For Those Who Consult, Or Want To And Get Paid Highly

Good stuff, however, #3 seems ambiguas to me.

How would a consultant accept full responsibility and for what? Timelines, cost savings, implementing?

Instead of submitting a proposal, I recommend sitting down with the prospect again and going through the proposal live. Then you can hear their honest reactions. After that, if there are any changes, you can make those to the write-up, print it out, and have your new client sign it.

#3, about taking the full responsibility, has two meanings for me. Remember that I'm an operations management-trained process improvement expert and I've done this many times for large and small businesses. First, and this is "my" meaning: You touch it, you own it. My experience with improvement projects has made me wary about taking any projects on at all (sales process improvement included). When you accept a project, and the client takes you on as a service provider, you now own that piece of their business. If you screw up, or changes you make in that area spill over into impacting the rest of their business, you own that, too.

The second interpretation, and the one I believe the video maker was getting at, is that your solution should be all-inclusive for solving that problem. Your client doesn't want to see your $20,000 bill, and then be told two weeks in, "Oh, by the way, we're going to need a Quality expert to come in and check this area out; that'll be another $6,000." Find out what you need, roll it into your project total, and build in 'slush' for the unexpected. Your client wants to pay once, to you, and not again and again and again. Few things are more jarring to a business owner than repeatedly being hit with unplanned-for expenses and watching your "money pit" get deeper and deeper.

Consider how extra billings also affect your project's ROI. Every time you add an expense, it damages your ROI, makes the payback period longer, and knocks your credibility down further in your client's eyes.

Now a final note from long experience doing these kinds of projects. Make sure you know everything you can about your prospect's personality and financial resources before you sign up with them. Many's the time when I started a moderate project with a business, only to find that there was another senior manager there whose toes were getting stepped on by the owner bringing me in--and not talking about it with them beforehand--and also the fun situation where after two weeks the business was not able to pay my fee, because they were in financial dire straits before I got there (part of the reason they brought me on board). I've had to take the reins of several companies for the same fee as my original project, so that I could make sure I got paid. Now it's been a decade since I had a problem like that. And I've learned to look for it--that's why I tell you to qualify based not just on Need, but Budget and Personality fit as well. You do not want the extra stress and responsibility of getting into this situation, trust me. Choose your clients carefully. Offer them a complete solution with no unexpected financial hits. Limit the scope of your involvement by talking it over with your prospect before you sign. Sounds simple? Most people are so desperate for the business that they leap in without doing these things.