Usable Consulting and The Customer Experience

August 08, 2005 | 4 Comments

I’ve known for awhile now that to be a good consultant, in any field, you need to have great people skills and a real knack for customer service. Sometimes a good customer experience makes all the difference, and in some cases can be just and important as you skill. But it’s easier to know what you need to have than it is to have it though.

Shortly after I began my stint at PBDH I read, printed out and tried to live by a great article I found over a Gotomedia—The Usable Consultant.

Unfortunately I didn’t get many chances to put anything I got out of it into practice, but I’ve tried recently to improve those skills and I plan to keep it. Especially the bit about listening. One of my own problems is I tend to talk more than I listen. And I write much better than I speak if that gives you any idea — I need work! ;)

Be that as it may, I feel that it’s sometimes easier to learn by doing, or by watching, then it is having read something or having something told to you. In my experience with consultants in the past I’d not really seen anyone who seemed to be very “usable” until recently.

A Story: Our Wedding Photographer

Last week Staci and I had a meeting with our wedding photographer Frank Rosenstein and I got to see, from the “other” side, a truly usable consultant in action.

Frank was recommended to us by friends, and we’d had a chance at previous weddings to see him in action. He was smooth, unobtrusive and friendly. These qualities are important in a wedding photographer, just as important as their skill with a camera. We looked at his photos, which are fantastic, and decided that we really wanted to have him shoot our wedding. Luckily he was available and we signed him up.

The whole process was easy, but it was at last week’s prep meeting that we got to see how good our decision to go with Frank really was. He sat us down and in a casual and confident way walked us through how everything was going to go. He allowed us input and asked questions, but he definitely lead us through everything, making decisions where needed and guiding us through the parts we didn’t really “get”. In that way he was assertive, but never pushy, and it really put the both of us at ease.

After we’d left I told Staci how much better I felt and how glad I was we had chosen someone we can trust. She totally agreed. That weekend we spoke with the friends that recommended Frank to us about it and they knew exactly what we were talking about. What’s more, they expressed true excitement to be seeing him at our wedding! How’s that for an endorsement?

Skill, Talent and Customer Experience

Frank is an amazing photographer, but even before he’s shot our wedding I’d recommend him to people. Why? His skill and talent are obvious, but the experience and his expertise really help to add something good to our overall wedding experience.

I trust his judgment completely now, and I know he’ll blend right in, have some fun, keep people at ease and produce some great photos because of it. That experience is worth just as much, to me anyway, as the photos.

Be “Usable”

Many consultants get and keep work via word of mouth. If you can cultivate those skills that will allow you to provide a great experience to your customers, you’ll be making everything you do more valuable. People want to be lead, not pushed, and they want someone who can make them feel confident, and like they’re cared about and listened to.

A few tips for being usable:

• Be yourself.
• Listen.
• Guide with confidence.
• Explain things well and be open and receptive to questions.
• Give personal attention.
• Care about your work.
• Show your passion.

These things take time and need to be worked on. One thing I think might be helpful is to make sure and ask for feedback at the end of every job or project. We learn a bunch from our mistakes and sometimes you’ll need to step up and ask for criticism, even though it might be hard to take.

Filed under: Business
Keyword Tags: consulting business

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