The Consulting Edge Podcast

Show NotesIn this weeks episode I'll speak about how consultants really feel about their consulting lifestyle, in large firms.Hey, I've been there done it - all the way from Associate Consultant to Senior Partner for a large and boutique firm. I know the what the journey is like.  Most of us will feel, at one point or another, that our consulting life has turned into a period of constant churning on a hamster wheel and there doesn’t seem to be a way off. At these moments, it’s important to recognize that most of us are hardwired into having resilience and persistent as a default setting. So, as consultants we look to solve the problem by rolling up our sleeves and getting stuck in. So if we keep working hard and longer then things will get better right? Wrong!.  To get off that wheel, you’ve got to change how you’re thinking about change and how you would change yourself.I'll explain the 'sunk cost fallacy' and how you can break that cycle to set yourself free from the 'hamster wheel'. Most consultants are reluctant to abandon a strategy or course of action because they have invested heavily in it, even when it is clear that abandonment would be more beneficial. It goes for most things in life.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1896157To your continued successMasood

Show NotesIn this week’s episode I’m speaking about how To Sell Like a Partner of a Big Consulting Firm.I’ll take you through the inside track on how they do it and more importantly if you’re at that point how you can do the same.If you’re listening to this then I’m guessing that you’re probably already a partner and struggling to make sales grow or your struggling to sell enough and make an impact or you’re at that point where you’re about to become a partner and have to show that you are able to sell.I let you in on the three hidden secrets that Consulting Partners don’t tell you about how to sell. Number 1 : The 14 Behaviour traits that you should be exploiting, if you don’t do any of these then the chances of success are low. Number 2: The Two Most Critical Reasons that motivates people to buy and don’t buy consulting. Number 3:  The 3  simple steps to the art of navigating the first client meeting.I'll explain how you can position your self to sell anything to anyone. I'll also go through the three things that stop consultants being a successful partner in a big consulting firm.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1896157To your continued successMasood

SHOW NOTESIn this week’s episode I’m speaking about the one single action could dramatically convert strangers into potential clients.I'll explain why ‘small talk’ is not the conversation in its self and why it's the opener for a  better conversation.We will explore the best way to discover that interesting stuff from your conversation by “breaking the script.” and changing the social norm. I'll take you through the sequence of why Pre-framing,  using Opening statements are critical, the 3 levels of listening and exploratory questions will enable you to open the door in a way that gives you the opportunity to convert strangers into potential clients.When you start a good conversation with a stranger, it’s like you’re giving them an uncommon gift.  And more often than not, they want to give you something in return, it could be advice, a gift or future business. You never know until you actually strike up  the courage to have that conversation through 20 seconds of  insane, embarrassing bravery.  And learn the simple exercise of ‘warm ups’ to get you to build your confidence for talking to strangers.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1896157To your continued successMasood 

SHOW NOTESToday I’m offering you 20 pieces of gold, well not physically, but 20 pieces of Golden Advice that could completely change your consulting business. There's a story of Taro and his magic waterfall, the Emperor of Japan heard about this. He sent for the young woodcutter, and rewarded him with twenty pieces of gold for having been so good and kind. Why? Because he gave the water freely to those that needed it. A selfless deed without any expectations back can give way to new possibilities.Before bringing guests, I’ve been overwhelmed with emails with various questions so  I’m going to take the opportunity just to go through the top 20 things that keep coming up time and time again. Hope you enjoy the '20 pieces of gold !'.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1896157To your continued successMasood

SHOW NOTESStuck happens, whether in your career, your business your personal life. Getting stuck is easy. It happens without you realizing it, until one day you’ll wake up and say “how the hell did I ever end up like this… this is not where I envisioned myself….this is not how I expected things to turn out…”  Mike Tyson. once said ‘Everyone has a plan, until they get punched in the face’. , the question is what’s your plan for getting ‘unstuck’ ?In this Bonus Episode Ill share with you the three most critical steps you can take to get unstuck.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1896157To your continued successMasood

SHOW NOTESIn this weeks show I'll be speaking about Momentum and the ten most powerful things that you can do to help you keep going.Momentum is not just about getting stuff done, and its not about setting goals and achieving them, its about how do you keep motivation your self to carry on even through tough times. Remember momentum isn’t motivation. Making a decision is only the beginning. Momentum will be your best friend. It will carry you forward – it'll be your super power.The greatest equalizer in life is 24 hours. Everyone has the same amount of time. You can’t buy more time, but you can do things to be more effective with yours.Using the power of momentum. Remember that once you start down a path with a single step, you have already started to build the momentum that you’ll need to propel you forward and complete you what you set out to do.I’m hoping that you’ve got some real value out of the last ten episodes. My aim now is to start to introduce you to those people that have their experiences to share – they bring to the table their edge on what they do and how they’ve developed their consulting and professional services businesses. I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1896157To your continued successMasood

SHOW NOTESIn this weeks episode I’ll go through the topic of TRANSITION, its specific to those that are looking to make the transition into consulting whether you in full time work, or want to do this as a side hustle or you're now in a position to set up on your own.I'll outline what's key to your Transition Strategy:Well go through the 7 questions that keep haunting youThe 6 keys to free your selfThe 9 valuable lessons I learnt from the consulting industry The 5 Mind shift changes that you will need to adopt to make a successful transition andI'll also cover the three steps you need to take in order to jump and land with a soft landingThe episode also provides you with an invaluable tool that helps you achieve your ultimate goal to transition quickly.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.Following the link in the show notes let's Buzzsprout know we sent you, gets you a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for a paid plan, and helps support our show.https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1896157To your continued successMasood

SHOW NOTESIn this weeks episodeThere are three key tools that you will need to have in your portfolio of skill sets to master influence. 1. Communicating effectively using Insight Stories2. Asking eloquent and well structured questions3. Handle Objections with precisionIt took me a long time to work this out and I’m sharing this with you because I want you to be able to cut through the 'bullshit' that surrounds convincing people to buy your services and get straight to the heart of being able to influence prospects and clients and sell your expertise and experience well.Influence is the process of two emotional states coming together. True influence involves building trust and a relationship, getting those people to align their views and values with your own for long-term gain. The world’s most influential people don’t merely change other’s behaviour; they shift their mindsets. YOU can be an influencer. In fact, you already are AND you can grow your ability to become even more influential once you identify and understand your potential to be influential and give you The Consulting Edge.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co (by the way that's .co and not .com) or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.To your continued successMasood

SHOW NOTESSo in todays episode I’ll be going through how to set up your OUTREACH Strategy, how you make the first move and reach out to our prospects with the simple goal of having them as your clients  – in fact having the right clients and the right opportunity makes sense, only if are able to know this from the beginning.Experience tells us that unsolicited advice almost always seems judgmental and is therefore unappreciated by many prospects and clients. The impact of your advice isn’t just based on the insight, it’s also based on the timing. So the best approach to consider is what I call Value Inversion.Rather than reaching out when you have something, reach out when you want something. Specifically, advice and insight. Which we all need constantly.  When I ask people for help, I use my D.O.T.I. frame work, it’s just a short way of reminding me the critical elements of the message I need to include.  I select one or a few targeted people to reach out to, I DEFINE the problem, OUTLINE what  I’d like them to help me with or what I’d like them to do for me, and tell them how much TIME I think it should take, and I give them enough INFORMATION to make it easy to answer. I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.

SHOW NOTESWelcome to Episode 7 of the Consulting Edge Podcast and today we are going to speak about the 5 stages from Prospect to Client – and how to handle each stage. But they are not what you think !Firstly the Selling Cycle and Buying Cycle are not the same  and they are not linear!Most consulting businesses use a traditional long drawn out sequential approach to converting prospects into clients. There is a much faster and efficient approach that allows you to go through mini conversions cycles, what I call ‘Sales Sprints’ – it’s an iterative approach built for speed. It's agile in its nature, it's the process I use to pivot and flow with my prospects or clients changing needs, with ease and it leans into driving consensus quickly and brings it down into the everyday conversations that happen on the ground level. There are five stages that you should navigate your clients through from prospect to client: Prepare - Target - Message - Engage - Advance. I'll take you each of these stages and show you how they work.When you truly become sales agile, you’ll bring a differentiated buying experience to your prospects and clients. Becoming agile in the sales pursuit means meeting your clients and prospects where they are in the buying journey, putting them at the centre of all the selling actions, and working in a non-linear way. It enables greater insights, a structured way of messaging the value and a call to action with multiple mini closes that are fine tuned to better position you for success and give you The Consulting Edge.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.

SHOW NOTESIf you want to maximise your income you’ve got to make it easy for prospects at every level to be able to enter into your sales pipeline at every potential opportunity. Any interaction with a prospect is an opportunity to get them into your pipeline. The only way to do this is have multiple layers of attraction to what you are offering. Your content can therefore be structured in a way that supports that journey and your content must be aligned to provide the prospect maximum experience of who you are and what you can help them with.So how do you align the content? Well I’ve structured five essential components that define a successful content ecosystem: Content Value StreamsContent PortfolioContent AnchorsContent TouchpointsContent Power SurgesI'll explain  how they work together and get you started on putting this together for your consulting business.Now selling a single core proposition these core propositions in a cold market is not easy, particularly if no one knows you. Organising your content will help you in the long run and provide clarity of what you are offering. What content ecosystems do is enable you to maximise the interactions you have at every stage of the client sales journey.  It takes effort but it will be worth it. As you progress with the connection and engaging with the prospect you make it makes it easier for the prospect to get a level of confidence and desire to do more with you.  So as a consultapreneur you’ve got to think differently and approach the market in a way that makes it easier for the prospect to engage with you, where prospects automatically come to you as the go to person and gives you the Consulting Edge.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on future episodes.

SHOW NOTESThe whole point of leverage is that you’re already equipped to succeed. When you leverage your existing resources, they expand and multiply to produce new resources. This then creates momentum. Starting with your means and start with what you have is all about being resourceful and not waiting for the perfect opportunity. Start taking action on what you have readily available, who you are (your profile)what you know and (your content)who you know (your network)The episode describes each of these and then introduces the concept of Connected Excellence - the one greatest assets that you will have as an independent consultant.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on the next episode.

SHOW NOTES  The B2B consulting world is saturated with tons of people who might be offering similar services to you. It’s more important than ever to get clear about who your ideal client is, the problems they face and the message you want them to know about on how you can help them solve their problems. Because everything that you create going forward is based on this person or type of business. Until you gain Radical Clarity, you’ll be throwing time and money down the drain all while reaching no one.  In this episode I'll go through the three simple steps to get you there. How to define your ideal client and be a Targeted 'Assassin'! How to Frame the Client Problem How to write your Power PitchIn B2B, selling to executives is an entirely different game.Unlike B2C businesses…You’re selling your expertise, not an off-the-shelf product or cookie cut approachYou’re selling high value, high-touch consulting services at a premium priceWhat you’re selling requires far more trust and intimacy andExecutives want to see a return on their investment, fast!This means that getting;Client ClarityClarity of the problems they need solving and Clarity of the Power Pitch based on the problems found - your messageBecomes a major focus to centre your consulting business. Radical Clarity will help you identify a challenge your ideal client currently faces – THE GAP – and show how you can help them “bridge that gap” from their problem to a solution you provide.  I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on the next episode.

SHOW NOTES:Consultapreneurial success requires focusing on three driving forces. Wherever you may be in your journey if you haven’t got your hands around three driving forces, then you need to. Balancing these three key driving forces will determine the level of success that is potentially possible.The Critical 3 Driving Forces:1. Radical ClarityClient ClarityClarity of the problems they are solving, and pains experienced by their prospects Clarity of the Power Pitch based on the problems found2. Mastering LeverageLeverage who you are (Profile)Leverage what you know (Content)Leverage Breakthrough Collaborations (Network) 3. Creating Product EcosystemsGIFTSProspect Offerings Core OfferingsUpliftsThe world of consulting can pull you in a thousand different directions. It’s helpful to write down a roadmap to where you want to go, and revisit it often. Ill explain the breakdown of the 30-60-90 day activities you need to follow as part of your road map.I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on the next episode.

Show Notes:Unlocking The Consultant in You™  is about knowing who you are, your brand your skillset and where you stand in your industry as the expert.What if yours was the first name to spring to mind when anyone mentioned your industry and wanted consulting work? What if you were so iconic that the deals, the publicity, the business all came to you? Reach that certain ‘tipping point,’ become the recognised expert, and your business model changes completely.Creating your market of one as the recognised expert and authority will position you as the go to name in your industry because when you're known as the expert, the icon the leader then business will come to you.In this episode you’ll learn about:1.     The ‘Iron Triangle’ – Your level of expertise and knowledge, Your reputation and brand, Your consulting skill set and competency2.    The importance of Expert Positioning and the Four Stages of Consulting Maturity from Specialist to Iconic.I’ll explain why understanding the space you play in and learning how to become a face and a voice in the minds of key industry players in your field is so critical to setting the foundations for your consulting business and Unlocking The Consultant in You™  by becoming the answer to the question "you know who the best person to speak to is..... ?"I hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Any questions please email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on LinkedIn and share any of your thoughts or ideas for future topics to discuss on the next episode.

If you want to find out how to turn your knowledge and expertise into a consulting business, find your edge and become a seven figure ‘consultapreneur’ in the digital age then this podcast is for you.Every week I’ll take you through practical content that you can use to turn what you know into a lifetime of multiple income streams. These are methods that I actually use to do my own consulting work and how I built my own consulting business over the last 20 years as a practising business consultant and entrepreneur.  After 20 years in the industry,  I've  decided to alter direction. Now, I  share my passion by helping other consultants  Build Profitable, Scalable and Strategic Consulting Businesses and learn how to become  Consultapreneurs™ .I’ll share with you how I’ve been able to package my own knowledge and expertise and create a sustainable B2B consulting business in an entrepreneurial way and become a Consultapreneur™. Each week I’ll be going through answering the question of how can you get a significant edge in your business and make an impact from the experience and expertise that you have accumulated over your lifetime or from your passion. In addition, I’ll be bringing in amazing guests to talk about their experiences and the journeys they have taken to become successful independent consultants and build their consulting businesses.My ambition and motivation is simple -  change the future of one million people to breakout on their own by helping them build successful solo consulting business, so that they can realise their true talent through what they know. To create One million independent consultants, with One million stories to tell and shape One million futures.For each episode I’ll create a custom Action Guide and Show Notes so you know EXACTLY what steps to take to help you get results fast. In Episode 1 -  Ill talk about about five thingsMy motivation for doing The Consulting Edge Podcast and my storyWhy breaking out and becoming an independent entrepreneurial consultant – what I call a  Consultapreneur™ is so lucrative.How to cut the learning curve to become financially independent.The concept of the Consultapreneur™ and the 'Magic Trick'.A set of Actions to get you goingI hope that you manage to get some real value and insight from this week’s show. Don’t forget you can sign up and download each Action Guide and show notes for free or email me on masood@theconsultingedge.co or connect with me on my Facebook or  LinkedIn pages if you want to connect and share any of your thoughts or ideas of future topics to discuss on the next Podcast.