We are all consultants, and everyone is a client

We are all consultants, and everyone is a client

It does not matter what position we occupy in our career, we are all consultants. The sooner we realize this the better off our careers will be. I do not care if you are in accounting, facilities, or sales; the fact of the matter is we are all consultants. We have different clients, some are internal and others are external, but they all should be treated as valuably.

In today’s marketplace, many people do not realize their destinies are in their own hands. Sit back and observe how a consultant treats their clients. If they have achieved even a modest level of success, you will see strong relationships being forged with each client. This is how consultants eat. If they do not maintain relationships, then they do not maintain clients. No clients equal no billing, and no billing equals no food. The consultant’s life is focused on relationship building by fulfilling the needs of their clients and maintaining a high level of respect, understanding, and courtesy.

Many employees do not bring this attitude into the workplace, and they are doing a disservice to themselves. No matter where we work inside of a company, we have clients. Our clients may be our fellow employees or the actual customers of the business. Having a consultant’s mindset of relationship building with clients will lead to greater success and achievement. Focus on client needs and help them to achieve their goals. This increases your value to the organization and creates strong relationships that will benefit you throughout the years to come.

Nobody knows where they are going to be in ten years or even in six months in this wonderful economy. Your network will grow as time advances and building strong and lasting relationships can lead to tremendous opportunities in the future. I see many people that focus on building relationships either up or down the corporate ladder, or worse yet, believe their technical skill is sufficient for advancement. This is incredibly shortsighted and can be lethal to ones long-term success. Relationships should be built at every level of the corporate ladder and technical skills are frankly the entry ticket to the modern workforce. Relationship building and solving client needs is the mechanism of advancement.

The wise career minded person stays focused on the needs of their client and helps them to succeed. This mindset will lead to lasting success, and remember when somebody succeeds everyone who assisted in the success will get credit for the achievement.

3 thoughts on “We are all consultants, and everyone is a client

  1. once you are an expert, everyone is your client… you know everything on a particular field, right? then be the help for those people who lack the knowledge on that particular matter…

    1. Thanks for the comment,
      I have always advocated that people should act like a consultant long before they achieve expert status. It is not so much about the knowledge, as it is the attitude of helping other people and building strong relationships. For many years, I was a consultant, and I focused heavily on relationship building and solution development. I have found the same attitude, or method, applies equally as well as an employee. I want to help my colleagues to succeed. When they succeed, and I helped, I share in the credit and develop strong lasting relationships. I believe this is pivotal to my long-term success.

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