- Recommendations need to be presented
in a clear, concise, and compelling way.
No matter how great your recommendation is,
if you can't convey it in a way
that gets the client to take action,
the engagement has been a waste of time.
I've outlined a common approach used
by many major consulting firms
in my course on getting your ideas approved.
This approach is good
for management consulting types of engagements,
but it can be applied more broadly
to other consulting engagements as well.
You'll need to think about three things
when sharing your recommendation.
First, select the right format.
When presenting your findings and recommendations,
ask the client what form they want the recommendation in.
Some will want a presentation.
Others will want a memo.
Other deliverables could be a model,
a portfolio of work, a website, or a formal report.
Different industries have different expectations.
Be sure you know what those expectations are
going into the engagement.
This is definitely something to spell out
in your contract and in the statement of work.
Second, get the right people in the room.
It's not enough to share a report and end your project.
To have impact as a consultant,
your ideas need to be implemented.
That requires execution by client personnel.
When appropriate, have your team,
including team members from the client side,
present the findings.
Get them together at the same time
so they all hear what questions there are
and what decisions are made.
Having everyone on the same page increases the odds
that your idea is executed.
Third, present the right information.
Leave behind work that can be understood
and used for implementation.
The more complex the recommendation is,
the more detailed your report needs to be.
When I worked for a major consulting firm,
we were doing a large facilities remodel for a client.
The report format we used was a presentation and a binder.
In that binder, there was a Gantt chart
that spelled out all the specific tasks
that needed to happen for this facilities upgrade.
We also left a presentation
for the board of directors and the CEO.
We provided the right information.
Every department had its own plan.
We had detailed financial projections
and implementation timelines for every department.
The result was the client completed the facilities upgrade
on time and under budget.
They then captured the expected value from the project.
Remember, thorough, high-quality, and error-free work
is the true mark of consulting excellence.