Building Consultative Partnerships  

Simply put: we want to help move each of our Client’s internal and external Client relationships away from Transaction Driven Relationships and into Long Term Consultative Partnerships (“LTCPs”).  

Client Relationships typically fall into one of four types: 

1. Transactional
2. Commercial
3. Advisory
4. Consultative Partnership

The first two are essentially price driven.  An Advisory relationship means that you become one of perhaps several advisors that a given client uses in a specific field.  Price is less of an issue but still figures.  Your referral power is limited because the client sees you in a limited Role in your main field of expertise.

When you develop a Consultative Partnership, the Client seeks your advice about any and all aspects of his/ her business. 

There are three main strategic benefits to this Client Management Model.  These are:

1. Once you have moved your Role from a “Transaction Driven Relationship” into a “LTCP” you are viewed by clients as a critical avenue to their success.  This perception enables you to maximize your profits because price is no longer the main driving issue. 

2. Your “Team Work” with the client improves vastly and as a result, you can move “up the Food Chain” from lower level manager to Senior Economic Buyer (i.e., the person who “writes the cheque”) and- as a direct result- you are no longer selling “Process” (i.e., how you get the job done) you are selling “Solutions Delivery” (i.e., providing viable solutions to client’s problems). 

3. Your relationship with the client becomes one of “Trusted Advisor.”  This not only eliminates much of the “politics of business,” it also creates an “instant” barrier to entry against competition.