CIB.06 (CREATING A CONSULTING / IMPROVEMENT BUSINESS) MONETIZING YOUR PRACTICE - WILLIAM EASTMAN

OK, time to talk money. Today we pull everything together with the concept of a value ladder.

INTRODUCTION
Business Model known Cornerstoning or Product Pyramid.

OBJECTIVE

1. How to create a consulting value ladder?

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Don't Sell Individual Services - Build Bundles
Accept the fact that how much you used to charge for consulting services (selling time) is passed. That doesn't mean you cannot make good money, you just need to be smarter about how you mix products and services with pricing. Use our model of a 3 or 4 Levels in your Value Ladder. My recommendation is to make your Level 1 or Basic Offer all or predominately product, and the Level 3 or Advanced Offer predominately Services. That leaves the center - Level 2 or the Core Offer as an intelligent mix of both.

Bundle Based on Your Value Ladder
Lets pick up the conversation on the topic of Bundling. When it comes to your offer it is critical to spend time working this out. See our show on building an asset based consulting company.

Automate Non Personal Functions
Start with Value Mapping your consulting process and how much of it can you automate? I will not presuppose your consulting methodology so I'll use ours as an example. We have a 3 Phase Process with a series of Steps in each:

• FOCUS: Assessments, Surveys, and Interviews to determine the root cause of their reason for hiring a consultant and helping them prioritize solutions to mitigate or eliminate the problem;
• IMPROVE: Training, Coaching, and Consulting to close the Gap between today and where they need to be, and;
• TRACK: Measuring progress for course corrections to achieve the desired result.

I can automate the majority of the assessment and survey (FOCUS) process using Survey Monkey or even google Forms. I can provide the Report Feedback using a method called Survey Guided Development using Zoom or google Meet. During the IMPROVE Phase I can build Training Courseware using Zoom and handle the Coaching and Consulting with a combination of Zoom and Slack. As for TRACKING, using google Spreadsheets you can build a Scorecard that measures progress and share the document with the appropriate personnel. Using google Meet you can hold meetings on the data and make adjustments to the Project Plan - also of google Spreadsheet.

What can't you do?

You cannot walk the property and get the feel of the place and people. All organizations have a frequency to how it works. It is critical to understand that as well as digging deeper than an interview. It is finding the undiscussables - the things that are so hot that nobody can even admit it exists let alone discuss. You cannot even gain a glimpse of this from your Zoom or Meet interviews.

I could on but it would be redundant. If you automated some of the areas just stated and internally priced these low and internally priced your visits higher based on the Bundle, the customer is paying a flat fee for a solution and you're making reason $$$ for your talent and time.

WHAT YOU NEED TO DO

1. Make a list of everything you know
2. Organize the list into potential products and services
3. Further refine and finalize the products and/or service list
4. Create a spreadsheet or table with the products and/or services in the roles
5. Label your columns by level and the chosen delivery method (there is more but let's keep it simple - you get the idea)
6. Complete the spreadsheet or table
   1. Build Level 2 first - a Bundle
   2. Build Level 3 second - A Bundle
   3. Build Level 1 third - An Single Product or Service
   4. Build Level 0 - the teaser last
7. Some questions to ask your self
   1. Can you sell Level 2 - The Core with a 60% gross margin and as 80% of total sales? - The 60/80 Rule
   2. If your client buys Level 2 does it do everything they need or is there something missing?
   3. Does Level 3 cover everything you can do or deliver?
   4. Is Level 1 enough to meet expectations with 1% more than they expected?
   5. Do you Breakeven at Level 1 on the offer?

Example

Offer	L0	L1	L2	L3	Media
Hosts	Interviewed (FREE Guest Slot)	Weekend Podcasts ​($500)	Variable Slot ​($1,000)	Fixed Spot ($1,500)	Recording & Live
Advertizers	IBGR Brand Building (FREE Spots)	1 Play per day Locally ($275/mo)	3 Plays per Day Locally ($820/mo)	1 Play per Hour Locally, 1 Play per Day Globally, Monthly Guest Interview ($2,200/mo)	Recording & Live
Members	Member of LinkedIn or Facebook Groups (FREE Specials)	Access to Tools f/Shows    ($100/yr)	Access to Entire Tool Suite ($1,000/yr)	Fractional Executive $6,000/yr)	Social Media, IBGR Platform, Incubator, Accelerator

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COMMENTS
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