• Home
  • Modeling for BI
  • DBA
  • Azure
  • SSIS
  • SSAS
  • SSRS - Reporting
  • PBI - Analytics
  • Consulting
  • About
Microsoft Data & AI

Consulting

A Few Thoughts on Managing Client Expectations

1/20/2018

1 Comment

 
Picture
​For the last three years I have wanted to photograph Hunts Mesa in Monument Valley, but this requires a Navajo guide and an overnight camping trip.  In preparation, I asked no less than three times, “There is a porta potty on the mesa, correct … there is a porta potty on the mesa … there is a porta potty???”  You get the idea.  As my Toyota Highlander is not made for off roading, I am not made for camping, and some accommodations during an overnight excursion on top of a Utah mountain are simply required.
 
After a two-hour extreme off roading trip to Hunts Mesa, our group finally get to the top and one thing is clear: there is no going back until the following day.  After photographing sunset, the next item on my agenda was locating the porta potty because I was running on EST and 4 AM comes early.  (At this time in southern Utah it is still pitch black outside … on the mesa … with a lot of cactus.)  My Navajo guide started to laugh, which was my first indication that something was a little off.  “It’s over here” he states and proceeds to guide me by flashlight up a sandy path for at least 50 feet to one of 1,000 Pinyon pine trees.  Standing behind the Pinyon pine was a hole dug into the ground over which was placed a wooden crate on which had been screwed a child size white toilet seat.  No walls … no “occupied” sign … but the view was magnificent.  You could see for miles east, west and north – everywhere but south which was blocked by the tree to a certain degree.  Logically, if Client Tourist sitting upon child sized toilet seat can see for miles in three of four directions, so can everyone standing east, west and north who are looking south in the direction of the said Pinyon pine.  Is there a Navajo word for “irritation + hysterical laughter + dread”?
 
This is an unusual, but true life word picture.  Honestly, I took one look at the promised porta potty and thought, “this reminds me of consulting services” as it embodied to me the basic business challenge of effectively managing client expectations. 
  • Sales teams work on some sort of commission basis, and the more people they can get signed up for the Mesa trip, the better. 
  • Our clients have preconceived notions and expectations often involving something akin to four walls and an “occupied” sign. 
  • When a consultant’s services are sold at expert level, but that person has never taken that subject area to production, what the consultant really has to offer is an expert opinion based on theory.  In my case, the tour company flat out misrepresented their porta potty capabilities.
  • Even if the customer’s expectations are managed, some consultant capabilities and project deliverables are simply required. 
Often we are able to meet expectations, and the client is completely satisfied.  However, when a consultant is ill equipped and has to be switched out, terminated and/or replaced, the client can feel like they have been sold a Hunts Mesa porta potty with their bare hind quarters flapping in the wind for all department heads to see. 
 
Conclusion: I survived my Hunts Mesa trip and all experiences contained therein.  The photos were worth the journey!
 

1 Comment

Getting Started as a Consultant

1/20/2018

0 Comments

 
If you are considering taking a deep dive and striking out on your own, here are a few tips and tricks to get you started.
  1. Take the time to write up a Professional Portfolio (PP).  You can download my PP (in the document list on the right) from when I was dba (doing business as) Cornerstone Technologies Group from 1997 to 2001.  It took many hours to write up these single paragraphs for all of my engagements, but a PP will give you credibility and help you to not forget what exactly it was that you worked so hard to accomplish through the years (!).
  2. Your resume is separate from your PP, but should be included in printed packet you have at the ready to hand to clients.  We all excel in different areas.  If writing is not "your thing", evidenced by the fact that you cannot define an "object compliment" or "object of the preposition", hire someone to write your resume.  There is no shame in this, only cash flow, 
  3. Keep samples of your work devoid of client proprietary information.  When you are going it alone, you need to be able to prove your past accomplishments, not just speak about them.  Sample work you should have at the ready are ERD diagrams, SSIS sample packages, SSRS reports and t-SQL scripts minimally.  SharePoint screen prints, Visio diagrams and samples of documentation you have written is also helpful.
  4. Understand that to bill 40 hours a week, you'll be putting in at least 45 hours with billing and sales pursuits.  Time spent building and stabilizing your business is not billable, but it is necessary, so be prepared to work over-time.
  5. Clearly identify to your clients the meaning of a billable hour.  Here is an old Proverb for you:  "God detests dishonest scales, but accurate weights find favor with him."  Regardless of your religious beliefs, honesty pays great dividends and billable hours is an easy way to cheat.  Find your personal integrity before you branch out on your own.
  6. A good consultant will work themselves out of a job.  Yes, that's right!  If you are doing your job right, you'll be making your clients independent of you.  It is your job to make your clients successful -- not to develop a life-long niche for yourself embedded forever into the wallboard of the IT server room.  If you take this attitude from the start, you will never be out of a job as referrals will come spilling in faster than you can respond to them.
  7. Here are a few basic forms that you will need (on the right).  I've left them in Excel and Word format so you can easily download them and make them your own.
  • Approval Document
  • Change Request Form
  • Professional Services Agreement
  • Service Quote
  • Status Report
  • Temporary Services Retainer
delorabradish_consultantportfolio.pdf
File Size: 289 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

mgmt_approvaldocument.docx
File Size: 20 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

mgmt_tempsrvretainer.docx
File Size: 23 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

mgmt_profsrvagreement.doc
File Size: 68 kb
File Type: doc
Download File

mgmt_statusreportsample.docx
File Size: 22 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

mgmt_changerequest.docx
File Size: 82 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

mgmt_servicequote.docx
File Size: 27 kb
File Type: docx
Download File

0 Comments
Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.
  • Home
  • Modeling for BI
  • DBA
  • Azure
  • SSIS
  • SSAS
  • SSRS - Reporting
  • PBI - Analytics
  • Consulting
  • About