Advance Consulting, Inc. -- Our Approach

Partnering with others to produce optimum results while simultaneously building trust and commitment

At Advance Consulting,
we understand that your business is changing and job functions are evolving. Fewer layers of management and the growing emphasis on customer focus and greater productivity means that today's workplace is very different than it was just a few years ago. This new environment demands broader and more sophisticated skills than ever before.

Whether your organization is servicing internal customers or external clients, the challenges are similar; working through tight deadlines and expanding expectations or limited resources. Success hinges on these individuals' ability to be flexible, work across functional lines, understand the needs of internal and external customer groups, talk their language, sell others on ideas and solutions, link recommendations to the business issues and manage changing organizational factors.

Working Consultatively
Although these new skills may sound like a tall order, in our research and client work we have seen these abilities demonstrated by successful individuals in a range of fields and professions. We call what they do working consultatively, and we have identified three critical elements of that approach:

Knowing how to work effectively with all types of people
Using a strategic and collaborative process
Applying expertise in ways that show value

Working consultatively also means keeping these three elements in balance. That is, you must balance your people skills, the most efficient work process, and your role in the work or project. Too much emphasis on any one element, or too little, throws off the Consultative Balance with negative results. Keeping these three elements in balance, working consultatively produces optimum results while simultaneously building trust and commitment. When people work consultatively, they have a powerful impact on work relationships and results.

Partnering for Success
Organizational effectiveness is also tied to how people work together to gain results. Teams working collaboratively to solve problems and implement solutions have generated extraordinary achievements from winning Superbowl teams to the first moon landing.

The success of any given project depends greatly on the ability of those involved to work consultatively to partner with each other to solve problems, reach agreements, and implement solutions. Partnering skills enable you to deal with all types of people and situations and be seen as both an individual contributor and a team player.

Using the Range of Consultative Roles
In addition to maintaining the Consultative Balance discussed above, individuals must be able to play a variety of roles, as the situation requires. In our research, we identified a variety of Consultative Roles that drive virtually every business interaction.

To be truly consultative, people must be able to function not just as project administrator, technical expert, or problem solver, but as facilitator, influencer, strategist, and coach, as needed all while maintaining their most important role: partner. Advance Consulting works to foster professional development in all eight of these critical roles.

Showing Your Expertise
Your knowledge, skills, and experience are probably what you talk about when someone asks What do you do? Yet what they are often really asking is What can you do for me?

At Advance Consulting, we believe that displaying your expertise in ways that your clients and partners can best appreciate it is almost as important as having it in the first place.

The Bottom Line
We call the concepts discussed above , which we define as partnering with others to produce optimum results while simultaneously building trust and commitment.

Our workshop series and book present ideas and techniques that enable people to work consultatively. Managers and employees alike can use these tools to broaden their skills and develop their own "consultative approach" in working with clients and team members. Let us help advance the way you work.

	Partnering with others to produce optimum results while simultaneously building trust and commitment
	At Advance Consulting, we understand that your business is changing and job functions are evolving. Fewer layers of management and the growing emphasis on customer focus and greater productivity means that today's workplace is very different than it was just a few years ago. This new environment demands broader and more sophisticated skills than ever before.
	Whether your organization is servicing internal customers or external clients, the challenges are similar; working through tight deadlines and expanding expectations or limited resources. Success hinges on these individuals' ability to be flexible, work across functional lines, understand the needs of internal and external customer groups, talk their language, sell others on ideas and solutions, link recommendations to the business issues and manage changing organizational factors. Working Consultatively Although these new skills may sound like a tall order, in our research and client work we have seen these abilities demonstrated by successful individuals in a range of fields and professions. We call what they do working consultatively, and we have identified three critical elements of that approach: Knowing how to work effectively with all types of people Using a strategic and collaborative process Applying expertise in ways that show value Working consultatively also means keeping these three elements in balance. That is, you must balance your people skills, the most efficient work process, and your role in the work or project. Too much emphasis on any one element, or too little, throws off the Consultative Balance with negative results. Keeping these three elements in balance, working consultatively produces optimum results while simultaneously building trust and commitment. When people work consultatively, they have a powerful impact on work relationships and results. Partnering for Success Organizational effectiveness is also tied to how people work together to gain results. Teams working collaboratively to solve problems and implement solutions have generated extraordinary achievements from winning Superbowl teams to the first moon landing. The success of any given project depends greatly on the ability of those involved to work consultatively to partner with each other to solve problems, reach agreements, and implement solutions. Partnering skills enable you to deal with all types of people and situations and be seen as both an individual contributor and a team player.
	Using the Range of Consultative Roles In addition to maintaining the Consultative Balance discussed above, individuals must be able to play a variety of roles, as the situation requires. In our research, we identified a variety of Consultative Roles that drive virtually every business interaction. To be truly consultative, people must be able to function not just as project administrator, technical expert, or problem solver, but as facilitator, influencer, strategist, and coach, as needed all while maintaining their most important role: partner. Advance Consulting works to foster professional development in all eight of these critical roles.
	Showing Your Expertise Your knowledge, skills, and experience are probably what you talk about when someone asks What do you do? Yet what they are often really asking is What can you do for me? At Advance Consulting, we believe that displaying your expertise in ways that your clients and partners can best appreciate it is almost as important as having it in the first place. The Bottom Line We call the concepts discussed above , which we define as partnering with others to produce optimum results while simultaneously building trust and commitment. Our workshop series and book present ideas and techniques that enable people to work consultatively. Managers and employees alike can use these tools to broaden their skills and develop their own "consultative approach" in working with clients and team members. Let us help advance the way you work.