Adaptable new
Features for APAPT
Unlike traditional software products,
award-winning ADAPT becomes adaptable to customer needs before ADAPT becomes
on-line. The following examples are
typical of some of the new features that came from our customer ideas:
The Marketing List Generator has
been completely updated, providing extra features plus a new look and
feel. The Marketing List Generator
incorporated quite a bit of invisibility; the user could focus on included
aspects or excluded aspects of selected shows, but could not see both at one
time. The new look and feel uses a tab,
or folder, based approach with each tab associated with a specific show
aspect. Now the user can view both
included and excluded values for the same aspect at one time. However, for those who like the status quo,
we have left the untouched original – the classic version – version in
ADAPT too. The classic version, however,
does not have any of the new features.
The Marketing List Generator now
incorporates ad campaign processing. Any
list may be associated with an ad campaign.
Afterwards, new lists can be created using association, or lack thereof,
with a campaign. This feature allows the
user to precisely pinpoint those potential attendees based on information
previously received or not received.
The Marketing List Generator now
lends itself to company-based list generation.
The user may set a threshold value.
All attendees who meet other selection criteria and belong to a company
that falls within this threshold are automatically added to the list; other in
companies who exceed the threshold are placed on a list, allowing the user to
select who will be included. This helps
the user minimize marketing expense by allowing him to select key players
within a company who can in turn spread the word about an upcoming event.
The Marketing List Generator now
allows more than one show to be selected for list exclusion. Previously, only one show could be selected
for exclusion, which required users to sometimes come up with novel list
merging to produce the desired results.
The Show Tracking report has been enhanced
to allow tracking by registration code, or codes. This allows the user to track registration
for specific target groups. Also, a
forecast feature has been incorporated, allowing the current registration trend
to be compared to a desired trend.
Using
Consulting Firms for Profitability
By Tom Chenault
Now that our consulting practice is nearly 14 years
old, we have developed a pattern of attributes associated with successful
consulting engagements. These
observations have led us to come up with the following conclusions on how
outside consultants and companies can work together as a partnership.
Define the project in terms of return on investment.
We make sure that the client will benefit in terms of return on
investment, or we simply cannot embrace the project. If the client is not
sure, in business terms, of the expected returns of a project, then the project
will not be a business success for client or consultant.
Years ago, we helped a hotel resort client save $1.5
million per year in long distance telephone cost – which was their pre-project
estimate. Actually, the client knew the
return on investment and savings before the project began. Our fee of $18,000 could seem high to some
prospective clients, but quite reasonable to a client who already did the
homework.
For a landfill operation, we created a new system for
managing dirt usage. Information from
this system enabled the company to reduce dirt usage by 42% saving $120 million
over a period of 18 months. In this
case, the client knew ahead of time the consulting and system development would
be beneficial. However, none us of quite
realized it would be that
beneficial. The results were a very
pleasant surprise for everyone.
The best consulting firms will not
take a project unless they perceive a reasonable return on investment for the
client and the consultant, in terms of both revenue and reputation. The profit fuels the consulting firm by
making more training, experienced personnel, marketing, computer hardware, and
software possible, which further benefits the clients. The reputation provides more business
opportunities.
Understand
expectations and make sure they are realistic before any work takes place.
Reliable, accurate estimates regarding the scope of the project are
necessary. Calendar deadlines should
also be realistic. Prospective clients
should be wary if a consultant makes unrealistic claims in terms of low
estimates or short timetables.
It is not uncommon for a prospective client to
underestimate manpower or time requirements for a project. The best, independent consultants are unmoved
by political pressure to pursue impractical deadlines or a fixed bid
project. They will argue for reasonable manpower
and timetable estimates, and if the chasm cannot be bridged, they withdraw from
the engagement rather than suffer the consequences for accepting an
unrealizable task. They will not lower
themselves to become a commodity.
A simple engagement letter between consultant and client
should be drawn up to state the consultant will give best effort and the client
will pay for the best effort. This
agreement should include language that the consultant promises not to disclose
important or sensitive information.
Constant communication between the consultant and
client is imperative. Successful projects are never developed in a
vacuum. Many projects fail because the
client did not make at least one person with a good understanding of the
project’s goals available to the consulting firm for questions and
guidance. Many projects fail because
consultants assume they know better how things are done, and will not seek the
client’s advice. This is
tantamount. All the project management
courses and paper certifications in the world, which are overrated, will not
make up for poor communication skills due to personality.
Certification from a non-profit organization should be preferred over certifications from a vendor. Paper certifications from software and hardware vendors may reflect some degree of competence in a specific technical area, but can compromise objectivity. For example, a consultant with one vendor’s certification may be likely to recommend that vendor’s solution when another vendor may be more appropriate. Vendor certifications are very expensive to consultants and are a revenue and promotional boon to vendors. Who really benefits? A true professional certification comes from a non-profit organization, but even that is meaningless unless a code of ethics is stressed. For example, the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC) has made a very strong effort to stress a strict code of ethics with their Certified Management Consultant (CMC) designation. This distinction between non-profit certification and vendor is very important. Imagine a medical doctor being certified with a specific pharmaceutical company, but not by the American Medical Association. Imagine a mechanical engineer certified in Carrier when Trane may be better for an office building. Keep in mind it’s fine for a professional to represent a product, as long as this affiliation is stated up front. Consultants must avoid conflicts of interest and will disclose to a client any conditions that might impact their objectivity.
Make sure the consulting firm has reasonable
experience and rates. This may seem an obvious point, but there are
many pending lawsuits where consulting firms have not delivered what was
promised. Lack of delivery is usually
due to of lack of experience. The lack
of experience is a result of poor recruiting procedures. If a consulting firm lacks the right people,
it is a poor long-term business strategy to take on a project, hoping that
somehow things will work out.
Some larger firms, to support high overhead and high
partner salaries, have actually resorted to low cost, inexperienced personnel
and inflated rates. Improper off-shoring
is the latest tactic.
Recently, a well-known Big 5 consulting firm was sued for
$100 million for breach of contract and fraud.
The client felt that the large firm “oversold, over committed and under
performed, and didn’t have the technical competence or the experience that it
represented it had. As a result, the
project was doomed from the start.” The
scope of the project was grossly underestimated, which resulted in large budget
overruns. The big name consulting firm
may lose this lawsuit (for once), since their inexperienced staff left behind
electronic mail messages discovered by the client. The e-mail messages bore sufficient evidence
indicating a deficiency of staff competence and experience. The sad thing about this episode is that the
consulting firm chose short-term profit over developing a long-term
relationship, causing them to pay a large price in reputation. Even if the consultants had been competent, the
e-mail messages clearly indicated that they did not really care about the
client’s best interest. They only cared
about meeting the firm’s objectives, which was solely profitability.
Doing
the right thing is the best business strategy.
In the book True Professionalism, written by David Maister, a
professional is defined as someone who simply cares. Professionalism has nothing to do with
technical skills. “Very few
professionals become known by their clients as ‘great’ purely as a result of
technical abilities. The opposite of the
word professional is not unprofessional, but rather technician. Professionalism is predominantly an attitude,
not a set of competencies. A real
professional is a technician who cares.”
In other words, doing the right thing is not only ethical, but also the
best marketing strategy regarding professional services. With this in mind, smaller firms should be
considered. They are staffed by seasoned
professionals who take on the values not associated with some of the larger
firms. Smaller firms normally do not have the larger economic appetites
associated with the larger firms, where additional overhead and high partner
salaries are the rule, not the exception.
Quotes Worth Noting
“Congress can
raise taxes because it can persuade a sizable fraction of the populace that
somebody else will pay.” -- Milton Friedman
“It stands to reason that where there's
sacrifice, there's someone collecting sacrificial offerings. Where there's service, there's someone being
served. The man
who speaks to you of sacrifice, speaks of slaves and masters. And intends to be the
master.” -- Ayn Rand
“If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it
Fed UP?” -- George Carlin