lystn

Associations are outsourcing work and will be out sourcing even more in the years to come. Listen in as JP Moery taps into 30 years of being on both sides of the equation and provides six best practice tips for building and managing relationships for associations and consultants.             Transcript: Hello, and welcome to JP Moery's Association Hustle Podcast. President of The Moery Company, JP's mission is to arm today's associations with insight and strategy to thrive in a progressively complex and competitive business landscape. Twenty-first century associations must move forward with a little bit of hustle and revenue development at their core. Here's JP. Today I've got some tips for associations and consultants alike: how to manage your relationship. In my 30 year career in the association and consulting space, I've spent almost equal time being the client (the association) and the consultant. I’ve got insights and perspectives that I’d like to share with you. The following six things might be helpful for you in managing these relationships better, and in a more productive way, in the year ahead. First, tell the consultant the real reason you're considering them. Why do you need their help? Too often the client talks in circles about why they need help or making up excuses as to why the association needs the help. And, in fact, I think it's empowering for the consultant, and very helpful, to know exactly the reason why they're being asked to be involved in this project, including, "I just don't want to do this." I've got a guy who mows my lawn every week. I can make up a bunch of reasons, however, the fundamental reason is: I don't want to do it. Go ahead and tell that consultant, and be very transparent, about the reason why you've asked them to become involved. Second tip I've got for you: let the consulting firm do it. Fully. If you don't want to do it in the first place then you're probably not very good at it anyway. Let the professionals do it. I have had more mistakes happen because the expert, or the specialist, wasn't doing the work. Or, the client wouldn't allow the consultant to actually do what they hired them to do. It's unproductive, it's a waste of the consultant’s time and, frankly, it's a waste of the association's money. Hire them and then get out of the way. The third thing that is productive is this: give the consultant the chance to get off the hook during the sales process. Ask them the following questions, "What is a red flag in terms of this project that I've described for you? Is there anything that's unreasonable or that I might not have right that you need to tell me about now?" Give that consultant the chance to answer that question. I'll give you an example that I used to see in membership recruitment all the time, "Hey, Moery Company! Hey, JP! We want you to sell membership for us." Fantastic! We're going to do it! Man, I'm fired up! “Okay, tell me about the program right now and how we can help!” "Well, we recruited five new members last year and we've got a new chairman. We've got a lot of people that are in this industry that we don't have as members. We want to recruit 5000 new members this year. It's a special program and initiative. We're calling it Project 5000." The numbers may be a bit expanded, however, it's pretty close to the truth of what a client told us during a sales call. That may sound crazy, yet, the consultant may not tell you that that because they don't want to jeopardize getting the business from you. I advise our association clients to ask the consultant this question, "Hey, this is what we think the project is about and here's what we want to accomplish. Is there anything that's unreasonable, or outside of the norm, that you need to tell me about now that we need to talk through?" This leads me to number four: get clear expectations on feedback. Here’s an example: ask the consultant for a weekly report...