Impressing Your Client on Your Consulting Project Tips

An ERP implementation consultant is not a lone wolf but a team player. Specifically, for the duration of the engagement, you’re on the client’s team. Do you act like it? Does the client know how to contact you at all times? Are you always where you say you’re going to be? Do you give the client and other project team members full visibility into where you are and what you’re doing? Do you think of yourself as a mercenary or as a helper?

Asking yourself questions like these is just the first step in discovering whether you’re a team player, and thinking about how to become a better one. Being a team player requires basic standards of professionalism like those outlined above, but it’s also a question of passion. The best team players go far beyond the basics. They form close bonds with clients, and don’t let anything get in the way of delivering value. Start identifying with your client’s team, and you’re much more likely to impress them.

Consultants placed on a B2B Workforce project are selected for in-depth knowledge of their ERP, CRM or EAI/BI specialty. Although we choose individuals to serve our clients who we believe possess the ability to honestly and properly handle any problems there may still be a need to escalate certain issues.

The type of issues you may encounter on your project can run the gamut from technical to ethical. However, whether they are serious or easily remedied; all problems should be handled in a professional and timely manner. Should you have any questions regarding B2B’s issue resolution process, you can always contact your B2B Recruiter for clarification. A typical issue escalation scenario begins with B2B raising the issue to the appropriate contact within our direct client (typically the integrator). Our Solution Architects can be engaged by the client at any time to aid in the resolution of technical issues.

Discerning which problems you can troubleshoot yourself and which issues require escalation can be tricky. If in doubt, always discuss the problem with your B2B Recruiter. Staying honest with yourself about what you can and cannot handle on your own is essential in effective issue resolution on a project.

Storytelling is powerful. Whether it’s a campfire tale, a movie, or a simple anecdote, we often relate to others through telling and listening to stories. Unfortunately, when it comes to ERP consulting firms, this part of our instinct seems to turn off. Everything becomes about plans, documents, and processes. That’s as it should be, but clients also need a vision. They need a story that makes sense of the nuts and bolts of an ERP implementation. For example, if someone asks you what SAP Solution Manager is, you could rehash the technical specs, or you could tell them that it’s SAP’s command and control center. In that moment, don't be an ERP implementation consultant, but a storyteller.

As industry insiders, ERP consultants forget that many clients will not be intimately acquainted with the technical aspects of an ERP implementation. They need hand-holding, and explanations that make sense to them. Therefore, take a step back from everything you know, and clarify the vision for your client in simple terms. Don’t be afraid to simplify!

Both SAP consulting and Oracle consulting started off as largely technical exercises, with the focus on business processes coming later in the 1990s. As such, the ingrained culture of ERP jobs has also been technical; it is a field considered more often by IT graduates than by, say, humanities majors. But in the brave new world of process-centric ERP consulting, you will have to tap into your inner English major—the better you can communicate in person and the more expressive and to-the-point your emails and memos are, the more you will impress your clients.

Clients don’t necessarily expect communicative consultants—thus, getting one is a pleasant surprise. Fortunately, being a good communicator is easier than you might think. The most important factor is your willingness to communicate. Notice how articulate even the most introverted and tongue-tied of us become when we’re talking about our favorite subjects. Bring the same attitude to the client—be excited about their project and the vision, and good communication will follow. The mechanics of good writing and speaking skills are important, but passion will go a long way in establishing you as a valuable resource to your client.

The classic vision of an ERP consultant is someone who parachutes into a situation, makes some quick (largely technical) configurations and fixes, and hustles back out. But the paradigm is changing. Today’s ERP jobs less often require generic configuration work, and more often require the ERP consultant to fill the role of a business advisor, especially in SAP consulting contexts. You’re not an ERP technical consultant in a back room, but someone interfacing with and helping business users.

To that end, it’s important for you to gather all the information you can prior to an engagement. Research the client’s business and the industry in which they operate. If you have time, try to understand the vertical-specific business challenges. Within your own team context, take a proactive approach to asking project managers for data relating to the implementation. The specific steps you take will be dictated by time and resource availability, but in all cases you should have a mentality of preparing—as if for a test. The more you know going in, the more value you will ultimately add to ERP consulting.

In an ERP implementation, the focus is on getting the project up and running. Knowledge transfer is often an afterthought; many clients have not thought about how, or even whether, they want to capture knowledge. Unfortunately, when the consultant goes out the door, so does the learning.

Some clients will have formal programs for knowledge capture. However, many will not. In these kinds of engagements, one of the most impressive things you can do for the client is to proactively leave knowledge behind. If you’ve noticed that the client is asking you the same kinds of questions, create an FAQ for the client in PDF. If there are tips and tricks for interacting with an ERP system, tape a screen walkthrough. You can’t, and shouldn’t, attempt to document everything, but you should prioritize bite-sized and helpful bits of knowledge. Clients will instantly recognize the value of such knowledge capture, and you’ll win some very strong references for future engagements. Therefore, realize that your future SAP job opportunities and Oracle positions like PeopleSoft job opportunities could result from the simple practice of knowledge transfer.

It’s the rare process that can’t be improved. ERP consulting is fraught with inefficient processes, at every level: from implementation methodology to execution to training and beyond. At the high level, you may have very limited power to fix the system (unless you run an ERP consulting firm), but you have plenty of power down in your responsibility level.

The real challenge in this domain is not technical but business-oriented. For example, today’s ERP systems offer multiple ways to get things done. Perhaps the client has chosen an option that isn’t as efficient. Instead of blindly taking orders, your responsibility is to suggest the better way. This doesn’t apply just to modules themselves but also to other processes. Are you concerned that the client’s end users simply aren’t prepared? Suggest a better training mechanism. Can you visualize the client running into problems thanks so a particular configuration decision they’ve made? Let them know, and suggest alternatives. Clients pay a lot, and they deserve an expert consultant who can walk them through the options.

As an ERP implementation consultant, you’re getting paid pretty big money. Thus, when you’re on a project, you should be extra enthusiastic about stepping up and getting the job done. Never complain if you’re called upon to put in extra hours on a project, pull some all-nighters, or catch some late-night flights. It’s part of your profession. Don’t just go through the motions with a grim expression either. Summon up passion and commitment, and let the client see it.

If you think it’s all the same to your career whether or not you put in the extra effort, you may be mistaken. If you’re an independent ERP consultant or work for a small consulting firm, your lack of enthusiasm will definitely impact your ability to keep working. You may have a better ability to hide in a large, faceless consulting company, but even then you will probably leave a bad taste behind with your project managers. This is no longer a consultant-driven market; clients hold all the power in a shrinking economy, so you should step up to their needs. You’ll not only impress them, you’ll protect your own job.

You’re the one with the implementation experience, not the client. You know what it’s like to launch modules, troubleshoot, and train. You know not just the ins and outs of product configuration but have some understanding of the human processes around any ERP implementation job. Within your specific niche, you probably know more than the project manager about what’s needed for success.

For that reason, no matter your sphere of expertise, it’s important that you contribute to the design of the plan to make sure that it can be executed. If someone has made an assumption that is incorrect, or has sketched out a plan that cannot be executed, you must leverage what you know to correct the plan and align it with reality. Speak up! Unrealistic expectations are everywhere, both in consulting partner offices and end user settings. As the ERP consultant on the ground, you have an intimate understanding of a small but important part of the plan, and you need to share whatever input you have so that your part of the project doesn’t become the weak link. You may have to let the client’s initial expectations down, but you will impress them with your honesty. Remember, it’s better to be honest about a realistic plan than to promise what you can’t deliver.

ERP consulting is service provisioning—granted, it’s an extremely valuable and complex service, but it’s still part of the service industry. As such, if you want to impress the client, you should begin by adopting basic customer service practices. ERP clients have specialized needs, but in general most of them should be impressed by a simple set of practices on your part.

• Accessibility: We live in a 24/7 world, and turning your phone off is not an option.
• Courtesy: Despite the temptation to give short shrift to people who lack your expertise, you will have to learn to be patient and accommodating with people who may not understand what you are doing.
• Simplicity: Answer questions not to impress, but to express. Oftentimes, the client just wants the bottom line.
• Follow-up: If you say you’re going to do something, do it. If you stumble, let the people around you know the nature of the problem and when it will be resolved.