The Management Consultant, 2nd Edition

Chapter 15

The client’s perspective – buying consultancy

I wrote this book for consultants, but before ending it I want to explore the client’s perspective too. In this chapter, I’ve flipped the viewpoint to look at consulting from the client side. To do this, I’ve collated some important tips for clients involved in selecting or controlling consultants.

These tips are for clients, but they are useful for consultants too. By thinking about these points, consultants who want to adopt a client-centric approach are more likely to win good work and will be better able to fulfil client needs.

There’s a useful Latin phrase that frequently comes up when talking about relationships between buyers and sellers – caveat emptor (let the buyer beware). ...