Communication techniques for a consultant

Ninety percent of Americans use customer service to decide whether to do business with the company. I often thought of customer service as someone on the phone helping the customer solve their complaint or issue. Only after learning more about business communication did, I realize the importance of communication in service business. Communication is not limited to delivering a message; it’s about managing and maintaining relationships with your staff, customers/ clients, and stakeholders of the organization. This blog will share some strategies to communicate effectively along with tools and techniques that a consultant can use for the suggested communication strategy.

A prevalent strategy that we use with clients is verbal and written communication. These days, especially post-COVID, verbal communication has changed, so there is no need to be physically present to conduct a meeting. Platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams have made it very easy for us to preschedule discussions with clients, send meeting reminders and RSVP options to the invitee. Verbal communication is the most effective communication method with clients because it ensures immediate feedback and enables deeper discussion on the subject matter. Hence, the client and the consultant can clearly understand the project or the subject matter. As a team leader for my group project, I communicated verbally with my team members to ensure no misunderstanding about the project objectives. I also used Microsoft Teams to schedule meetings that involved discussions because there would be immediate responses to any ideas or suggestions proposed for the project.

Written communication, such as e-mails, text messages, notes, and posters, can be used as a record for future decisions. Maintaining a consistent form of the past documents can serve as a reference to have a compressive idea of the events in the past, along with the reasoning behind every decision. However, when it comes to consulting or client business, Conversations that require input or feedback from a client can delay the decision-making process because the receiver may not respond immediately. Nevertheless, written communication in management consulting can be applied when there is a need to mass communicate, make an announcement for the client, and establish a clear source of authority through contracts and legal agreements.                                                   

As a management consultant, one must communicate internally with the team to produce desired outcomes to meet clients’ needs and requirements. In some situations, one may require an additional skill set to fulfill clients’ requests. In these situations, many organizations prefer outsourcing to hire employees on contractual agreements. With such changes in the consulting industry, it is best to adapt written communication for contracts and use signatures for verifying the sender. This strategy would work best for communication within the organization as there is potential to communicate with clarity. Sending information and instructions through work e-mails can serve as a reference for the client for a later duration. Clients can always go back to see what they were asked to do without having the consultant send multiple messages.

Essential stakeholders for a management consultant include clients, team members, other employees, contractors, oversight agencies, and the public. The right communication strategy depends on the situation and the information being communicated to the stakeholders. If the client wants to know the prediction of product sales, then using a visual aid in the report can help interpret and understand the information in a much simpler method. For internal stakeholders, using verbal communication can ensure proper understanding through quick feedback. Written communication aids in delivering the message or the information clearly and concisely. Using tools such as e-mails and group text applications for written communication increases the chances of the client reading the message within 24 hours as the notifications are displayed on the phone screen until opened, making it hard to miss.