90 Days to Success in Consulting [Paperback]

William McKnight (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 16, 2009

Interested in entering the consulting business? Already have a consulting practice but want to take its profits to the next level? 90 Days to Success in Consulting provides an action plan for success in the ultra-competitive consulting industry. The book is designed to logically take you through the major consulting topics and provide action items to be done in the next 90 days for immediate business functions, as well as for planning the future phases of your consulting journey. The book covers the various opportunities available, including the traps and pitfalls to avoid, ensuring a successful career as a consultant.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

From the Author: Top Mistakes Consultants Make...

In Developing the Business

1. Failing to mind the business side of the practice, whatever that may be
2. Letting your personal image decline
3. Failing to stay educated in your field and letting the clients get ahead of you
4. Not updating your skills
5. Failing to create intellectual property and reasons/cover for clients to hire you
6. Creating a high cost structure for the business
7. Not monitoring company and service messaging by your sales channels
8. Spending too long on fruitless activity
9. Failing to see the signs of business decline and time for adjustment
10. Working too much and failing to balance your life

In Selling the Services

1. Always overtly angling the client for more work
2. Caving on client rate and price demands without negotiating reduced scope
3. Acting subservient (or superior) to the prospective hiring manager
4. Not reading contracts thoroughly or making them detailed enough
5. For fixed-price work, not tightening up acceptance/completion criteria

In Engagements

1. Bringing out the same hammer to solve every client problem
2. Doing great work, but ultimately failing due to poor interpersonal relationships
3. Burying issues in hopes they go away instead of proactively solving them
4. Assuming the client is on board with your industry terminology
5. Staying at the "consultant speak" level and not forging real solutions
6. Adopting an employee mindset with the client in terms of work culture
7. Always angling for personal credit in situations instead of giving credit

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Product Details

• Paperback: 235 pages
• Publisher: Course Technology PTR; 1 edition (September 16, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1435454421
• ISBN-13: 978-1435454422
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #177,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

William is President of McKnight Consulting Group. William and his teams have been a key part of numerous end client successes. His clients range from $100M companies to numerous companies in the Fortune 50. Many end clients have gone public with their success story. His team's implementations from both information technology and consultant positions have won Best Practices awards.

William is an Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist, a frequent best practices judge in his field, and an expert witness. He has been a part of 100 client programs worldwide and has over 300 articles, white papers and tips in publication. William is also a popular speaker who has given numerous keynote presentations at major conferences internationally and at online trade shows and has given over 150 public seminars and webinars. He is widely quoted in the press.

William writes pragmatically from his experience starting from scratch and taking his company to placement on the Inc. 500, the Dallas 100, the Collin (county) 60 to seller of a multi-million dollar consulting firm, as well as executive roles in public and boutique consultancies. He relates to each level of consulting growth and is a passionate communicator and motivator. William is a former information technology vice president of a Fortune company and holds an MBA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars All About Consulting, November 6, 2009

By 

George Scanda (Cincinatti, OH) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 90 Days to Success in Consulting (Paperback)

This book is a true gem. As a consultant, I am glad I came across this. The author is very insightful and the knowledge has probably accelerated my abilities by several years. This book covers everything a consultant needs, including all the things they typically flounder on. The author has impressive insights from experience that are communicated in a very understandable, refreshing style. He tells you what you need to do and why. I've read a lot of consulting books, but this one is the best from a holistic practice perspective. There are other books that focus in on certain aspects of consulting but without the foundation that this book communicates, knowing all that would be for naught. One thing I really liked was that the author does not take you strictly on his path or try to make you into someone making a million dollars a year through giving seminars or running workshops - things that few consultants could ever do to that level. Consultants make it in a variety of ways and this book helps you find your way and excel at it, whether that's on one's own as a top-notch consultant or utilizing contractors or employees, whether doing personal services, projects or providing resources.

Finally, the approach is something I feel like I could live with myself if I use. It's ethical, it's relationship building and it's strictly fair trade. While making no bones about the need to earn from the business, the author emphasizes creating client value as the means to excel and maximize the consultant's potential. Some of the best take-aways were in brand building, finances, and service development.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Consultacy Guide, February 23, 2010

By 

Adam Finkelstein - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 90 Days to Success in Consulting (Paperback)

This is simply the best consulting book out there. The book is applicable to any and all levels of consulting. What is refreshing about it is that it hits on how most people will be successful in consulting - securing and working projects with corporate clients. This author is not pompous or patronizing and gives real advice. This book will help anyone in consulting get to their next level. It's very well written, incorporating numerous personal experiences, readable and spells out a common sense framework for an individual practice, a multi-person practice or for those, like me, who work for a consultancy.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical and applicable, November 30, 2009

By 

Doug Wick - See all my reviews

This review is from: 90 Days to Success in Consulting (Paperback)

This book is full of practical ideas for consultants. It is not one of those books that pumps you up, then leaves you wondering what to do next. It does not promise riches to those who aren't willing to work for it. There are a lot of questions answered in this book that can help those thinking of doing consulting, or who have begun, successfully embark on the consulting journey. My copy is fully dogeared, scribbled over and put to work.
If you get one consulting book, this is it.