Out of the Box

The Culture of Your Consultant

By Menachem Lubinsky on June 14 2009

Harvey, a supplier of institutional supplies, tried for two years to direct his company’s marketing program, but for some reason he always found excuses not to any marketing. “It wasn’t my only responsibility and in truth it also wasn’t my passion.” Harvey finally took the plunge, hiring an outside marketing consultant, who would direct the company’s marketing. After seven weeks, he fired the consultant, who came well recommended and had an impressive client list.

Harvey’s complaint was that after seven weeks, “he simply didn’t get it.” Not ready to throw in the towel, the businessman turned to another marketing consultant with basically the same results, only this time the experiment lasted for 10 weeks. In analyzing why none of the two consultants stuck, Harvey admitted that while he thought both were qualified, he may have perhaps “lost patience early in the game.” He noted: “I was looking for a certain level of creativity and they just didn’t understand.” He lamented at all of the money he “wasted” and he, of course, had nothing to show for it.

Marketing experts have long addressed the issue of hiring consultants and how to evaluate a proper fit. They suggested that every business has a certain culture, almost like a foreign country, and that it takes new employees and consultants time to adjust to the “new culture.” The trick is to evaluate consultants on their competency rather than how quick they adapt to the culture.

Harvey, for example, failed to introduce the consultants to some of the key people in the company. He provided information only in general terms, already thinking about the possibility that they would leave his company with “too much information.” Some of the largest American businesses understand that to successfully benefit from the brainpower of a good consultant means to “invest” in the consultant. Some look at the first six months as an adequate time frame for learning the company and its culture. But the experts agree that the more the consultant knows about the company, the more they will be able to help.

Smaller companies without the deep pockets of larger companies probably do not have the luxury of setting aside six months just for the learning curve. But unless they set aside the time to work with the consultant, they too will end up like Harvey. Consultants should do enough homework about a business so that they have a good working knowledge not only of the company but also of the industry. Good consultants do their homework, but even so need to learn the culture of the company to really be in a position to offer good advice. They need to fully understand the positioning, history and mission before they can be turned loose to offer constructive advice and manage an effective marketing program.

Hiring a marketing consultant can pay off handsomely, especially for companies who do not have anyone at the company designated to deal with marketing. The consultant can develop a strategic plan that will help the company grow. He can work with people in the company who perform various marketing tasks without being in charge of the full marketing effort. He can also use his experience to tweak programs that are more in tune with modern marketing principles.

Like Harvey, many companies hire marketing consultants for a quick fix. They get inpatient if results are not achieved instantly. They are angry if the consultant does not reach milestones that were probably unrealistic in the first place. Many consultants promise too much just to get the account, often gambling on their longevity. It would be far better that after analyzing the challenge, the consultant is totally honest with the company about what can be accomplished in what time framework.

Companies often deprive themselves of good consulting advice by not being patient with the consultant. The consultant must be given a fair chance to learn about the company and its key officials in order to respond effectively. Exerting extreme pressure for results when that was never attainable before the consultant came on board only forces the consultant to give advice under pressure, which at times is not the best advice.

The best case scenario is to thoroughly check out the consultant with his other clients or with people in the industry who may know more about the capabilities of the marketing professional. They should provide the consultant with as much information as will be needed for the consultant to be able to help the company and then let the consultant loose. Micromanaging a consultant does not work. Making him part of the team does.

A leather manufacturer hired a consultant to develop a marketing program for the trade that would include trade magazines, participation in trade shows, direct mail and a periodic newsletter. The agreement called for a six-month contract but after two months, a company vice-president decided that he really liked the work of a consultant doing the work for someone else in his industry. He got the consultant to work for him, but the fired consultant ended up working for the other company. You guessed it, after a few months, he ended up liking the work of the consultant he dismissed.

A company I do business with recently celebrated the 12th anniversary with the same consultant, admitting that if he had not had the patience, the relationship would have ended after six months. In working with consultants, patience is more than virtue; it can be very profitable.

Out of the Box is a collection of strategic marketing articles that Lubicom has published on various topics, trends and ideas in the marketing world. The articles have been published in the Hamodia weekly newspaper circulated on three continents to a readership of well over 100,000.

The name, "Out of the Box" is a term used frequently in business nowadays to describe creative thinking that is not the norm. It is meant to help a business pull away from the pack or separate oneself from the competition. It is to some extent fraught with risk, simply because it is not the run of the mill thinking, but it is at the same time the key to reaching the next opportunity.