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Shadowing a Management Consultant by John Rossheim The following article appeared on Monster.com in May 2000. It was based on Mr. Hosmer's journal for May 18th augmented by a follow-up interview by Mr. Rossheim. In developing sales and marketing programs for clients, one of Bradley Hosmer's key techniques is to act on information elicited through interviews with his clients' customers. And as a management consultant, he always stays in close touch with his clients and prospects. In other words, he practices what he preaches. Hosmer's Beta Consulting Group, based in Concord, New Hampshire, has racked up about 200 consulting projects for 50 companies since he started in 1987. Before going independent, he was vice president for industrial marketing and strategic planning at AMF and a consultant at Booz-Allen & Hamilton. But what do management consultants really do all day? Do they provide mission-critical advice to corporations' executive teams? Do they roam around factory floors, counting beans on a clipboard? Or do they just accumulate billable hours and ringup reimbursable expenses? Hosmer, a certified management consultant (CMC), takes us on a tour of his day: [From Hosmer's journal] 6:30 a.m.: Got an early start to the day, because the schedule is full. 8:30 a.m.: Hustle to the office and compose a follow-up note to a potential client. He appears to be a good prospect, but the project is taking time to develop. It turns out that his contact at the client, a New Hampshire engineering services firm, recently became the company's president. Hosmer will keep tabs on the situation and try to cultivate this developing business opportunity. Although Hosmer has many repeat customers and a well-developed network, he typically spends about 15 percent of his time on prospecting and marketing his services. He manages his time by tracking every minute and assigning every task to a category, such as marketing. 9:00 a.m.: I check over my write-up describing another client's new technology that's going through the patent process. My role is to help the client market the technology for sale to a major company. Working with the inventor and the patent attorney, we develop a description that contains no confidential information, including a sort of chemical formula without the numbers. In this project, Hosmer can call on his broad experience in executive management. Here, the specific demand is to create a communication with a strong marketing message that will also pass muster with finicky lawyers and technologists. Management consultants are often called on to tackle demanding tasks like this one. 9:30 a.m.: Meet with a local client who is introducing a specialized employment service. We review market research findings, discuss the results of interviews with potential customers of the new service and begin to lay out ourpreliminary findings. We'll come up with an action-oriented sales and marketing plan based on the research. Hosmer doesn't just offer advice based on his experience; he frequently does his own market research, in collaboration with the client, to discover how the client can best exploit the market opportunity. This builds credibility with the client anddelivers more effective solutions. 11:30 a.m.: I jump back into my car and head south toward Massachusetts for a lunch meeting. 12:50 p.m.: Arrive early for lunch with a manufacturer's rep who is being considered by one of my clients. The client is a specialty manufacturer that has launched a new product line for a new customer base. But the client hasn't really thought the whole thing through; the client doesn't have a plan. The rep and I discuss his business, my client's needs and how the two might converge. After a couple of hours of talking, I'm prepared to recommend this rep to the client. In traditional industries like manufacturing, many executives haven't come to grips with change management. Hosmer helps his clients navigate the rocky shoals of risk that invariably emerge. "Quite often I face these dilemmas with clients," Hosmer says. "If we don't change, we fall behind. But if we do change, we risk something." 3:00 p.m. Head back to the office at a moderate pace. It wasn't always so. Back in the late 1980s, when Hosmer launched his independent consultancy, "I got four speeding tickets in six months" traveling between clients, he admits. 4:00 p.m.: Clean up my email, answer phone calls, square away the mess on my desk and call it a day. How does the future look to Hosmer? "Clients are recognizing that it's harder to sell and market your products than even a few years ago," he says. That's fine with management consultants. After all, their business is helping clients meet their customers' needs, and those customers are getting pickier by the minute. Bradley E. Hosmer, CMC, heads The Beta Consulting Group in Concord, NH, specializing in improved sales, marketing and new business development for generating profitable growth. For further information please contact Mr. Hosmer at Beta Consulting. |
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