RTM Consulting
Soft Skills: The True
Life-Blood of a Healthy
Consulting
Organization
A Guide to Developing a Well-Rounded Consulting Staff
Mark E. Sloan
Chief Operating Officer
RTM Consulting, LLC
855-786-2555
info@rtmconsulting.net www.rtmconsulting.net
RTM Consulting
© 2010 - 2012 RTM Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. Just-in-Time Resourcing® is a registered trademark of
RTM Consulting, LLC.
SOFT SKILLS: THE TRUE LIFE-BLOOD OF A HEALTHY
CONSULTING ORGANIZATION
A Guide to Developing a Well-Rounded PS Staff
BACKGROUND
Professional Services and Consulting Organizations are often quite proud of the technical expertise of
their personnel – and deservedly so. It is common to hear things such as “Sue is the best technical
architect – there is nothing she cannot do with this product.” At the same time, how many of us have
seen situations where the great technical resource:
Rubs the client the wrong way?
Does not proactively close out issues with a client?
Cannot seem to effectively communicate key messages?
Avoids identifying up-sell opportunities?
In this whitepaper, I will explore what the PS organization can do to enhance the “soft skills” of its PS
practitioners and ultimately drive more value to both the client and the PS organization.
WHY IS THIS A PROBLEM?
The key to this issue is related to the “Customer Experience.” Anyone who has been in a retail
environment in the past two decades has gone through a designed customer experience; take Starbucks
for example. The customer experience is designed by Starbucks to satisfy the various attributes its
customers enjoy.
The concept of a customer experience is no different in the business to business environment. As your
professional services resources are deployed in the field, they are not simply performing technical tasks.
Rather, they are: 1) the face of your company to the end client; 2) your eyes and ears into new
opportunities for your company’s software and services; and 3) creating a lasting impression (good or
bad) in the minds of current and future buyers.
So, while your recruiting process identified great technical talent, and your training programs educated
the new hires on the intricacies of your product, it is very likely that you have not prepared your
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professional services resources to effectively operate and interact with the most important people to
your business: your customer.
DEVELOPING A WELL-ROUNDED PS STAFF
They pyramid is an often discussed shape in the consulting and professional services industry. As RTM
Consulting thinks about developing professional services practitioners, the pyramid is an apt metaphor.
TYPICAL SKILL CONTINUUM DEVELOPMENT
As consultants enter an organization, they typically come with the requisite Technical Knowledge and
organizations will then train them on their specific Product. The training is very often well thought-out
and extremely thorough. As it should be – no one wants to put someone without a depth of product
knowledge in front of the customer.
As these practitioners develop and get staffed on a variety of projects, they start to pick up skills based
on experience. They see how project managers operate, how to put together a work plan, and how to
address an issue. Additionally, they are handed templates for issue management and status reporting.
In effect, they learn by doing. Generally they do a decent job, but in reality, it is a little bit of luck that
determines who succeeds and who does not.
Lastly, for those consultants that keep developing skills, if they are fortunate, they will find a mentor
that can help them truly become a “trusted adviser” to their client. The nuances of communication
these folks develop help them navigate difficult situations; explain difficult and challenging topics to a
client in a way that the client not only understands the issue, but also the implications. Additionally –
and more importantly – mentors help these fortunate few practitioners understand how to identify and
capture value. Yes the word dreaded by many consultants: SELLING. Not selling in a used car sort of
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way, but rather, identifying client pain points and opportunities that your software and services can
address.
PROACTIVE SKILL DEVELOPMENT
The challenge to the Traditional Skill Development approach is that it leaves too much to chance – for
something that is so critical to your business. Delivering a satisfactory – if not outstanding – customer
experience requires that your consultants be able to address all layers of the skill continuum.
I started my career with a Big 6 consulting firm with a comprehensive training facility. Sure, I learned a
great deal about technology and analytics at this facility. However, there is one key lesson I learned that
which sticks with me nearly 20 years later. Bear with me while I share the story – as it points to the
benefit of proactively addressing skill development.
The course was designed around “successful client relationships.” I was a young consultant, 1 or
2 years on the job, doing a “role-play” exercise with a client; keep in mind that the session was
being videotaped so that my peers and I could review and critique performance. Needless to say,
I walked into the client’s office: 1) aimed to please; and 2) confident that I would excel at the
exercise. After the standard small talk, we got down to business.
The client explained that they were very happy with the project and the progress that the team
was making. We talked about how the project was going to streamline their business processes
and save them a fair bit of money. The client indicated there were a couple of more things that
the application needed to do – and it would help drive further cost benefits. “Could you make
sure this list gets addressed?”
“Absolutely!” I confidently replied as I walked out of the office.
Any idea how this turns out? All of my peers and I failed miserably at achieving the real goal. I had just
agreed to perform $1.5M of scope creep. Fortunately, it was done in a safe environment – and it did not
result in a cost overrun. The remainder of the course was focused on identifying, practicing, and
internalizing the appropriate way to deal with these client situations.
Scope management was not left to chance. Neither should any other layer of the Skill Continuum be left
to chance.
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The Professional Services Skills Continuum highlighted above identifies the core skills required to
develop a well-rounded consultant:
Skill / Capability Area
Project Management
Issue Management
Scope Management




Communications
Identifying &
Capturing Value

Core Skills
How to effectively manage through difficult projects – and there are typically
no easy projects!
Navigating issues – and turning difficult situations into a demonstration of
your problem solving capabilities.
Successfully defining, managing, and navigating scope expansion.
Appropriately communicating both good news and bad news (there are
different methods for delivery) – and successfully engaging the client in the
overall project process.
Overcoming the fear of the word “sell” and developing a capacity to create a
compelling value proposition that addresses a client need.
My early experience at the Big 6 Consulting firm – as well as my work with a number of Consulting and
Professional Services organizations – indicates that you need a formal program that includes a
combination of lecture, case study, and experiential learning. As in any classroom setting, you need to
explain the “theory” of what you want the Practitioner to learn. Typically this is best delivered by
experienced Professional Services personnel so that the theory is coupled with real life examples;
making the course a rich mix of both theory and experience. In order to ingrain the lessons with the
student, I have found that integrating case studies into the lecture can have significant impacts. Done
right, case studies force the student into an experiential learning process. That is, they have to think and
act like they were out in the field. Since the material may be new, it may be uncomfortable for them –
this is good. They are in a safe environment, where experimenting and trying new techniques can help
them better incorporate the learnings into their own behaviors. Lastly, do not end the education at the
end of the lecture and case study. Create follow on forums (e.g., brown bag lunches, monthly
conference calls) where the students can come together and discuss how they are applying the lessons
they have learned. These follow on forums have multiple benefits: practitioners get to hear what
others are doing – giving them the confidence to try the same methods; in a safe environment you can
discuss how you might potentially address a situation and gain the feedback of others; and you force the
practitioners to continue to think about the lessons learned so that it is not “just another course” that
was attended then disregarded.
CLOSING
We have all heard the phrase, “It is much cheaper to keep a customer than it is to find a new customer.”
Yet, most organizations invest more money in chasing new customers than in doing the things required
to create a positive customer experience. By proactively addressing the Professional Services Skills
Continuum, consulting and professional services organizations can prepare their front-line personnel to
better manage client relationships, deal with difficult client situations, and proactively identify new
“win-win” business opportunities.
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ABOUT RTM CONSULTING AND THE AUTHOR
Cincinnati-based RTM Consulting provides strategic and operational advice to assist technology
companies with increasing revenues and margins by leveraging professional and consulting services
more effectively. Specializing in Resource Management and Professional Services Business
Optimization, RTM Consulting helps IT hardware, software and pure consulting businesses achieve the
benefits associated with successful professional and consulting services portfolios. With its unique Justin-Time Resourcing® solution and Business Acceleration Services, RTM Consulting helps large, medium
and small firms move beyond theory to practical application of industry best practices and achievement
of exceptional results in the shortest possible period of time.
Mark E. Sloan is the COO of RTM Consulting. Mark is an industry pioneer with respect to defining and
deploying Global Resource Management processes for Consulting and Professional Service Operators.
Mark is a frequent speaker at professional services industry events. Prior to his current role as COO and
Senior Founding Partner of RTM Consulting, Mark held a number of executive consulting and
entrepreneurial roles with Accenture and Convergys.
© 2010 - 2012 RTM Consulting, LLC. All rights reserved. Just-in-Time Resourcing® is a registered trademark of
RTM Consulting, LLC.
RTM Consulting, LLC
855-786-2555
info@rtmconsulting.net www.rtmconsulting.net
6
RTM
Consulting
Company Capabilities Overview
Our mission is to help consulting, professional and support
services organizations get better at what they do
The Challenge
Who We Are
Technology service providers and
other human capital intensive
service
organizations
including
hardware, software and consulting
companies, internal shared service
organizations
and
outsourcing
entities all know that efficient
management of human capital,
project processes, and other service
delivery and go-to-market related
processes are key to market
success.
RTM Consulting provides strategic and operational advisory services to
technology companies and other industries to assist them in increasing
revenues and growing margins by leveraging consulting, professional and
support services more effectively.
Today’s
challenging
business
environment makes running a
services business highly dependent
upon having lean and proven
business and operational processes
designed for peak performance.
The Solution
Our unique combination of decades
of
services
and
outsourcing
operational experience coupled with
solutions targeted to the services
organization allow us to work with
large, medium and small firms to
move beyond theory to practical
application of industry best practices
and achievement of exceptional
results in the shortest possible period
of time.
Contact Us:
www.RTMConsulting.net
What We Do
Strategic Planning Services - We use our extensive leadership experience to
help services organizations build the right strategy and operational model to
make value creation a reality.
Resource Management - We help you focus on ‘Getting the Right Person in
the Right Place at the Right Time’ with our Just-in-Time Resourcing® (JITR)
solution.
Project and Portfolio Management –Our unique PMO/PM frameworks will
help your organization efficiently run projects on-time, on-budget, with
consistently excellent quality.
Services Business Optimization - Our skilled practitioners help you identify
and implement best practices necessary to transform your services business
into the most efficient and effective operation possible.
Skills Development/Training - We enhance the soft skills of your consulting
and professional services personnel to complement your product, business
and technical knowledge. We also offer training in project management,
resource management and other services based disciplines.
PSA/PPM Consulting - We provide an objective third party assessment and
assistance in choosing the right automation solution for your needs – and
assist you with implementation to achieve the benefits of your investment.
Outsourcing Advisory Services - We assist both providers and consumers of
outsourcing services with Strategic Sourcing Consulting, Resource
Management Strategies, Business Optimization, Skills Development and
Training, and Resource Management/Project Management Automation.
Value Realization Services - Our unique Value Realization Framework enables
you to help your clients close the technology consumption gap by accelerating
adoption of your products full range of features and functions.
How We Do It
Our highly disciplined management consulting and operational services
include:
Rapid Diagnostics to identify opportunities to improve business performance.
Implementation Services to make solution implementation fast and effective.
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Business Planning Services to turn your vision into a realistic operating plan.
info@RTMConsulting.net
Business Acceleration Services to accelerate your time to value with RTMC
solutions.
Copyright © 2007 – 2012 RTM Consulting, LLC. All Rights Reserved.