Have you used consultants successfully? What positions on your marketing team do you look to fill with a consultant? What do you look for in choosing a consultant?
Please feel free to share your thoughts.
Posts
2 comments:
Hi Tony,
Great post. From my own experience, it's absolutely critical to have that external voice, someone who can challenge the thinking, bringing in a fresh perspective, help facilitate real conversations, bring out what needs to be said, and discussed, but can't be said for various reasons.
As a follow-up post, it'll be great if you touch on what in your experience are key characteristic of great consultants.
For example, when I was at GRC, I hired a consultant whom we were paying very nicely on a monthly retainer. But he rarely pushed back, hardly challenged our thinking, etc. Needless to say, we didn't keep him on too long.
In my mind, for example, a consultant has to be willing to be fired, to walk away. Only then can he remain objective, push back, and truly work in the best interest of the client.
In any event, as you are someone I greatly respect, I would love to see a post from you on what you believe are characteristics of a great consultant and what clients should look for when considering hiring one. Hope you'll share. Thanks Tony.
Vinay
Thanks Vinay. I always appreciate your feedback and thoughts. I would like to hear from you and ohters on what you think are the key characteristics of great consultants. Tony
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