Comments on: Consultants – do we need them? http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm Technology, Strategy, People and Projects Fri, 12 Mar 2010 16:27:46 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1762 ericbrown Tue, 16 Feb 2010 05:13:36 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1762 Hi Tracy - <br><br>Great feedback. Thanks for stopping by! Hi Tracy –

Great feedback. Thanks for stopping by!

]]> By: tracydiziere http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1760 tracydiziere Mon, 15 Feb 2010 22:14:31 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1760 Thanks, Eric. I have a lot of respect for both those guys, and it's easy to see both sides. For me the question here is (and has always been) who is the "YOU" we're talking to (and who is the "we" in the title)? For small businesses with assigned in-house marketing resources, I agree with you--and Jay. They probably need the support of specialists in areas such as social media. For microbusinesses without any internal or external marketing resources, they might be better off with a DIY approach to social media (esp. if budgets are thin to null) as Spike suggests BUT as a complement to a marketing consultant who's a generalist. So yes, businesses need consultants--in general areas when they can't staff up and in specialized areas when they need to use new tools/tactics and it doesn't make sense to hire or train internally. (P.S. I like your other post too about turning around the stigma about consultants in IT by solving the problem. After working in SaaS companies who go about it all wrong, it's nice to see that you're educating buyers and getting it done right.) Thanks, Eric. I have a lot of respect for both those guys, and it's easy to see both sides. For me the question here is (and has always been) who is the “YOU” we're talking to (and who is the “we” in the title)? For small businesses with assigned in-house marketing resources, I agree with you–and Jay. They probably need the support of specialists in areas such as social media. For microbusinesses without any internal or external marketing resources, they might be better off with a DIY approach to social media (esp. if budgets are thin to null) as Spike suggests BUT as a complement to a marketing consultant who's a generalist. So yes, businesses need consultants–in general areas when they can't staff up and in specialized areas when they need to use new tools/tactics and it doesn't make sense to hire or train internally. (P.S. I like your other post too about turning around the stigma about consultants in IT by solving the problem. After working in SaaS companies who go about it all wrong, it's nice to see that you're educating buyers and getting it done right.)

]]> By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1579 ericbrown Fri, 13 Nov 2009 05:17:31 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1579 Great stuff...thanks for stopping by! Great stuff…thanks for stopping by!

]]> By: Consultants and the CIO | Eric D. Brown - Technology, Strategy, People, Projects http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1461 Consultants and the CIO | Eric D. Brown - Technology, Strategy, People, Projects Fri, 13 Nov 2009 01:42:12 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1461 [...] got a lot of great feedback on a post I wrote titled “Consultants – Do we need them?“.  In that post I argue that consultants are necessary…not a necessary evil [...] [...] got a lot of great feedback on a post I wrote titled “Consultants – Do we need them?“.  In that post I argue that consultants are necessary…not a necessary evil [...]

]]> By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1447 ericbrown Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:17:31 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1447 Great stuff...thanks for stopping by! Great stuff…thanks for stopping by!

]]> By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1460 ericbrown Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:17:31 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1460 Great stuff...thanks for stopping by! Great stuff…thanks for stopping by!

]]> By: Blue Fire Media http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1446 Blue Fire Media Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:06:46 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1446 A good example of this comes from the book What Would Google Do? In this book Jeff Jarvis uses the example of Dell. They had terrible customer service. People started posts and web sites complaining about them. In fact, when you did a search for Dell, a blog post with the title Dell Sucks showed up in the top 5 on Google.<br>Finally, Dell got the gist of it after talking to some social media consultants. They began reading blogs and communicating directly with unhappy customers. They monitor twitter and join in conversations. And, now they also follow through on making customers happy.<br>My point is similar to yours. Most big companies have no idea how to be human. They think they can just ignore social media, or use it as a soap box and this is not the case. Hiring consultants can do wonders for improving the companies image and in return their bottom line. A good example of this comes from the book What Would Google Do? In this book Jeff Jarvis uses the example of Dell. They had terrible customer service. People started posts and web sites complaining about them. In fact, when you did a search for Dell, a blog post with the title Dell Sucks showed up in the top 5 on Google.
Finally, Dell got the gist of it after talking to some social media consultants. They began reading blogs and communicating directly with unhappy customers. They monitor twitter and join in conversations. And, now they also follow through on making customers happy.
My point is similar to yours. Most big companies have no idea how to be human. They think they can just ignore social media, or use it as a soap box and this is not the case. Hiring consultants can do wonders for improving the companies image and in return their bottom line.

]]> By: Blue Fire Media http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1459 Blue Fire Media Thu, 12 Nov 2009 14:06:46 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1459 A good example of this comes from the book What Would Google Do? In this book Jeff Jarvis uses the example of Dell. They had terrible customer service. People started posts and web sites complaining about them. In fact, when you did a search for Dell, a blog post with the title Dell Sucks showed up in the top 5 on Google.<br>Finally, Dell got the gist of it after talking to some social media consultants. They began reading blogs and communicating directly with unhappy customers. They monitor twitter and join in conversations. And, now they also follow through on making customers happy.<br>My point is similar to yours. Most big companies have no idea how to be human. They think they can just ignore social media, or use it as a soap box and this is not the case. Hiring consultants can do wonders for improving the companies image and in return their bottom line. A good example of this comes from the book What Would Google Do? In this book Jeff Jarvis uses the example of Dell. They had terrible customer service. People started posts and web sites complaining about them. In fact, when you did a search for Dell, a blog post with the title Dell Sucks showed up in the top 5 on Google.
Finally, Dell got the gist of it after talking to some social media consultants. They began reading blogs and communicating directly with unhappy customers. They monitor twitter and join in conversations. And, now they also follow through on making customers happy.
My point is similar to yours. Most big companies have no idea how to be human. They think they can just ignore social media, or use it as a soap box and this is not the case. Hiring consultants can do wonders for improving the companies image and in return their bottom line.

]]> By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1439 ericbrown Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:00:58 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1439 Great stuff David.<br><br>I like your 'three things'...listen/consult, tailor, add value. Great way to describe what a consultant does. <br><br>How many times have you seen a consultant come into an organization with "the answer" and never really do anything significant for the organization? unfortunately, I've seen it happen many times and people can't understand it because the consultant (or consultants) knew what needed to be done.<br><br>No consultant can walk in off the street with the answer. They need to understand the organization, the business, the people and then help create a solution that works for that organization. Great stuff David.

I like your 'three things'…listen/consult, tailor, add value. Great way to describe what a consultant does.

How many times have you seen a consultant come into an organization with “the answer” and never really do anything significant for the organization? unfortunately, I've seen it happen many times and people can't understand it because the consultant (or consultants) knew what needed to be done.

No consultant can walk in off the street with the answer. They need to understand the organization, the business, the people and then help create a solution that works for that organization.

]]> By: ericbrown http://ericbrown.com/consultants-do-we-need-them.htm/comment-page-1#comment-1458 ericbrown Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:00:58 +0000 http://ericbrown.com/?p=2946#comment-1458 Great stuff David.<br><br>I like your 'three things'...listen/consult, tailor, add value. Great way to describe what a consultant does. <br><br>How many times have you seen a consultant come into an organization with "the answer" and never really do anything significant for the organization? unfortunately, I've seen it happen many times and people can't understand it because the consultant (or consultants) knew what needed to be done.<br><br>No consultant can walk in off the street with the answer. They need to understand the organization, the business, the people and then help create a solution that works for that organization. Great stuff David.

I like your 'three things'…listen/consult, tailor, add value. Great way to describe what a consultant does.

How many times have you seen a consultant come into an organization with “the answer” and never really do anything significant for the organization? unfortunately, I've seen it happen many times and people can't understand it because the consultant (or consultants) knew what needed to be done.

No consultant can walk in off the street with the answer. They need to understand the organization, the business, the people and then help create a solution that works for that organization.

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