Secrets to Success: How to Build an Effective Relationship With Your Marketing Consultant

Marketing and communications consultants fill critical skills and bandwidth gaps. They can help you achieve, or exceed, your business goals without the commitment of a full-time hire. But if you’ve never worked with a consultant before, or you’ve had past issues, you may feel uncertain or intimidated about the prospect of managing one.

Not to worry — with the right planning and communication, you can build a great relationship that delivers results even when unexpected business challenges throw you a curve ball. After you have sign-off to engage a marketing consultant, here’s a step-by-step game plan on how to work with them and set them up for success before and after their start date.

You’ve Got Approval for a Consultant. Now What?

After you get management sign-off for a consultant (yay!), it’s time to get the details hammered out. Make sure you understand exactly what you want the consultant to do and how they will work with your team. These questions will give you a starting point for defining metrics to measure success, potential challenges to anticipate and how to match the consultant’s strengths with your business goals.

Ask yourself:

• What are my goals and expectations for the consultant?
• What specific expertise do we need right now and later?
• What are the expected deliverables?
• Who will manage the consultant relationship and be a resource as they do their work?
• Which internal experts and stakeholders will the consultant interact with?
• How would we honestly describe our culture to ensure a good fit?
• How will we measure success and how will we communicate that to the consultant?
• What agency relationships do we have to help identify the right consultant for us?
• How will we handle technology and data access needs?

The more detailed your answers are, the better.

How to Onboard Your Consultant to Ensure Success

It’s also important to consider how to build a relationship with your consultant. You’ll want to establish a strong connection with them right out of the gate, so the more you inform and properly onboard them, the better equipped they’ll be to deliver results. Your agency can play a big part in their successful onboarding.

Here’s a quick cheat sheet to prepare your team for the onboarding process:

1. Define the statement of work so everyone starts on the same page. Make sure you outline the parameters of the project, the nature of the work, the deliverables and the duration of the assignment.

2. Organize a kickoff call with your agency and the consultant to discuss the next steps. In this call, you’ll explain how the work relationship will flow, set clear expectations, answer any questions and ensure everyone is ready. Your kickoff call should accomplish the following:

• Review the statement of work, project scope, timeline and deliverables.
• Introduce the consultant to the team they will be working with.
• Agree on the best way to communicate and work with the team members.
• Establish the process for tracking progress and achieving milestones and identify the tools and methods you’ll use to monitor them.
• Discuss potential risks and challenges and the best way to handle them.
• Explain the company structure and how to navigate it to promote success.
• Review submission of hours or invoices, payment if appropriate, and technology.

3. Continue to connect. After kicking off the relationship, document your consultant’s progress to ensure they hit milestones and address any challenges quickly and satisfactorily. To do this, schedule a series of regular check-ins to make sure everyone is satisfied with the progress and success of the relationship. These check-ins can include a weekly report on progress and activities and a bi-weekly or monthly meeting.

Don’t Let Business Challenges Derail the Relationship

While a consultant can look ideal on paper, things can change rapidly in real life. Be prepared to:

• Manage scope creep. Business priorities can change fast, and it’s easy for a project to shift to something entirely different than the initial plan. If you anticipate or even expect changes, help your consultant adapt quickly. Don’t expect them to adjust to shifts without your guidance.
• Watch for unexpected costs. Scope creep is why defining the budget and scope of work up front is so important. Ensure your consultant is able to focus on the high-impact goals and deliverables you have set for them.
• Invest in change management. Internal teams may resist the changes your consultant recommends, hindering progress. Engage stakeholders early and communicate how the consultant will influence decision-making and workflows.
• Check all the confidentiality boxes. Sharing sensitive business information with an external consultant poses a risk of data breaches or leaks. Make sure you have confidentiality agreements in place and the consultant follows strict data protection protocols.
• Transfer knowledge back to your team. A consultant can help you ramp up, overcome obstacles and meet demands. But if you envision a short-term engagement, be sure there’s a step for transitioning tasks and knowledge back to your internal team.
• Address concerns early and often. Smooth out any issues right away rather than waiting to see if they resolve on their own. It can be time-consuming and costly to replace a consultant with someone new once an assignment begins, so explore all avenues to fix any problems as quickly as possible. When you’re working with an agency, communicate your concerns immediately. If they’re a good partner, they’ll work with you to ensure the consultant’s success or move quickly to swap out the consultant to ensure ROI.

Have You Found the Right Marcomm Consultant?

A strong consulting relationship begins with tapping the right person for the job. If you’re not sure how to find a consultant or whether you even have the bandwidth to conduct a search, we can help. Find out how our marketing and communications experts can make it easy to access proven talent for all your marcomm needs.