How to Build Your Support System As a Consultant

If you’re a consultant or coach, you know how competitive the industry is for professionals like you. If you’re just starting out or looking to shake up your business model, you need to ensure that you have the solid foundation of support you need.

Here are 4 steps to build that foundation and set yourself on the path to profit and success.

Narrow Your Focus to Find Your Ideal Client

It can be tempting to try to market to as wide of a base as possible. After all, everyone can benefit from consulting advice, right?

The truth is, you’re better off narrowing your efforts to really target your ideal client, instead of everyone possible. Build an ideal client profile by asking the following questions:

• Where does this person work? What is their industry?
• What is their age? Their profession? Their gender?
• What problems does this person have that I can solve?
• What are their behaviors? What motivates them?

By examining your own strengths, you can work backyards to answer these questions. Then start looking for opportunities to reach this ideal client. It might be on specific industry websites, different social media platforms, or in-person or virtual networking.

This knowledge will be foundational for your progress. If you’re trying to appeal to everyone, you’ll speak to no one.

Learn the Common Misconceptions In the Industry

Everyone has biases and preconceptions about everything, including their own industry. In particular, the consulting industry has its own set of myths and expectations that get shared through networking and world of mouth. Just like how not everyone is your ideal client, not all advice is the right fit for you.

So, where do you start? One place to begin is at the Clear Your Path to Profit Webinar.  This free webinar will walk through 3 myths that cause hang-ups in consulting, and help you avoid making these mistakes.

Advice isn’t one-size fits all! What works for you won’t work for everyone. Get educated and find out for yourself how to get on the path to profit.

Find a Mentor and Learn Through Their Experience

While you can and should self-educate about industry misconceptions, why not learn directly from a mentor? Finding an experienced consultant who has been successful in your niche industry will provide you with a world of insight and information.

Mentoring benefits both the mentee and the mentor; a study shared by the University of Pennsylvania showed that employees with a mentor had a salary grade change over 5 years, compared to the focus group.

While your salary model is a little different as a freelancing consultant, those benefits are hard to ignore! Explore your network and try to find someone with experience in your field and niche target industry, and request a call with them.

If you don’t know them personally, make sure to introduce yourself professionally and outline the benefits of mentoring for them, as well.

Partner With An Assessment Provider

As a consultant, you have the leadership skills, the insight, and the action plan to help clients. But do you have the right tools?

That’s where assessments come in. They are the perfect tool to compliment consultants and coaches. By using assessments to pinpoint behavioral patterns and identify areas of opportunity in their clients, consultants can diagnose problem areas, reveal potential of different organizations, improve communication, create better leaders, and much more.

Assessments are the tool consultants need to develop a launching point of success for their clients.

Move Forward With a Strong Support System

Consultants have an incredibly important job ahead, while the new workplace develops. Your expertise and guidance will pave the way for your clients, and in turn, their entire organizations.

Make sure to build your foundation with a focused objective, the right tools, and partnerships with the right mentor and the right assessment provider.

If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a reseller at TTI Success Insights, find all the information you need here.