From Elizabeth Parsons:

Some finer points on consultant culture

Allan Tsang is a consultant, but you wouldn’t know it by his friendly, unassuming demeanor. 

“Consultants,” he told me at a recent glitterati event celebrating the area’s technology community, “don’t give out business cards. It’s just the opposite of what you would think. Business cards say ‘salesman.’”

“Nor do they shake hands.” Allan extended his hand to demonstrate. I reached out to accept it, and instead he wrapped his fingers gently around my elbow, leaning in. “’Let’s talk,’” he said, in his best consultant voice, deep and serious. “Follow me over to the table.”

Such is the upside down world of “marketing” for the crème of the crème consultant. The best ones are like those elusive, sexy strangers hovering around the edges of the party. You might hear about them - but never will the accolades stream from them. Blatant self-promotion is tacky, the telltale sign of a wannabe.

Most area techies know Allan for his 88owls.com, which the entrepreneur describes as “eHarmony for business,” matching companies eager for seasoned, reliable consultants with “the one” (or ones). Each consultant is carefully vetted; they must prove they’ve been in the game at least 10 years. 

I just passed the 10-year milestone in writing, PR and marketing, but I don’t do mysterious well.  And I’m not ready to burn the business cards that emerged after a 12-hour brutal battle of the wits with my printer. But for those ready to join (or access) the “in” crowd, give Allan a shout. 

Since, for now, I'm more comfortable with the “freelance” moniker, I've been checking out oDesk.  I've joined a smorgasbord of fellow freelancers who offer their services at competitive rates.  Like in any free market, I've got to do the  leg work to construct my success - but oDesk sure does it make easy for me to find work, and for work to find me. 

Video credit:  Z. Kelly Queijo 

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Elizabeth Parsons is a seasoned editor, writer, and communications professional.  You can follow her on Twitter at @e_claire_p.

Allan Tsang founded 88owls, the online business consultant-matching service, at the beginning of 2009.  His personal network of fellow business consultants became the foundation for his company which has grown to over 300 consultants from 27 countries. His business-to-consultant matching technology allows the client to seek out the best possible match for the company. 

The advantage of hiring a consultant from 88owls? “Our members have seen it all and done it all - there is no learning on the job,” Tsang said.

Video credit:  Z. Kelly Queijo, a frequent contributor to Handshake 2.0. 

Allan Tsang has written guest blogs posts offering business advice to readers of Handshake 2.0. He is the founder of 88owls.com, a community of business consultants with more than 10 years of industry experience. 88owls.com matches business consultants with businesses seeking consulting services.  You can follow 88owls on Twitter @88owls.

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From Allan Tsang, 88owls.com:

A business owner built up his family business.  In order to prepare it for sale, the fact that it was hugely profitable was not attractive enough to buyers.  They wanted a stand-alone "product."  He hired and worked with a management consultant to help streamline and document all processes in order to make himself "obsolete/redundant."

Once that was in place, the owner - who once worked 60-70 hours a week - was able to do his job in fewer than 30 hours a week.  The business was able to outsource many of its non-essential tasks and delegate the others.  The owner started to have time to pursue his personal passion - shooting skeets.

What happened for the business owner as a result of hiring a consultant was that he saw new options and opportunities.  He liked what he did and felt, after all, he did not have to sell, although he still could.  It was the workload that killed his passion and his love for his work.  He had come to believe many of the things he did were tasks he could not entrust to others.  He believed others didn't care as much or did not do the task as well as he did.

He invested $15,000 in a consultant but he bought back in just one year 1,500 hours of his own time.  That comes up to about $10 an hour and his billable time was about 10 times that.

With every year that goes by, that initial investment looks more and more like a wise decision.  Not to mention the ability to have his initial passion for his business restored, time to pursue his hobby, and to spend more time with his family...now that is invaluable.

He's become a very good skeet shooter.

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Allan Tsang, a guest blogger for Handshake 2.0, is the founder of 88owls.com, a community of business consultants with more than 10 years of industry experience. 88owls.com matches business consultants with businesses seeking consulting services.  You can follow 88owls on Twitter @88owls.

From Allan Tsang, 88owls.com:

How does a business know it can afford a consultant in a recession?

A colleague and friend asked me this a couple of days ago. All I was thinking was…wow…  Where do I start?

Anyone who has read the book Who Moved My Cheese?: An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life knows that in a recession, it is time to “sniff” out new “cheese” and to scurry. The old way of doing things may not work in the immediate-to-near future anymore.  Things change so fast even for a “young kid on the block."

But I would say this.  The same reasons a good consultant may help you in times of plenty are the same reasons they can help you in these lean times.

You can look at consultants as an expense, like a vacation or a movie, or you could look at them as an investment.  How much is a good idea worth?  How do you reward that in an equitable way?  Any time you can expect a financial return on a decision, it is an investment.  So essentially you are investing in the consultant.

Reasons to hire consultants in tough times:

1. Unlike an employee, they hit the ground running.
2. No need to teach them their jobs – they usually can teach you something new.
3. No need for benefits – sick days, holidays, workers’ comp., personal days, vacations.
4. Different way of thinking – sniff out new cheese.
5. Broader experience – if they have more than 10 years.
6. Unbiased perspective because they are not mired in the politics of your company.
7. Work still needs to be done – they are easier to let go of once the job is completed.
8. Consultants are connected to other businesses and may be able to help network and draw more business to yours – whether they are vendors, customers, or partners in joint ventures.
9. Consultants worth their salt would want to see your financials. They can implement effective cost and profit controls and analyze and develop an effective and profitable margin mix, as well as work within a budget.
10. One of my favorite calculations (not necessarily applicable to start-up ventures) on whether a consultant is worth it or not is this:  In 12 months, can he/she help bring in a 3:1 return? If that can be identified, I would be a fool not to start scurrying...

...anyways, that’s it for now, I’m off to sniff out some cheese of my own.

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Allan Tsang is the founder of 88owls.com, a community of business consultants with more than 10 years of industry experience. A client of Handshake 2.0, 88owls.com matches business consultants with businesses seeking consulting services.  You can follow 88owls on Twitter @88owls.

From Allan Tsang, 88owls.com:

One thing we all despise is having someone lie to us. Here are a few ways to help you determine when someone is lying to you - or at least not telling you the whole truth.
 
A common sign of partial truth-telling - or lying - is when people do not look you in the eyes. 

Another more reliable but less known clue is when you ask a question that requires a visual recollection.  If they look towards their right, chances are they are accessing their creative storage shed (therefore either lying or not telling you the complete truth).  However if they look to their left and upwards, they are accessing their visual memory bank and therefore trying to recollect facts.

These signs, however, cannot be taken out of context. Subtle changes need to be taken into account.  In other words, you have to do a calibration beforehand...

How do you calibrate?  You ask a few non-essential questions and watch for responses.  Look for motions or changes in position such as a finger over the top lip, a crossing of the arms, of the legs, a shift in posture, leaning back.  This is stuff poker players study...the "tell."
 
Try it when you are having your initial interview with a consultant. 

In fact, try it on your kids.

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Allan Tsang is the founder of 88owls.com, a community of business consultants with more than 10 years of industry experience. 88owls.com matches business consultants with businesses seeking consulting services.  You can follow 88owls on Twitter @88owls.

From Allan Tsang, 88owls.com:

In this economy, how do you pick a consultant you can trust?  Here is how business experts pick business consultants when they've got problems to solve: 

Maturity.  Maturity may not be counted in years, but it can help.  Time is a great teacher.  Why?  Because you want to benefit from their mistakes so you can avoid them. 

Wisdom comes from experience, experience comes from mistakes…that means the more mistakes they have made, the better.  It usually means their advice is more than theoretical.  They have been tempered in the fires of success and failure.

Questions...questions...questions.  Do they ask more questions than give answers?  Their job is to ask great questions to help draw forth the right questions for you and for your company.

I do not count on consultants to hand me the solutions on a silver platter.  My business is unique and so will be the solutions.  By answering their tough questions, I will inevitably come up with great solutions because I know my business better than they do.

Accountability.  They establish this with you when they say what they do and do what they say.  I realized very quickly people are better talkers than they are doers.  Calling you when they say they are going to, being on time for meetings, getting the information they said they were going to get...those are all signs of accountability.

Do you like them?  Yes…like!  Can you have a conversation with this guy or gal?  Is he or she your equal? I do not want a parent figure to advise me.  Can I share my problems, issues and concerns comfortably?  This is a gut thing.  Call it trust or whatever you like.  But once the other above three criteria are in place, what else is there?  I want someone who cares for me and my business; just not so much.  After all, we're not family.

Industry knowledge.  Do they have it?  This is a plus but not always necessary with a consultant.  If they have a lot of industry knowledge but it's NOT broad, forget it.  They would be much better as a subject matter expert or consultant. If they have a lot of experience across the board AND also in your industry, that is better.  Avoid the consultant with with only a hammer.  All your issues start looking like nails.

Allan Tsang is the founder of 88owls.com, a community of business consultants with more than 10 years of industry experience. We match our members with businesses seeking consulting services.

From Allan Tsang, 88owls.com:

This is a tough economy.  We know that.  Now what can you do for your company?

I am a big believer in gathering as much information as I can before making a decision.  And once I decide, there is no stopping me.  This is a double edged sword.  The saving grace is I make far more right decisions than mistakes.  Looking back, some of the best decisions were those I made alongside advisors, those that have been there and done that.

I recently had to develop a recruiter package for 88owls.  It was great to get the input I needed from someone who was a headhunter/recruiter.  His input was invaluable and would certainly help us develop a strong value-added-service to all parties on 88owls.

Knowledge is great.  Theories are fantastic.  I can have a cup of coffee with you and talk about ideas all day but when it comes down to strategizing, there is nothing better than discussion with advisors that have the experience and skills to back it up.

In today's economy, making mistakes is not a luxury anyone can afford.  The best way to reduce errors and make the best possible decisions is to get good advice from industry experts. 

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Allan Tsang is the founder of 88owls.com, a community of business consultants with more than 10 years of industry experience. We match our members with businesses seeking consulting services.