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Organizing your business for success is imperative — that’s why I’ve decided to list two more traps to watch out for:

1.  TAKING A CLIENT OF QUESTIONABLE INTEGRITY

If you have trouble with “promises kept” at the beginning of a relationship, that is very unlikely to improve.  Personally, one test that reveal to me how ethically and predictable a client is going to behave is how they handle time .. when our first telephone appointment, meeting or consultation is arranged, are they prompt and on time?  If they cannot be respectful of my time then, they’ll be even less respectful during the relationship and a person who does not respect another persons time cannot, in my experience, be trusted in other matters either.  I don’t want to be stuck trying to work with somebody who can’t even keep simple appointments. 

Another thing is money.  If the first retainer check is a problem, it’s suppose to arrive FedEx on Wednesday, but it doesn’t, then there’s a “story” about why it didn’t, then it comes in the mail instead of FedEx as agreed — look out!  If you have difficulty getting the payment agreement honored at the very start, you can only expect more trouble later.  And I’m just not interested in having to jump through hoops to get paid.  

2.  THE “KNOW-IT-ALL” CLIENT

When a client is hiring me for my specialized knowledge, I expect them to pay attention to it, value it, and act on it. Intelligent questioning is fine, but argument is not.  Some people actually want their consultant to agree with them and stroke their egos.  And you can actually get paid to do just that.  But the relationship will be short-lived and is not based on real value.

Also, if your consulting compensation features commissions or royalties tied to results or similar arrangements, as some of mine does, then having clients who do not implement and follow-through is not only frustrating, it’s not profitable.

3.  TAKING ON WORK YOU REALLY DO NOT HAVE TIME TO DO

Anyone who lives in the world of billable hours/project work –consultants, attorneys, accountants — is frequently tempted to agree to impossible deadlines, overload their plate, then respond to crisis while delivering everything late.  It is an understandable temptation.  We all get caught from time to time.  But you should be very aware of your workload and commitments, realistic about the number of hours required by a project, and do your best to stretch out the deadlines and commitments in your favor.  Keeping commitments is a “make or break” characteristic. 

The small business growth paradox.

Every organization has personnel issues that require an immediate and accurate response. Employment regulations can be confusing and change constantly, making it nearly impossible for employers to stay informed.

There are often peaks in recruiting activities that require immediate attention, but the cost of hiring additional personnel to meet only today’s needs places small businesses in a serious dilemma. Such commitments to these short-term needs require expertise, but hiring experienced personnel is expensive. Hiring inexperienced personnel results in lost time due to the level of research required before the inexperienced personnel are properly prepared to meet the immediate demands.

What is a company to do?

Consider using a seasoned HR Consultant to help you. With an experienced HR Consultant, there is little to no time required for researching what to do or what best practices to incorporate into the current circumstance. HR Consulting professionals often cost less than hiring administrative support staff full time and are often able to commit to your company for longer periods of time.

Let’s look at these advantages closer.

Commitment: A good HR Professional is often sought after within any growing job market. Therefore, your experienced HR Professional is subjected to several job offers because of the high demand of this stressful career path. When faced with significant pay increases and possible circumstances better than currently experiencing, they often owe it to their families to consider other offers, even if they are content where they are.

Most HR Consultants have already been through this struggle and are seeking to be more devoted to one or two loyal clients that need their help getting the company established or to fill in for key personnel during absences. This kind of mutual commitment is beneficial to the business and also to the consultant.

Cost Considerations: This one is easy! Hiring any full time employee is expensive regardless of their experience level. You must consider the total fringe cost, which can often range from 30% to more than 50% of additional expenses for medical insurance and other insurance plans, worker’s compensation, social security, taxes, medicare, unemployment insurance, etc.

Aside from these expenses, you also have to factor what level of experience you are paying for when hiring a full time employee. Less experienced employees often spend such exorbitant amounts of time trying to learn the job that productivity of their time suffers. Their lack of experience ultimately costs the company more money. When employees have the extra time to improve their career skills, some employees choose to surf the internet or use their time for personal interests rather than preparing to be more successful the next time they are required to stretch outside their knowledge comfort zone.

An HR Consultant is often a seasoned professional that can perform a variety of functions with minimal research and often without needing guidance. HR Consultants can be utilized for short projects, start up phases, during absences of other full time staff or even by the hour if you simply need professional council. HR Consultants are in business to help save you money!

In a day and age where nearly two-thirds of enterprise value is originating from intangible assets alone, the future value of businesses, especially those which are knowledge driven, will largely tend to be concentrated in the ways in which firms manage and acknowledge these value creating assets. Branding in a knowledge driven business like real estate consulting is a fairly new concept. In this article, I discuss why real estate consulting firms should adopt the practice of brand-building and how this in turn can enhance their long term value and future growth in a market like India.

After the slump in the mid-90s’, real estate firms are back in action into what can be called as the biggest housing and commercial real estate booms in the history. This time the bubble seems to be growing consistently and until it pops, the business may just keep looking better. While some investors may insist that the growth is too much too soon, there are many who believe that the growing real estate sector is not due to any irrational exuberance but a vote of confidence in resurgent India. The demand for real estate is at a all time high. The Ernst & Young report recently pegged the Indian Real Estate market at $12billion and estimated a consistent growth of over 30 percent a year in the next 5 years. In addition to this, the government’s move in opening up the real estate sector allowing 100 percent foreign direct investment in the construction and development has already spurred huge investments.

As ‘expansion’ becomes the latest buzzword within corporate India, one can hardly predict how long will this trend continue. With the growing number of high net worth individuals, the booming spend-thrift middle class population and the massive inflow of multinational corporations, the demand for real estate is sky-rocketing. This growth can largely be attributed to five key catalysts of change: Favourable economic environment; increasing purchasing power; increasing financing options; favourable reforms initiated by the government and growing professionalism. Given the chaos and action in the realty sector, there is no doubt that real estate consulting firms will play a major role in meeting the growing demands.

As demand pushes up, so will the number of competing players in the market. Not to forget that these will be in addition to the already established thousands of realtors in this market. So one can only imagine what it’s going to take for a new firm to make it big and to make is fast. The challenges are emerging from different quarters, namely big firms such as Tamwell Crow Meghraj and Colliers International which are looking at becoming one stop shops, individual experts who have vast experience of the realty business, online experts such as 99acres.com, management consulting firms such as PWC, financial service companies such as IndiaBulls, ICICI, HDFC etc. As more and more players foray into this business, what will ultimately happen is a shake-out where the industry will get rid of the quacks. Only those that are able to build a strong credibility in the market will survive.

To many marketers, branding a real estate consulting business may sound too farcical. This is because most believe that branding benefits only those who deal in tangible goods. And since the business of consulting is not product driven, brand-building at best may accrue to word-of-mouth marketing. But aren’t we missing out something here? If knowledge driven businesses such as Infosys, Intebrand and Mckinsey & Co. can all invest huge sums on money on brand building initiatives, then why can’t a real estate consulting business do the same? If knowledge like tangible goods is transferable from one party to another, the why question the former under the pretext of intangibility?

Real Estate consulting firms in India have long engaged in head-to-head competition in search of sustained, profitable growth. They have fought for competitive advantage, battled over market share, and struggled for differentiation. Yet in today’s overcrowded real estate market, competing head-on results in nothing but a bloody “red ocean” of rivals fighting over a shrinking profit pool. The only key to success and survival in this market is not to out-perform the competition, but to create a new uncontested market space, thereby making the competition irrelevant. Hence, the three building blocks of branded differentiation that real estate consulting firms must adapt are: value innovation, tipping point leadership and robust delivery process.

As intangible assets (especially brands) contribute over two-thirds of the enterprise value for any business operating in the service sector, shouldn’t it be given top most priority in corporate boardrooms? Well, for most companies, branding is still not a strategic priority. It is a part of marketing and is often seen from a profit and loss perspective. Real estate consulting firms must understand that with internationalisation of the market and the tightening of competition, customers now have a lot of choices available. Today’s mantra is not about being the ‘first choice’ of a customer but rather the ‘only choice’. In other words, a successful real estate consulting brand would be one that becomes the only source of reference for customers as far as buying, selling or leasing a property is concerned. But this is easier said than done.

Realty firms must build for long-term and aim for developing a strong brand equity (reputational value), rather than just a brand image. Only then will it be able to create an uncontested market space and compete effectively and profitably even at times of market downturns. Firms must remember that building a brand generally takes a long time and requires a strong commitment from the senior management. A brand may easily be destroyed if the firm is not acting according to its brand promises. All people, processes and key activities must be aligned with the brand promise. Real estate firms must realise that brand is not worth building up for mere pleasure, but it must bring benefit, for example increased customer base or higher returns on investment. The best brands – whether consumables, real estates or services – are always desired. They may also be exported around the world. A good brand will reclaim the promise, keep the customers satisfied and get them to repurchase your brand over and over again.

A final word of advice:

Building strong brands has nothing to do with being recognized widely on mass media. It has everything to do with dedicating your entire organization to excellence in every little transaction you conduct, internally or externally. However big or small you are today, the future will belong to only those who create a strong reputational value. So my proposition to all you realtors out there is to set global standards in everything you do and make way for your brand to lead your business.

For anyone that is working on the internet the idea of having a private coach and consultant sounds like heaven. Just imagine having your very own pay per click consultant that can train you in the ways of marketing on the internet with this very productive way to make money. This is one of the hardest ways to do business on the web but you can make a lot of money and if you have a consultant that can teach you the ways of the wise, you can be very productive.

1. Constant Changes.

The internet changes constantly each and every day so it is important to know how to keep up to date with the new rules of the game. Having the Wealthy Affiliate as your pay per click consultant you are going to know how to keep up with the race of the web. If you have the right approach you are going to be able to create a campaign that will not dry out your resources and leave you with no money. This consultant can keep your bank account in the black instead of the red.

2. Learning The Right Things.

There are things that your pay per click consultant is going to show you so that you can avoid pitfalls. Some of the things that you need to learn are getting started with a plan of action for your PPC campaign, having a website that will actually convert for you, know how to market Yahoo and even Bing. All of this is very important from your consultant so that you can build a proper site that will be productive.

3. Getting All The Info.

You want to know that your pay per click consultant is going to give you all the information that you need in order to have a constructive and productive site. It is possible for you to start making upwards of $100 or more a day within just a few short months with the proper guidance. As you can see, a pay per click consultant can be very beneficial.

Many prospective clients have fears, reservations and trepidations about hiring a consultant or service provider.

1. Incompetent.

Many potential clients believe that the “consultant” can do talk a great talk, but not be able to walk the walk. In other words, be able to deliver on time, and within budget, and to the required standard.

2. Uncontrollable

Many have reservations that the consultant, coach or adviser is competent but too authoritarian, too direct or too controlling. Many prospects have reservations about handing the reigns or giving “freedom” to a “self-directed” coach.

3. Fees are too high

With the help of Google, and the internet, prospects can easily shop around, and compare, as they often are wary of not getting the ROI they want, and they certainly don’t want to think they’re paying “over the odds”. Simply concentrate on demonstrating the value, and that the solution costs less than the problem

4. Admission of weakness

Some don’t want to hire you as they see it a kind of weakness in their area of expertise or in the perception they’ve built up with regards to their reputation.

5. Not enough time

Some don’t want to hire you for fear that you are or will spend too much time with other clients and they don’t get their “money’s worth”

6. Confidentiality

Some prospects have a fear of losing sensitive information, plans, or product details to competitors. Many worry about consultants and advisers not respecting their confidential systems, processes and intellectual property. A non-disclosure, or non-circumvention, agreement and of course a contract can deal with those issues.

7. Symptoms not Causes – Consultant

Many prospective clients are concerned that the consultant won’t diagnose or correctly identify the root cause of the problem.

8. Symptoms not causes – client

Many prospective clients are concerned that they themselves incorrectly diagnose the problem and give the wrong information or brief to the outside consultant, so that the outside consultant spends time, effort and resources working on the wrong problem, wrong end of the stick, or on an area that is not the real issue or priority.

9. Lack of impartiality

Prospective clients don’t want the consultant to drive their own agenda that could cloud their objectivity to the detriment of the client. The client wants to know that the consultant always has the client’s best interests to heart. Identifying and fixing one problem, shouldn’t necessarily mean an open ticket to creating more work for themselves.

10. Dependency

Many prospective clients don’t want to have to be dependent on the consultant or service provider indefinitely. Quick question – who owns your business’ domain name? You or the hosting company or website designer? What happens when there’s a fall out? Some clients who compensate on a contingency basis or a results basis, once the results start, they often don’t want to continue to pay the royalties, commissions that they agreed with the consultant.

Food for thought.

Regards,
Fraser J. Hay