A lot of our employees here at Mindset are former consultants. We also work with and employ many consultants at various stages of their careers. Jonathan Bragg (Director of SAP S/4 HANA Solutions and Principal Architect), Naveen Rokkam (Director of Product Development), and Gavin Quinn (Founder & CEO) of Mindset shared some of their best tips that work to set you up for success at a client. Here are a few:
Jonathan:
● Smile: There’s nothing worse than a consultant who looks like they don’t want to be there
● Add value from day 1: This is important. As a consultant/expert in a topic area, you’ve been invited into the client to share that expertise. If you’re not jumping into conversations on day 1, trying to add value where you can, you’ve already failed at that client.
Naveen:
● Focus on relationships: Develop and earn deep, trusted relationships with key stakeholders.
● Hold a go-getter/driver attitude: Listen to the issue, propose an idea, and then drive it from inception to project proposal, staffing, and delivery.
Gavin:
● Make a GREAT first impression: It’s not that you shouldn’t always do a good job, but I see countless people lose all credibility and interest in the first two weeks of a gig. Just plan to work overtime in the beginning. You can’t get this time back.
● Sit down with your sponsor and define an incredibly clear definition of success: This means the objective, with dates, formats, deliverables, etc. Leave nothing to interpretation, or you’re more than likely to misunderstand it.
If you’re interested in learning more tips like these, I would be happy to discuss this more. Please reach out at libbykessler@mindsetconsulting.com.
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