January 13, 2024

What if I can’t guarantee the outcome the client wants?

If what you do is upstream from a client’s desired business outcome, then you probably can’t credibly guarantee delivering it.

For example...

Let’s say you are a branding consultant, and the business outcome that the client wants is a 50% increase in sales revenue.

You could do a stellar rebrand for them, but for dozens of reasons outside of your control, the rebrand could fail to increase their sales revenue by 50%.

What sorts of things?

Things like the sales team walking out, the CEO being ousted in a scandal, the loss of a key customer, the loss of a key supplier, new regulations in their industry, etc.

Here’s the thing...

The client has chosen to spend their time talking to a branding consultant with regard to their desired sales increase.

The question is, “Why?”

And that’s the question I would try to get answered in the sales interview.

I might ask things like:

“Why talk to a branding consultant to increase your revenue?”

“In your mind, what’s the connection between your branding and revenue?”

“Why not just hire more salespeople instead of a pricey branding consultant like me?”

“Let’s say we do the rebrand, and you love it. What could go wrong after that might prevent the revenue increase?”

If you get convincing answers to these questions, you’ll know what the client thinks your contribution to the desired outcome will be, and you can guarantee that.

Yours,

—J

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