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When a business hires a consultant to help with its internal processes, a few things can make or break the relationship. The consultant needs to have a good sense of what the business wants to accomplish, and they need to have an effective plan for getting there.

 

Consultants provide much-needed insights into your business operations. Depending on their area of expertise, they might be able to help you identify areas of inefficiency, create new ideas, conceptualize new marketing strategies, revamp your employee relations, or do other important work.

 

Businesses want to get a measurable ROI when they hire a consultant. Here’s how to make sure that happens.

 

Pick the right one.

 

This might seem obvious, but it’s not as simple as it sounds.

 

You want to pick the right consultant for your business. That doesn’t mean just choosing the cheapest option and hoping for the best. It means taking the time to look for a person who shares your company’s core values, understands what you’re trying to do, and has valuable information about how to do it.

 

The more you work with the consultant, the better your results will be.

 

Implement suggestions right away.

 

Your consultant’s job is to make suggestions for how to improve your business. That’s why you hired them. You trusted enough in their expertise to have them look at your operations and give constructive feedback.

 

As soon as you get the suggestions, it’s time to implement them. There’s no time to sit around pontificating over cost-benefit analysis. At the very worst, if the changes somehow end up disastrous, you’ll know it truly wasn’t right for you.

 

Ask questions throughout the entire process.

 

Your consultant has valuable expertise to share. In addition to giving you an actionable plan for your business, they can give you tips about approaching your structure in the future. You have the opportunity to learn the basics of what they do, if only you’re willing to ask.

 

It also helps to ask questions about the plan itself. What effects will this change have? Are there any potential risks? Who will benefit the most? How soon will we start seeing results? Stay on top of the project, so you know when it’s working.

Scott Gelbard