Reason one on why it’s important to have a mentor to get your consulting business to the next level.
So you can expand your vision, see the big picture and see it clearer. A good mentor will frame things down to essence of the idea and help you get rid of the clutter.
Isn’t this what we do for our clients? We provide ideas, solutions and alternatives. In the opening post of this series I discussed the importance of marketing – all the time. This is one of the most confusing areas for most consultants. Here are three reasons how a mentor adds value in this area.
- Vision – While teaching a class on getting a consulting business to the next level I abruptly interrupted one of the students when, while discussing marketing, compared marketing to “real work.” I boldly stated, “Marketing is real work because you don’t get to prove your expertise and provide value if nobody knows about you.” Shedding a misconception like this is invaluable.
- Big picture – There are more marketing tactics than we all can possibility use. The problem is that too many consultants dabble in many of them and don’t do any successfully. A mentor will help you focus on and master those that are the lowest hanging fruit and do it correctly.
- Clarity – A mentoree told me he didn’t know what to say in upcoming meetings with bankers. My advice was to tell them success stories about how he helped a client improve their situation so the bank could make the loan.