
Ramit Sethi and Patrick McKenzie on Getting Your First Consulting Client - ananthrk
http://www.kalzumeus.com/2012/09/17/ramit-sethi-and-patrick-mckenzie-on-getting-your-first-consulting-client/
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patio11
Happy to answer questions, as always.

Ramit and I recorded three of these interviews on starting consulting
businesses, although we have poor message discipline so we couldn't resist
talking product as well. The next one is about pricing. (It could be "Charge
more!" for an hour, but isn't, although I hit that theme a few times.)

On a related but unrelated note, my usual podcast with Keith Perhac (and
special guest Brennan Dunn next time) also is going to be a consulting-
stravaganza next time. We talked the origin stories for our three consulting
businesses (I run a sole-prop consultancy as roughly a 20% time project, Keith
runs a small practice, and Brennan runs a fairly large many-people-at-full-
time-utilization consultancy) and what we've learned along the way about
hiring, pricing, cashflow management, chasing invoices, pipeline, and all that
fun stuff.

My totally subjective opinion is that, if you're a freelancer or consultant,
any one of these will be _probably_ more useful than the entire rest of my
blog put together. If you liked any of that, you'll like these, probably a
lot.

~~~
bdunn
Plug: My new book on freelance/consulting pricing that Patrick, Keith and I
discuss in next week's podcast is available for $20 off using the discount
code "patio11": <http://doubleyourfreelancingrate.com>

~~~
gavingmiller
Plug for Brennan's plug: This book is amazing. I've increased rates by +$30/hr
with the advice in this book. If you send invoices to clients BUY THIS BOOK.

~~~
autophil
Not to be a wet blanket, but I recently increased my hourly rate by $50 and I
didn't need to read a book. I just decided to bump up my rates. And I did.

If you provide value, and you're good at what you do, why not ask? If it's
because you can't handle being told no once in awhile, maybe Rejection
Therapy[1] is the best way to go. The game can be applied to all aspects of
life, not just getting higher hourly rates.

[1] <http://rejectiontherapy.com>

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grueful
"Statistical significance is irrelevant when you’re doing customer research."

There is a time and a place for carefully-written Likert surveys with control
questions and large samples. Psychological research, election polling.

Customer research is about learning the realities of someone else's world.
What you're aiming for is more a structured conversation than a statistical
survey. Are you both speaking the same language, are you overlooking any major
cultural or procedural factors, what _emotional_ _responses_ occur repeatedly
and what triggers them?

~~~
bloodredsun
It's the difference between empirical research and phenomenology and one of
the things that makes Psychology a) a bit woolly compared to other sciences
and b) a lot more interesting.

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tomkinstinch
When establishing a consulting relationship with a client, what do you
typically do contract-wise? Do you call up your lawyer and have something
prepped on a per-client basis, do you use a slightly modified template, or do
you operate on a more casual handshake sort of agreement? How specific are the
terms you generally work out?

~~~
paulmckeever
FWIW my firm uses a set of standard terms drawn up by our lawyer. They're very
carefully thought through and it means we know exactly what we're getting into
with each client.

Doing this once wasn't that expensive. We try and avoid renegotiating with
each client on anything important, because it tends to be an expensive, time
consuming process and nevertheless changes are never in your favours:(

Where we've done work without a contract it has a much higher probability of
problems arising.

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tocomment
One question about finding clients. Would it be worth offering a referral fee
(5 or 10%) for people who find you work?

~~~
pc86
Obviously not the OP but I'd like to offer my experience. I've told every
client of mine they'll get a 15% payment off any referral's first contract
(ongoing if it's a retainer), and offered the same deal to many friends who
know the business I'm in.

I haven't gotten a single call or email about it. If people like you, they
will refer you to everyone who will listen. If they don't, they'll talk bad
about you to even more people. Offering a few hundred dollars or even more is,
in my experience, not going to sway them one way or the other.

~~~
tocomment
Yeah, that's what my instinct is telling me too.

Have you tried offering professional recruiters a referral fee? I wonder if
they'd work double hard getting a fee on both ends? Or is that just not done?

~~~
pc86
Never tried it, but I've also never met a professional recruiter who knew
anything about our industry.

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itmag
Anyone know which customer retention e-book RS is referring to?

