"Can I pick your brains?"; "Do you have time to answer a couple of quick questions?"; "Shall we grab a coffee"; "Are you around for a quick call?"
I am not the first consultant to be asked these questions... and I am sure I will not be the last. They all broadly mean the same thing... someone is contacting me because they think I can help them and want me to give them some advice. It's flattering, sometimes exciting and that's where the problem lies.
I naturally want to help others and anyone who knows me will probably agree that, for better or worse, I am happy to give my opinion! But here is the kicker... my brain, my opinion, my advice, my experience, my expertise - whatever you want to call it. - this is what I am trying to get paid for.
Would you believe that sometimes I actually pay to give others advice?
Think about it this way... let's assume I agree to meet you for a coffee. I pay £5.50 to park at the station, £7.80 to get the train into London, £5 for coffees (assuming I pay) and probably another £6 for lunch. So all in, around £25. I have seen people calling this FREE advice and others stating that surely their time is worth more than a £3 coffee. But in this scenario... I have effectively paid £25 to give someone else advice. If this lead to an exciting and lucrative project, happy days, money well spent on business development... but a high % of the time, it leads to nothing as the advice given in the 1-2 hour 'PYB' session is all they need to take action and move things forward. When I step back and consider this scenario, I realise how crazy it is.
So let's call a spade a spade... these people want help. They have problems and I have the skills and experience to assist them. So they are asking for a consultation. This is how I try to earn my living. I charge people money for my expertise. I get paid for my knowledge and subsequent work. So, I can't afford to give away 'free' consultations.
Easy to explain but so so difficult to manage. Do I reject meetings? How do I network? How can I answer questions without giving my opinion or advice? How do I distinguish between someone who wants to 'pick my brains' and a valuable potential project. I was told once to explain the approach I would take to answer their questions but not actually share my views or give them any answers... but I find this just doesn't work for me.
So what have I discovered:
The difference between a 'pick my brains' and a 'project' is that the latter has a clear scope, budget associated, timings, objectives and deliverbales. It is there straightforward to explain how I would approach the project and why I am qualified to do so, without giving the answers away (most of the time).
People who aren't willing to pay for my advice, probably won't value it or act upon it anyway.
Anyone that doesn't have a budget in mind for a project, is not very serious about it ever happening and is really just trying to get free consultancy by dangling a carrot that there may be some work in the future. There rarely is.
A couple of case studies
I had a recent experience where a potential client negotiated me down continually over a period of 2-3 weeks until they eventually never paid anything as I wasn't needed in the end. However, during the process they demanded 3-4 face to face meetings and absorbed literally hours of my time where they managed to obtain my opinion, advice and experience. I was happy enough to give them this time as the pay off was lucrative. However, at the end I didn't feel the same way. In essence, they received a great deal of valuable insight and I wasn't compensated at all. So ... and this may sound harsh... I need to filter these people out. They don't value my time, could be classified as 'freeloaders' and in truth are unlikely to ever become a client.
In contrast, I am a Council Member at GLG who connect me with clients to help inform business decisions. I joined as a subject matter expert, set an hourly rate, and when a project arises that I can offer my valuable expertise on, I apply and if accepted, I give advice and get paid for it. They claim that: "More than 1,400 companies use GLG to help solve complex strategic and operational challenges, test hypotheses, gain market feedback, and seek mentorship, all within our rigorous compliance framework". These companies value the time a Council Member will provide and are willing to pay fairly for it.
So what am I going to do about it?
So what am I going to do about it? Well, if someone gets in touch to ask to 'pick my brains' I will ask what I can help them with and then offer them two things:
I will point them in the direction of existing free content (mine or others) that can help answer their questions
I will offer them paid consulting options including the launch of my new 'Power Hour'.
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