The Ultimate Consultant: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner (Ultimate Consultant Series) [Paperback]

Alan Weiss (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0787955086 | ISBN-13: 978-0787955083 | Publication Date: April 2, 2001 | Edition: 1

The Ultimate Consultant--the first book in a series written for experienced practitioners--is filled with helpful interviews and vignettes from an array of successful consultants from around the world, and offers the templates, examples, information, and tools you need to transform your business.

This essential, hands-on resource includes:
* Forty tips that can increase your fees--tomorrow
* Ten tested techniques for springboarding to potential clients
* Information on how you can make money while you sleep with newsletters, audio and video, commercial and self-publishing
* Ten-criteria to test peer-level collaborators
* The simplest, most effective time management tool ever
* 50 techniques to enhance life balance

With this indispensable resource as your guide you can learn how to become an ultimate consultant and take your business to new heights!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a source of much wisdom..." (Supply Management, 15 November, 2001)

"...the methodical presentation of ideas, in a readable way, makes this book commendable..." (Professional Manager, January 2002)

“…if you want loads of useful advice…this is the book for you…”(Training Journal, July 2003)

Review

"Alan Weiss is the most successful consultant I know. When he speaks, I listen. You should too." --George Morrisey, author, Jossey-Bass "Morrisey on Planning" series

"Alan Weiss long ago learned the real secret of consulting:? It's about people, it's about relationships." --William L. Winter, Ph.D., president, The American Press Institute

"This highly readable book,written by one of the experts in the field, provides invaluable advice for the aspiring or current management consultant." --Victor Vroom, professor, Yale School of Management

"Alan Weiss is a consulting genius who attacks problems the way he lives life-with unconventional flair and a relentless intellect while delivering extraordinary results. The Ultimate Consultant captures all the reasons why I continue to call Alan time, and time, and time again." --Keith T. Darcy, executive vice president, IBJ Whitehall Bank & Trust Company

"The Ultimate Consultant is one of those books that anyone can read in 3 hours, but for its intended audience, it is a lifetime companion. Based on Alan Weiss' own lifetime as the Ultimate Consultant, his latest book gives the field-tested practitioner what he needs to know to survive and thrive forthe long term. As a graduate of Alan's mentor program, I have had the pleasure and the challenge of hearing Alan teach these principles one-on-one. In this book Alan captures the essence of what he motivates his mentors to do. His advice works and I have enjoyed the results of his recommendations. For anyone recommitting to consulting as their final career, this book is an asset. To the novice or part-time consultant, it is a future destination." --Andrew J. Birol, Business Development Expert and President, PACER Associates, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Pfeiffer; 1 edition (April 2, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0787955086
• ISBN-13: 978-0787955083
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 0.6 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #927,173 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Alan Weiss: Biographical Sketch

Alan Weiss is one of those rare people who can say he is a consultant, speaker and author and mean it. His consulting firm, Summit Consulting Group, Inc. has attracted clients such as Merck, Hewlett-Packard, GE, Mercedes-Benz, State Street Corporation, Times Mirror Group, The Federal Reserve, The New York Times, and over 400 other leading organizations. He serves on the boards of directors of the Trinity Repertory Company, a Tony-Award-winning New England regional theater, and the Newport International Film Festival.
His speaking typically includes 30 keynotes a year at major conferences, and he has been a visiting faculty member at Case Western Reserve University, Boston College, Tufts, St. John's, the University of Illinois, the Institute of Management Studies, and the University of Georgia Graduate School of Business. He has held an appointment as adjunct professor in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Rhode Island where he taught courses on advanced management and consulting skills. He holds the record for selling out the highest priced workshop (on entrepreneurialism) in the 21-year history of New York City's Learning Annex. His Ph.D. is in psychology and he is a member of the American Psychological Society, the American Counseling Association, Division 13 of the American Psychological Association, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. He was recently appointed to the Board of Governors of Harvard University's Center for Mental Illness and the Media. He has keynoted for the American Psychological Association on two occasions.
He is a 2006 inductee into the Professional Speaking Hall of Fame' and the concurrent recipient of the National Speakers Association Council of Peers Award of Excellence, representing the top 1% of professional speakers in the world
His prolific publishing includes over 500 articles and 25 books, including his best-seller, Million Dollar Consulting (from McGraw-Hill). His newest is The Million Dollar Consulting' Toolkit. His books have been on the curricula at Villanova, Temple University, and the Wharton School of Business, and have been translated into German, Italian, Arabic, Spanish, Russian, and Chinese.


He is interviewed and quoted frequently in the media, and is an active member of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists. His career has taken him to 54 countries and 49 states. (He is afraid to go to North Dakota.) Success Magazine has cited him in an editorial devoted to his work as 'a worldwide expert in executive education.' The New York Post calls him 'one of the most highly regarded independent consultants in America.' He is the winner of the prestigious Axiem Award for Excellence in Audio Presentation.
In 2006 he was presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Press Institute, the first-ever for a non-journalist, and one of only seven awarded in the 60-year history of the association.
He has coached the former and present Miss Rhode Island/Miss America candidates in interviewing skills.
He once appeared on the popular American TV game show Jeopardy, where he lost badly in the first round to a dancing waiter from Iowa.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 23 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just the right consulting book that needed to be written!, August 2, 2001

By 

Brian Walter (Redmond, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Consultant: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner (Ultimate Consultant Series) (Paperback)

I've read a lot of books on consulting. They're usually long on theories and short on examples. Not this one. Alan Weiss gives you DETAILS. You will want to buy this book for the dozens of case studies alone. These case studies aren't generic. They come with names, dollar amounts and interesting success and disaster stories. I found myself learning the best and most interesting way...vicariously through the experiences of Alan Weiss and other consultants.

Plus, Weiss gives you sophisticated how-to's. Again, not theories, but proven techniques that he illustrates how and why they work. I've been able to immediately apply many of the ideas in the book. Guess what? They DELIVER. I loved this book so much I am giving it to my consulting and "going solo" friends.

Like me, you may have read MILLION DOLLAR CONSULTING or MONEY TALKS: HOW TO MAKE A MILLION AS A SPEAKER, also by Alan Weiss. I found THE ULTIMATE CONSULTANT to be a great follow-up. The material was fresh and current. It expanded upon ideas in the previous books, and wasn't just a rehash of material.

The best thing is THE ULTIMATE CONSULTANT is the start of a series. If you buy this book, I guarantee you will be like me...eagerly waiting for the next book installment!

If you are serious about expanding your consulting business, this is the book you want. I believe that, which is why I am putting my name down for this review.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Same old Weiss, August 1, 2001

By 

Brad Rayburn (Los Angeles, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Ultimate Consultant: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner (Ultimate Consultant Series) (Paperback)

Save your money on this book because it's the same old Weiss books repackaged under a new publisher.

This hardback is the best looking book, aesthetically, that he's written. However, his content about passive marketing, upsells (books, tapes, etc.) and value based fees he's done already. (Strategies which most consultants already practice.) This advice is no different than Peter Drucker's work circa 1985 (See "Flawless Consulting") This book is supposed to be for "advanced consultants" but the basics of the book are no different than his previous books. I'd like to see some fresh content from him. Hopefully, this is not part one of a seven part series of the same old rehash from Weiss. Or worse yet, a series devoted to "consulting case studies."

Anyone need a used copy?

17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Weiss Points Us to the Obvious, August 31, 2001

By 

John E. Lincoln "www.jelincoln.com" (St. George, UT United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Ultimate Consultant: Powerful Techniques for the Successful Practitioner (Ultimate Consultant Series) (Paperback)

Prior to purchasing Weiss' new book, I saw the ratings and read the reviews -- then bought it anyway. Contrary to some comments that this is a rehash of his previous points, I found value in it. Perhaps I value these type of books differently than others. True 'there's not a lot new under the sun', and that is true of books on consulting. But consider this, especially if you're a practicing consultant as I am. I purchase books for 4 reasons that add value: 1)They discuss standards/laws/regulations; 2) They discuss basic techniques common to an industry/profession; 3) They discuss techniques the author particularly found valuable; and/or 4)The most valuable -- they provide positive affirmation that what I've chosen to do is worth doing, even when in a down period/slump. I believe that if you finish a book (or workshop/seminar) with one point that will be used, then the ($) for a book [or ($) for a workshop] is money well spent. And if the idea/point is one that we've seen before, but the way it's currently presented now causes us to finally ACT on it, then the value to us is incalcuable. All of Weiss' books cause me to act on a point or two. Hence its value to me. I look forward to others in the series.