Course: A Guide to Professional Consulting Part TwoFinding Clients and Securing Engagements

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Even while still employed by a client, a consultant is often found looking for his or her next project or is looking for an additional project he or she might even be able to complete while still working for the current client. Being a consultant means, in effect, to be always looking for work. As you mature as a consultant, networking to find future engagements will become part of your daily routineThere are several key components to this networking process.This part of the full 5-part consulting course drills down on these components to summarize for the student what he or she will be needing to do to find and secure future engagements.

Introduction

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To find opportunities and clients for future engagements, the consultant will likely be undertaking the following sorts of activities:Contacting previous clients to see if they have any new projects coming up that the consultant could assist with;Perusing project bulletin boards looking for larger scoped projects that the consultant might be able to become a part of;Contacting various head-hunters to let them know about your upcoming availability for work;Posting your resume and availability for work on head-hunting bulletin boards;Contacting various consulting organizations to build their awareness of you, your skills and your willingness to participate as a sub-contractor in one of their projects;Finding Engagement Opportunities

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Contacting other consultants that you have worked with in the past with a view to possibly collaborating together to undertake a larger scoped project as a team you put together for the specific engagement opportunity;Perusing news notices in industry trade daily or weekly magazines to see if anything is being posted there that might lead to a project opportunityLooking to see if there are any industry related trade shows occurring while the consultant is between gigs that he or she might attend with a view to both staying information current and to continue networking with attendees to the shows and with those running the booths at those events.Checking out various government project bid notification bulletin boards.Contacting friends made over the years who may know of some upcoming project where they might be employed.Finding Engagement Opportunities - 2

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Once opportunities are identified for projects, the nature of the project itself will determine how the consultant will work to try to become a part of it. It could entail as little as sending in a resume and your service chargeout rate to undertaking and spearheading the writing of a complete proposal, resourcing it, etc.Often the first hurdle to overcome when trying to secure a competitive bid project is to make the project short-list which brings the consultant to another set of tasks that need to be undertaken in trying to wrestle the project away from the other short-listed candidates. Then you get to the project price, resourcing and final scoping activities to be done with a client before an engagement letter can be completed and signed off on by all parties and the project can commence.Closing CommentsThank You for Watching this Lecture

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securing a gigDan Grijzenhoutsecuring a gig2016Business280752.0