Types of Consulting

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The first major type of consulting projects I take on are related to developing and delivering training  seminars related to interpersonal influence, selling, and sales coaching. These seminars work best in a 2-3 day format, typically occur at a site of the clients choosing, and include both instruction and experiential role playing exercises (video recorded with coaching comments provided). These seminars are often customized to the clients needs, but some prior seminar topics include:

• Basics of professional influence - what does it mean to ethically persuade someone? Focuses on listening skills, asking great questions, and respecting the psychological decisions processes of those you are attempting to influence.
• Advanced, adaptive selling techniques - with the basics covered, how can you adapt your influence techniques to best suit your target and objectives? Focuses on understanding multiple methods of selling and engaging in each method in the right situation.
• Sales coaching and management - why is managerial authority insufficient to drive results from your employees and what is needed to be more effective? Focuses on applying influence principles to essentially "sell" to employees and co-workers.
• Self management - how can an inability to manager oneself undermine one's efforts to influence or manage others? Focuses on concepts and tools to aid in motivation, time management, and more.

Sample of Training Clients - Past and Present

• Amsan
• Arthrex
• Be.Creative House / Bumble and Bumble
• Coton Colors
• Interline Brands
• Neill Corp / Aveda
• Salonbiz
• The Salon People / Aveda

The second major type of consulting projects I take on are related to research and analysis. When a firm is experiencing a persistent problem related to enhancing sales performance, improving sales training, or reducing employee turnover, we work together to analyze both primary and secondary data sources, sometimes even actively running field experiments, to uncover potential solutions. These projects are wholly customized, but some examples of previous efforts include:

• Sales force competency analysis - what are the drivers of sales performance in a specific company and which of these drivers represent room for improvement? Useful in informing hiring and training decisions.
• Sales force training needs assessment - which reps need training and what type of training do they need? Useful in better allocating training budget - simultaneously reducing costs and improving results.
• Adaptive sales playbook analysis - which sales tactics work better or worse in specific situations (i.e., specific customer types, decision stages, etc.)? Useful in avoiding the trap of "one size fits all" sales methods and optimizing return on selling effort.
• Manager-rep interaction analysis - which manager behaviors or styles are effective with some reps but not others and how can we pair managers and reps more effectively? Useful in informing placement decisions and reducing eventual turnover.

Sample of Research and Analysis Clients - Past and Present

• Amazon Web Services
• Ball Seed
• Banker's Life
• Bazaar Voice
• Ecolab
• Gartner
• Royal Bank of Canada
• Royal Canin
• SAIA
• The Salon People /  Aveda
• Vantage Point Performance