The four types of consulting

From: http://www.hpbech.com/2011/07/the-four-types-of-consulting/

 

There are many types of consulting. The way you promote your consulting services, the way you generate leads, the way you sell and the way you deliver depend heavily on the type of consulting business you exercise.

A project may often be a mix of various types of consulting services. This is a serious challenge for the individual and independent management consultant. Mastering the many types of consulting services as an individual is simply not possible.

It is important to know the 4 types of consulting, what they are, examples of each type, the impact on you sales efforts & the impact on your delivery infrastructure.

 

Objectives of the post:

1. explaining 4 types of consulting
2. Helping identify needs of clients
3. Coach client for successful project accomplishment
4. Review impact on the sales process

2 criteria are used to determine the types of consulting:

1. How close do you have to be to the client?
2. Is it a standard or customized process? To what extent?

4 types:

1. Pharmacist
2. Nursing
3. Brain Surgery
4. Psychotherapist

Details:

1. Standard process + little client contact = “Chemist or Pharmacist”
2. Standard process + close client contact = “Nursing" 
3. Customized process + little client contact = “Brain surgery”
4. Customized process + close client contact = “Psychotherapist”

Examples:

1) Pharmacist

Staff recruitment

Staff profiling

Strategy review

Channel recruitment

2) Nurse

Channel program development

Executive recruitment

Sales training

Customer satisfaction surveys

Market assessments

3) Brain Surgeon

Tax consulting

Legal consulting

Development of P&L models, remuneration schemes and other concepts

Interim management

4) Psychotherapist

Management coaching

Ambition discovery

Strategy development

Value Proposition definition/development

Investment prospect development

M&A consulting