Jo Uppalnite, CEO of Cocoa Roasters, calls you in search of advicebecause she’s mired in a challenge. Jo’s smart to call you because: 1) yourconsulting firm specializes in Jo’s issue; 2) you’ve spent your consultingcareer developing skills in this area; and, 3) she’s too amped up on roastedcocoa to make decisions without supervision.

While Jo’s problem perplexes her, your consulting firm has untiedher tangle many times at many clients. You could point her in the rightdirection during your short chat.

Should you?

You run a consulting firm, and isn’t being paid for your consulting firm’s specialized knowledge and capabilities the point of your years of effort?

How much free consulting advice is fair to give away to Jo, and where should you draw the line?

Dancing around your head is the old story of the expert mechanicwho restarted a production line in 30 seconds by twisting a particular bolt.His bill: $5 for labor; $4,995 for knowing which bolt to turn.

You know which bolt Jo needs to turn. The mere fact that youcould solve Jo’s problem in half an hour shouldn’t matter. Yet, somehow, youknow it does matter

Your conundrum may feel particularly vexing if your consulting firm (wisely) bases your fees on value rather than labor time.

Actually, though, this dilemma isn’t much tougher than tasting the difference between dark-roasted Ecuadorian cocoa beans and lightly roasted tennis balls.

There are generally two types of problems: wrinkles your consulting firm can smooth in one or two, short conversations, and rocky ruins that require your consulting firm’s help and intervention over time.

Not many problems demand the middle ground of three or four,short chats.

Jo has the first type of problem. A wrinkle. Give her goodadvice and send her on her way.

The fact is, if you can tell a consulting prospect which boltto twist and he can just scamper off and rotate it himself, you’re not in therunning for a high-ticket consulting gig.

As a rule of thumb, a problem that can be solved in one,reasonably short conversation, is a freebie. Give that away.

Never falsely overstate the magnitude of a prospect’s challenge so that you can win a consulting project or inflate an engagement.

Fortunately, consulting prospects who call you with wrinkles oftenconfront the chasm between knowing the solution and confidently implementingit.

That’s when you hear, “Sure, turning that bolt makes sense,but I can’t wield a wrench. What would it cost to have you come in and do it?”Now, you’re off to the races on a consulting project.

And, of course, the next time Jo’s in a cocoa pickle, resolvingher predicament may require investigation, diagnosis and/or extensive input.That’s your opportunity to secure a lucrative consulting engagement.

When someone calls you with a problem, how much advice do yougive away for free?

Text and images are © 2019 David A. Fields, all rights reserved.