The consultation is tomorrow. You've got their responses. You've made your plan. Now it's time to deliver.

How do we actually go in and provide massive value as a consultant?

Let's get started

The 80/20 Rule of Consulting

Here's the reality of short consultations: 80% will follow your prepared plan. You know their problems, you've crafted solutions, you've anticipated questions. This is your safety net.

You are in control here because we’ve already elicited their problems/questions and we’ve prepared. It’s sort of like going into an exam where you have been given the answer key in advance.

It might feel like cheating but remember your only goal is to provide value to the client. If you specifically prepared for that (and only that!) who cares? Certainly not the client.

But that other 20%? That uncertainty? That's actually where the magic happens. That's where you discover what they really need, not just what they think they need. We’ll get to how to cover that shortly.

Starting Strong

First up you need to display i) authority (you know what you are talking about) whilst ii) being likeable.

It’s a complicated balance. But if you nail that first impression you’ll be set. Here’s how I personally do this.

I’ll begin by introducing what you'll be working on together based on their responses: "Based on what you shared about [specific challenge], I thought we could focus on X and Y today. Does that work for you?"

This does four things simultaneously

• You’ve taken control

• Shows you've listened

• Sets clear expectations

• Gets their buy-in

Then stick to your plan. You've only got 15-30 minutes - this isn't the time for long detours.

We’ve kept it short specifically for this reason. So that we can control the consultation and keep it on track. And leave them wanting more.

If we scheduled in 60 minutes then there’s far more chance they’ll throw curveballs at you that you can’t (yet) deal with. Instead we want short, sharp and value packed.

Time Management

In 15-30 minutes, you need to

• Build rapport (quickly)

• Confirm their situation

• Deliver value

• Set next steps (if viable)

This is why we prepared. This is why we got their responses beforehand. No time wasted figuring out their problems - we're jumping straight to solutions.

Sometimes clients will take the conversation in unexpected directions. That's fine - but manage it:

"That's a really interesting point about [their topic]. Given our time constraint today, should we stick with [original focus] or would you prefer to explore this?"

Let them choose. Either way, you're showing respect while maintaining control of the session.

Just because you have a game plan doesn’t mean you ignore them. We have to be able to adapt based on what they are saying. The plan is our safety net. We can come back to it whenever we need to but don’t be afraid to follow their cues.

Yes, follow your plan. But watch for these signals

• Strong emotional responses to certain topics

• Repeated mentions of specific problems

• Push-back on suggested solutions

• Signs of confusion or overwhelm

These are gold. They tell you what really matters to them. These are what we as consultants can learn from. And they are also (later) the points that you will sell off. These will be the emotional hooks you’ll leverage when selling consultation packages. So keep an eye out for them - write them down, watch for patterns across different clients.

The Not-Knowing Safety Net

Another concern during consultations is handling questions you cannot answer. It happens. Part of the job I'm afraid!

Do not let this stop you from starting! You can’t know everything. Plenty of very valuable experts don’t know everything. And they know they don’t know everything!

Sometimes you won’t know an answer because it's something very specific to their business or their systems and there's no way as an outsider you can know the full answer.

I’ve had this a number of times. For example one Swiss/India based organisation I was consulting with had complicated cross-border workflows across 3 different teams, 2 locations and 4 databases. The client began to explain all this and very quickly I stopped them. It was not something we could solve in 30 minutes - it would require too much knowledge of their systems, how everything ties together, who is in charge of what part etc. etc.

At this point you can go with "That's a great question. It touches on some complex technical aspects that I'd need to look into more deeply. Rather than give you a half-baked answer, let me research that and get back to you with proper information."

You can either offer to go off and look into it for them (if viable) or with them (ie. additional consultations). This is a good segue into paid consultation.

Sometimes the reason you can’t answer a question is simply because it is outside of your knowledge. I get this with Video AI for example - it’s just not something I’ve worked with or know enough about. And that’s fine!

I’d go with response like: "That's outside my core expertise, but I know someone who'd be perfect to answer this. I'll check with them after our call and get back to you."

This shows professionalism while maintaining credibility. And maintains you as a valuable consultant because you have access to a valuable network. Always follow up as promised!

Do not try to just BS your way out! It's tempting but it's much more credible (and powerful) to say "not sure but I can find out".

Keeping it Simple

I can’t overemphasise this enough.

Most organisations are just getting started with AI. What seems basic to you might be revolutionary to them.

The more you go into companies the more you’ll see this. And the more you’ll realise what an opportunity AI consulting is!

If they're excited about using ChatGPT for email drafts, don't jump to showing them how to build custom GPTs. Meet them where they are for now. Sometimes that’ll be helping them get a non-fake version of ChatGPT on their phone - for real!

Wrapping Up

Always end with

1. Clear summary of what was discussed

2. Specific next steps

3. Request for feedback/testimonial

Even if the consultation went off in unexpected directions, bring it back to concrete actions they can take.

Next in the Playbook we're covering how to turn that first consultation into a thriving (paid!) practice. We'll talk about getting testimonials, handling referrals, and making the transition to paid work.

Keep Prompting,

Kyle