3 Easy things to do to get the most out of consultants

Most consultants are professionals and will always do their best to get the result that you need. They will always have more than one project on the go at one time. Here are some very simple common sense rules to get you to the top of their list of priorities. I'm often surprised by the number of clients who don't do this. The good news is there are a lot of clients that don't do these easy things so its pretty easy to get higher in your consultants list of priorities. This is how to get value for money above and beyond what you are paying. Get the most out of your consultants by following these easy steps:

1. Pay your consultant within an hour or a day of the invoice being issued to you. 

This shows respect for the work they have done. It makes them want to work hard for you. It doesn't cost you any extra money. If they have a choice between getting work done for someone who will take a few weeks to pay or someone who pays in an hour, who are they going to put first? They are going to do the work that pays fast. Both clients will have paid the same amount of money - the one who pays fast is going to get a lot more value for money. Have the money ready to pay before the report is ready so that you can do this. Everyone can now pay via their phone - do it as fast as possible. 

2. Delay delivery is your friend.

Most email clients like outlook or gmail will let you delay delivery to a different time. If you are working odd hours, refrain from sending emails at odd hours like 2am or even 6pm on a Friday. Delay delivery so that it arrives at 9am the next work day when they are sitting at their computer ready to go. This means that they can do it straight away and there is no resentment. Again, this is all about respect, if you show respect then you'll get it back and become a higher priority.

3. Only push when you need to.

There will be times when you need to push a consultant because that report is the last thing in your critical timeline. It is fine to call up a consultant and push then. There are some clients who think it is better to push all the time, I find there is a limit of about three pushes you can have in a project before a client recognises that you are the boy who cried wolf - and pushes you to the bottom of the list of priorities. Again, this is a respect thing - show them the respect of being honest about when a project is urgent and when they have a bit more time because another report is due as well. This means that they can actually prioritise you when you really need it.