Working together · Checklist
Twelve questions that reveal a good consultant.
Whether a consultant is right for you rarely shows in a glossy brochure, but almost always in the first conversation. These questions separate substance from packaging. Tick them off as you go.
When you hire a consultant, you are buying something you cannot inspect beforehand. You can touch a piece of furniture and watch a machine being demonstrated. With consulting, you only see the result once time and money have already been spent. Brochures, client logos and method diagrams are of little help, because they look remarkably alike.
What is hard to fake, on the other hand, is the first conversation. That is where you see whether someone listens, whether they are honest about their limits and whether they are interested in your company or in their contract. The following twelve questions will help you find out exactly that. For each one you’ll learn what a good answer looks like and what should make you pause. At the end, all twelve are collected in a checklist you can tick off.
Questions 1 to 3Understanding: are they listening to you?
1. “What have you understood about our company?”
Ask this towards the end of the meeting. A good consultant sums up in their own words what they have heard, points out contradictions and asks about anything that remained unclear. Be wary if, instead of a summary, a solution arrives straight away, perhaps one that was already in the slide deck.
2. “What would you want to find out first, in our position?”
The answer reveals how someone thinks. Good consultants name specific things they want to examine before recommending anything: figures, processes, conversations with staff, customer feedback. Anyone who seems to know everything already is unlikely to discover much that is new.
You recognise good consulting not by its answers, but by its questions.
3. “When should we rather not hire you?”
An uncomfortable question that tells you a great deal. Serious consultants know their limits and say openly when another partner, a specialist lawyer or simply one of your own employees would be the better choice. “We can do everything” is the worst answer you can get.
Questions 4 to 6Method: is there a path you can follow?
4. “What exactly will the result look like?”
A consulting engagement should end with more than a set of slides: decisions taken, processes changed, a solution introduced, people trained. Ask them to describe what you will have in hand after the project and what will be different in everyday work.
5. “How will we measure success together?”
Good consultants agree before the start on how success will be recognised: shorter lead times, fewer errors, more enquiries, a decision made. Anyone unwilling to commit to a measure will also be unable to prove what they have achieved.
6. “How much time will you need from our people?”
Change doesn’t succeed without the people who carry it. An honest consultant will tell you how many hours your staff need to set aside for interviews, workshops and testing. If the answer sounds like “hardly any”, either too little will change or too much is being promised.
Questions 7 to 9People and costs: who does the work, and what does it cost?
7. “Who will actually work on our project?”
At many firms, experienced partners do the pitching and others do the work later. That isn’t necessarily bad, but you should know beforehand. Ask who will lead your project, who will do the day-to-day work and whether these people will stay for its entire duration.
8. “How is the price made up?”
Whether day rates, a fixed price per phase or a mix of both, what matters is that you understand the offer. What is included and what isn’t? How is travel time charged? What does it cost if more work is needed than planned? A good proposal answers these questions before you have to ask them.
9. “What happens if we realise along the way that things need to change?”
No project goes exactly to plan. What matters is how that is handled. Good consultants build in checkpoints where you decide together whether to continue, change course or stop, without tying you to a long contract.
Questions 10 to 12Implementation and independence
10. “Will you stay with us during implementation?”
The best concept is useless if it ends up in a drawer. Clarify whether your counterpart will still be at your side when things get serious: during roll-out, during training, during the first setbacks. And how long someone will remain reachable afterwards.
11. “Do you earn money from the solutions you recommend?”
Some consultants receive commissions from software vendors or sell their own products. That isn’t wrong, but you should know about it in order to put recommendations into perspective. A good consultant discloses such ties without being asked.
12. “Who can we talk to about your work?”
Logos on a website say little. A phone call with a former client says a lot. Ask for contacts you may speak to openly. With young consultancies, ask about the people’s track record and start with a manageable first assignment. That way you get to know each other without taking a big risk.
To take with youThe checklist for your first meeting
Tick off what your counterpart has answered convincingly. Your selection is saved in this browser, and the list can be printed.
FinallyAnd if the answers don’t convince you?
Then the questions have done their job. A good consultant welcomes a counterpart who looks closely, because that is how the best results come about. If someone dodges, grows impatient or covers uncertainty with jargon, you would rather find out now than in three months’ time.
Besides the answers, trust your instinct. Consulting is collaboration between people. If after the first conversation you feel you have been understood, that is a good sign, and probably the most important one of all.
By the way: you are, of course, welcome to ask us every one of these questions too.