Wide-eyed, desperate and impressionable is no way to do busi

Try this thought experiment. You're in your car, stuck in traffic, but it's not on the highway. It's in a parking lot. The concert just let out, or the football game just ended, or maybe the last of the fireworks were just shot off. Still a traffic jam, but different for two reasons?you don't have to stick to the road and everyone around you is trying to go, in the short term, to the exact same place: the exit. Multiple lines of cars and brake lights form a confluence there. It's like being stuck behind a giant Atari logo. But then the guy in front of you breaks off from the line, U-turns, and drives in the opposite direction, moving free and joyful and undaunted like an empty checkout counter had been opened just for him. Does he know something everyone else does not, or is he just foolhardy? And be honest - how much do you want to follow him?

As Consultant-News.com writer Malcolm Sleath discusses here, stressful situations cause people to seek the guidance of some authority. But that authority may be more perceived than real. Insecurity causes people to be "swayed by what they think other people are doing." Thus, Sleath says, a consultancy's past record with a client becomes more important than ever. Consistency of time, effort and success over the years can do wonders in shoring up that doubt and panic. And it can't hurt to play up to the perception of authority - it's "dark suits and 'diplomas on the wall time. '"

Sleath suggests that firms present themselves as "the pathway to access a scarce resource. This could be finance, or market share, or technical advantage." The client must also be reminded that the future requires safeguarding, even if the task of putting out fires in the present seems to be taking all available energy. Survival means little if there is no recovery.

The ultimate message for consultants: take action. Exhibit your best capabilities, prove your continued worth to the client, and don't leave them stranded. Because if they follow the wrong leader, they'll be a long, long time getting back on the road.

-Posted by Brandon Wilkerson