Ever wondered what the secret is when it comes to getting your message across in a memorable way? The old story tellers' formula is the key. And it is elegant in its simplicity ...

"First, tell them what you're going to tell them. Then tell them. Then tell them what you told them." Great advice for anyone in the business of communicating a message. So how does this relate to YOU when it comes to being more successful in consulting?

Very powerfully in fact. Do you know, one of the greatest mistakes consultants make in dealing with a client ... one of the greatest mistakes employees make TOO ... is failing to explain what they've done, and failing to put value to it.

Let's take an employee as an example. Mary is in the stock ordering department. Over the years in that department, she's become increasingly frustrated that there are way too many steps in the ordering process, and she sets about streamlining it.

When she puts her new system in place, the orders start going out in six hours instead of thirty six. Her boss notices the change and says, "Well done Mary" and promptly walks off and forgets about it. Sound familiar?

I would suggest this is a typical scenario that plays out in tens of thousands of companies the world over every day. And what did Mary get out of it? A 'pat on the head'.

Let's now put a 'consulting hat' on Mary and see what happens. This time, Mary goes to the management and says she has identified some major inefficiences in the ordering department. Not only that, she has identified that the delays in shipping are costing the company an estimated $24,000 a year. She quantifies this by showing the costs of having to overstock to meet orders due to the slow delivery times. And in addition, she's estimated that four major customers a month are being lost due to the delays. Costing the company another $480,000 a year in lost sales. Over the next 5 years, a total loss to the company of $2.52 MILLION.

Do you think the management is going to be sitting up and taking notice now? And what do you think happens to Mary's VALUE when she puts forward that she has a solution to the stock distribution system? Suddenly her SOLUTION is worth a huge amount of money to the company. A LOT more than a pat on the head!

Now, if Mary were indeed a consultant, she could be charging tens of thousands of dollars for the work she's about to do. Interesting isn't it? Same solution. Different outcome. In this case, just like the old story teller, she told management what she was going to do, DID it, then educated them to the VALUE of the outcomes.

Truth is, nearly all employees don't see this. And indeed, many many consultants fail to educate their clients in this way too. And then wonder why they don't get valued for their expertise. I hope you'll never make THAT mistake.

If you're interested in developing your skills in creating work opportunities, you may want to consider enrolling in the Age of Experience Network online course: "How to Build Your SELF-EMPLOYED CONSULTANT Business"

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