Cart before horse, or horse before cart. Do I need a sales team?

[MadProfessor]

I am gainfully employed but for the past few years I have been doing some "consultancy" work on a part-time basis through my own company. (It's not relevant to the discussion but this is all legitimate and is approved by my employer).

My company now has a low six figure turnover which is all from word of mouth/referrals. I am considering growing the company into a full-time endeavour that could support several people. Initially there's a small pipeline of work and I would pitch for government tenders as well.

However, in order to really grow the business, I think I need a sales person/account manager to go out and bring business in as this isn't my expertise or interest. I have two related questions:

(1) Can you use a sales rep/account manager approach to bring in consultancy based work?

(2) Is it better to try and commoditise some of our expertise into a product that can be sold rather than do bespoke consultancy work?

[MattHall91]

Do you feel growth will slow if you carry on the way you are?

Having grown up around a successful consultancy business, I have noticed that both bespoke and 'package' approaches can work in their own right.

Depends on what you are consulting about. Having set rates and processes that are 'off the shelf' while including some level of personalisation could be a good middle ground?

A very bespoke product can still be sold successfully by any half decent salesperson so that shouldn't be an issue. You've obviously grown admirably so far, so if you think you could get a salesman on board to do the leg work for you without commoditising your services, then do that.

[ChasW]

(1) Can you use a sales rep/account manager approach to bring in consultancy based work?

Yes. I work with a crowd that have a front man. His job is to line up 15 minute exploratory phone chats with the lead consultant and prospective clients. It seems to work. These people are very hard to find because it's a tough job at times and it's important that they fit with the culture and image of you and your company.

(2) Is it better to try and commoditise some of our expertise into a product that can be sold rather than do bespoke consultancy work?

I think it helps. I am noticing something of a backlash towards conventional consulting propositions. The above crowd have a fixed price, fixed deliverable offering which removes some of the risk and uncertainty for the client.

I have found that "bounded" jobs are a lot easier to sell.




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[AJS-]

Biggest pitfall I see here is the first 12 months where a lot of your time is taken up with hiring and managing the business, less to spend on delivery and sales. This will hit cashflow and a seemingly comfortable cushion will disappear very quickly.

There's also the delicate act of balancing sales and delivery. A full time sales person is great but it's no good if you can't deliver what he sells. A full time team of consultants sitting twiddling their thumbs is expensive.

Without knowing the exact nature of your business it sounds like a viable option might be to seek out a few people you can bring in on an ad hoc basis to enable you to take on bigger projects and get more done, while keeping an eye out for good lead coconsultants who can drum up business and oversee delivery.