What makes a consultant effective?

A good consultant is a skilled and intuitive communicator with a wide vocabulary. They know when and how to bring a complementary tone to a customer's environment and can communicate their experience through a variety of media. As oral communicators, they are effective presenters capable of stating points in a clear and concise way. Be confident When meeting with customers, make sure that you don't show uncertainty or appear uncertain in the answers to your questions.

Specifically, when talking about sensitive issues for your customers, present yourself as confidently as possible and avoid giving a confusing or insecure answer. It's a good idea to take on additional projects from your customers. Let's consider the hypothetical case of an engineering consultant who is modeling in 3D for a client. The customer can request 2D designs, some technical diagnostics and an advanced design.

If the consultant feels comfortable in these spaces, he can save the client a headache by offering to do all of these tasks for him. Great consultants adapt easily to new projects, work cultures, and colleagues. They arrive, adapt and do their jobs. Their interpersonal skills and technical experience allow them to take up their roles quickly and easily.

Consultants bring fresh vision and, as such, can offer surprising ideas that can solve problems and boost the client's business. Whether you've just started a consulting job or are considering it as a professional career, think about how you can develop the following qualities that will help you move from being a good consultant to an excellent one. Discovering the nature of the company you are in, the challenges it faces and the communication style used are important tasks to listen to that lay the foundations for effective consulting. If you need more help growing your consulting business or understanding digital marketing, get your free copy of The Download today.

Part of the nature of consulting is to dedicate itself to companies where there are established ways of doing things and challenging the status quo. If consulting is an area you're interested in, keep in mind that regardless of discipline, it's a people-driven business and, if you have and develop key characteristics, you can have a long, rewarding, and successful career.