How Not To Fail as a Consultant

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February 6, 2005 by Dane Carlson | 0 Comments

An anonymous computer consultant shares his tactics in this gem of a newsgroup post from 2003:

I always take the approach that no problem or question is stupid. And I make sure the client knows this.

I always give a verbal summary of everything I’ve done in as plain of English as I can when I finish a job.

I always leave two more business cards with a client when I finish, and explain that I’d appreciate any referrals they could give me.

I do NOT do cold-calls. I don’t do cold-visits. I DO targeted customized letters to business owners, but that only accounts for about 15% of my business. The rest is referrals and repeats.

I always call to follow up the day after a major job.

I do NOT charge for phone support.

I do NOT charge for travel time.

I do NOT charge for a follow-up visit the day after a major network change (for instance I installed a W2K server last week, and thought I was done to find the next day that the backups didn’t work. The return visit to fix that problem was no charge.)

I send thank-you cards after payment is received.

I give NET-10 terms to businesses, and COD to individuals.

If I’m not doing client work on a given day, I dedicate that day to marketing efforts (letters, press releases, networking, etc.)

I do NOT rely on web marketing, however I do have a crisp website.