Direction Finding
About to seek direction from a professional business advisor? Here is what to look for in an advisor to achieve the best outcome.
In my work with business owners, I’ve found that many make decisions on engaging professional advisors without sufficient consideration. Deciding to engage a professional advisor is actually a big deal. So why don't we give it sufficient consideration?
This could be due to time constraints, a looming deadline, a tricky issue that needs to be quickly resolved, or simply a result of pent up frustration that led to deciding to do something. Indeed, a few of my clients shared their negative experiences with professional advisors and unfortunately, the impact on them and their businesses were not small. So, I believe it's worth taking some time out and putting some thought into what to look for when engaging the professionals.
I have three simple suggestions that I hope will save you a lot of time, money, and most importantly, will help you get the best outcome for you and your business.
1. INVEST TIME TO ACHIEVE CLARITY UPFRONT
First, ask yourself why you're seeking advice? What's the situation you're in and what is your actual need? Understand clearly the type of advice you need and why you need it. Achieving clarity about why you are seeking advice will ensure you develop a clear brief and engage the advisor you actually need. This may seem obvious but if you take the time to drill down on your needs, you may be surprised at what the need really is.
For example, you may have been looking for a good commercial real estate agent because you're thinking about shifting and need relocation support. But did you stop to consider why you're shifting? Yes you say, we need more working space! We would challenge you to ask yourself whether you need relocation support, or whether what you actually need may be a specialist in space design to work out if your existing space can be reworked so you don't need to move at all - saving time and money in the process.
Once you've got clarity on the advice you seek, are you clear about what would constitute a successful outcome? Are you clear about the service that they'll be providing you? The services that you'll be happy to pay for?
For example, it is important that you are clear whether you are seeking directive recommendations that would give you the ability to make a clear decision on a problem, or whether you want them to present different options and leave it for you to decide which way to go.
Then, to make sure you make the most of your advisor, you'll need to do some work. I advise my clients to create a short briefing document. It only needs to be something simple, but by doing this it will clarify your thinking and help you make the most of the people you engage. We believe a briefing document should include the following:
• The problem that needs solving is... or,
• I need information about...
• A successful outcome is....
• I'd like to be kept in touch with progress on a daily/weekly/monthly basis.
• What do you need from me to give me the optimum outcome?
• The key milestones for progress are...
2. ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT COMMUNICATION IS A TWO-WAY STREET
All successful relationships are based on clear communication and setting clear expectations. It's as much your responsibility to provide a clear brief as it is for them to meet that brief.
When you set a clear brief and lay out your expectations, then potential advisors should be able to clearly tell you if they can meet your brief. Time and again we've learnt that a little work up-front and clear communication saves a lot of time and money in the long run.
3. LOOK FOR SPECIFIC QUALITIES IN YOUR ADVISORS
From what we've observed, professional advisors that provide outstanding services have the following key ingredients in common:
• Transparency - about their processes, about who is actually going to undertake the work, and most importantly, about what their fee structure is from the outset.
• Outstanding communication throughout the project - characterised by being frequent and responsive and using all different mediums. Good professional service providers call you, they don't just send emails.
• Experience - that is relevant for you, be it specialist or generalist, in any case, it is up to date and includes exposure to your specific situation.
• Execution (Reliability) - they do what they say they do and they are competent. The best way to determine whether your potential advisor possesses these ingredients is through conducting a thorough reference check. Ask the advisors to provide you with former clients that they worked with in similar situations. Then ask these referees the questions that are meaningful for you. You can use the list above to start the conversation.
It's interesting to note that some professional advisors don't view themselves as being in a service industry and often conduct themselves poorly from a service point of view. They aren't upfront about fees or answer your queries when it suits them and not to your timeline.
Lack of responsiveness is a common complaint. So setting those expectations upfront is important - including asking about fee structures. We've heard stories about situations where money was never discussed and nasty surprises happened, leading to commercial disputes and long lasting resentments.
A letter of engagement that incorporates the brief, milestones, fee structures and agreed outcomes is imperative to minimise the risk of this happening to you, and should be used as a touchstone for both parties. Try not to overcomplicate it and turn it into legalese, unless it's a highly complex project with significant financial investment - in which case it may be necessary to do so.
If you are a professional service provider reading this article, the interesting thing to ask yourself is: do you meet the above standards? That is, do you clearly articulate your value proposition, fees, communication level and terms of trade? You may not hear from dissatisfied clients directly, but as we all know, they'll tell their network.