3. Seeks first to understand, and then to be understood.

Consultants come to the table with a lot of knowledge and experience. Clients hire us because of our expertise, and they want to have their questions answered quickly. How many times has a prospective client asked you for pricing information or a high-level overview of a proposed solution before you have completed your discovery? More importantly, how many times have you obliged?

It is easy for a consultant to rush to judgment regarding the nature of the problem and, therefore, the solution. We may start talking prematurely about all the things we know and what can be done to improve the client's current state. People are most comfortable talking about themselves than asking solid, insightful questions about someone else. For this reason, we all fall into the trap and start providing a solution before we really understand the problem.

While the fact is that people like to talk about ourselves and what we know, world-class consultants have figured out how to use this fact to their advantage. They conduct an appropriate amount of research and planning before a call with a client and have a plan for what they want to learn. They ask insightful and open-ended questions designed to get the client or prospective client talking. They may interject with an anecdote or story where necessary to give the client confidence that the job they are being asked to do is not foreign, and they use active listening skills to verify that they understand what the client is saying.

Even when clients push for the answer or the price, world-class consultants resist the urge to go down that path too soon in favor of continuing with the investigation.

Only after a world-class consultant feels that he understands the current state and desired future state does he begin to share his observations and recommendations.