Latest / Black Girls Consult TOO! / Episode 127: Consulting vs. Contracting: Navigating Value and Positioning

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Episode 127: Consulting vs. Contracting: Navigating Value and Positioning · Black Girls Consult TOO!

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Hello, hello, hello.
• 0:01
  Speaker 1: Welcome to the Black Girls Comfort Tube podcast.
• 0:04
  Speaker 1: I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and today I want us to have a very basic conversation, and one of the reasons why I want to have this conversation is because I feel like we often confuse a lot of titles and definitions surrounding consulting and how that compares to other types of expert-based services.
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: So I want to make sure that we are on the same page when it comes to how we are talking about our services, what we're offering to our clients and how we're showing up in the marketplace, Because sometimes we may advertise our services and market our services in a way that confuses our clients, and then sometimes our clients have no idea how to decipher between the two.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: I feel like the biggest confusion comes about when we talk about being a consultant versus a contractor, and although there is some overlap between these two, they are definitely very, very different.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: So today we're going to break that all down and you, hopefully, will have a clear understanding as to how to better position yourself as a consultant in your space and reap all the wonderful benefits as a result.
• 1:22
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get started and reap all the wonderful benefits as a result, all right let's get started, they say.
• 1:27
  Speaker 2: The odds are stacked against us as women, especially women of color, trying to thrive in the consulting world.
• 1:33
  Speaker 2: But rather than wait for a seat at the table that may never come, what if we build our own tables?
• 1:39
  Speaker 2: What if we channeled our talents into guiding each other towards the success we deserve?
• 1:44
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Black Girls Console 2 podcast.
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: I'm your host, dr Angelina Davis, and I've walked the path from healthcare consultant to a mentor for women like you, ambitious, unstoppable and ready to make waves in the consulting world, this podcast is your go-to spot for all things entrepreneurial consulting.
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: For us as women, especially women of color, think of it as your weekly coffee date with a friend who's here to dish out real talk on building a solid business, elevating your thought leadership and mastering that all important mindset.
• 2:16
  Speaker 2: And let's not forget, we're doing all of this while balancing day jobs, family life and running teams.
• 2:22
  Speaker 2: Yes, we can do it all.
• 2:25
  Speaker 2: So if you're ready to dive into how you can grow a thriving consultancy or get strategies and insights that actually fit your busy lifestyle, then you're in the right place.
• 2:35
  Speaker 2: Grab your coffee, tea or, hey, even a glass of wine, I won't judge and let's get started.
• 2:47
  Speaker 1: Okay, first things first.
• 2:49
  Speaker 1: Many times, businesses, even corporate clients, don't necessarily know whether or not they need a consultant or they need a contractor, meaning they put out these RFPs and they want someone to come in and actually do work that they have already outlined and specified.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: Now, if you are a contractor, that's right up your alley because you are filling in a gap that they may have in their particular organization.
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: But when you're a consultant, this doesn't quite match, and because there is not a lot of conversation as to how these things differ, many times as consultants we end up doing the work of a contractor, and that can actually be to our detriment in the long run.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: So I think it's very important for us to understand what the difference actually is and then use that as an opportunity to educate many of the clients or the prospects that we may run into.
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: They don't seem to know the difference, and this is not about consulting being better than being a contractor.
• 3:55
  Speaker 1: That's not what I'm trying to say at all.
• 3:56
  Speaker 1: It's all based upon what you desire and what you want from your business, but when you are looking to use your expertise and your thought leadership in a certain way, then many times being a contractor is just not going to cut it, and so I want us to understand the subtle differences and nonsense between the two, so that we know what we're looking for.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: If you do decide to submit a response to a request for proposal, or if you are just reaching out to others and building your referrals and your referral list, I want you to be able to do that in the right way that aligns with the type of business that you actually envisioned of building.
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: So let's start first.
• 4:37
  Speaker 1: What is the difference between a contractor and a consultant?
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: Now, usually with a contractor, this is someone who's coming in to do the work for the team.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Often, this is an individual or an organization or a business that is going to fill in gaps, meaning that there is something that needs to be done that typically could be fulfilled by an employee.
• 5:05
  Speaker 1: But because there is that lack and sometimes it may be because they can't find the right individual maybe it's a temporary project and they don't feel the need to hire for the long term for that particular position they're looking for someone else who can come in and do that work without having to be trained, without having to be told what to do, and to be able to do it better than someone who will be brand new at the task, and this is when a lot of organizations may be looking for contractor help.
• 5:34
  Speaker 1: So I want you to think of being a contractor as being more of someone who is working to fill in the gaps, to complete the tasks that's already been outlined by the client so many times.
• 5:50
  Speaker 1: Contractors may go through some type of third-party service.
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: Even if they are receiving referrals, they are receiving them to do a specific task.
• 6:01
  Speaker 1: Their function is more in the doing.
• 6:04
  Speaker 1: Now, that is actually vastly different from a consultant.
• 6:10
  Speaker 1: The thing about consulting is that, yes, you are bridging the gap between where someone is currently and where they want to be, but you are not always doing the work, unless you just choose to do that piece.
• 6:22
  Speaker 1: Most often, a consultant is actually laying out the strategy, providing their knowledge, their expertise, their lived experience to help that client figure out exactly what do they need in order to get to that next level.
• 6:37
  Speaker 1: If you don't do that work or you may be facilitating them finding the necessary employees and other resources that they need in order to bring those things to life you are taking your knowledge and your ability to advise that client, and that is what you're packaging as the service that you offer.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: So I want you to think more globally when you think about the consulting services that you offer.
• 7:08
  Speaker 1: So I want you to think more globally when you think about the consulting services that you're offering.
• 7:10
  Speaker 1: They're not always going to be hands-on unless, like I stated before, you want them to.
• 7:17
  Speaker 1: When it comes to consulting, it truly is a business of expertise, where what you are marketing, what you're selling, what you're providing the clients, surreils what you know and what you can help them achieve through what you know.
• 7:30
  Speaker 1: And that is one of the biggest differences between being a contractor and being a consultant.
• 7:37
  Speaker 1: Now I will say that sometimes, when you're doing work as a contractor, it can be somewhat easier to find jobs, because most often people are looking for something to be done right away.
• 7:49
  Speaker 1: They may not fully understand the benefit of having a consultant in that space and may not know how a consultant can help them.
• 7:57
  Speaker 1: But one of the things that you can do as a consultant that a contractor oftentimes cannot is you can develop the strategy and the plans for them to execute not just what they want to do, but actually execute in a more efficient and effective manner so they achieve outcomes that are far greater than what they originally imagined, and that is something that they are not aware of at the time.
• 8:21
  Speaker 1: This is why it can be more difficult, at least initially, for us as consultants to land business, because what we have to pursue is ensure that the client has a complete understanding as to what our role is and how we can benefit them.
• 8:37
  Speaker 1: That's all about us being able to articulate our value and to speak to what makes our offers very much well-suited and fitted for their needs.
• 8:49
  Speaker 1: So this is something that often can slow that process down just a little bit for us as consultants, whereas with contractors, someone is going out into the marketplace and they're looking for someone to do the work, and that may be a lot of times seen and feels like, for instance, it, where you may have a client that needs something built out for them in the IT realm and they know exactly what they want done, and so they're finding a contractor who can facilitate them being able to do that work, and although that contractor has immense knowledge themselves, they are expert-based services.
• 9:27
  Speaker 1: Most often they're not directing the project, they're not taking that project from the ground up and bringing it to life.
• 9:35
  Speaker 1: They're usually coming in and performing that work and maybe giving some advice as they move along as to which direction may be better, but they are not masterminding the initial concepts, they're not developing those initial strategies, and that is one very, very big difference between the two and something that we, as consultants, have to be able to explain so that we can speak to some of the pitfalls, that we can help them avoid some of the costs that we can be responsible for facilitating them, saving, being able to show them how we can be their right hand and really advise them through the entire process and show them things that they may not have ever imagined was difficult or was a problem or something that could be a challenge that could undermine what they are actually doing.
• 10:25
  Speaker 1: So many times, clients don't necessarily know that they need a consultant, and sometimes they go out and they search for a consultant because maybe that's what they've been told they need from someone else, but they're going and they're asking for work that very much aligns with a contractor's role.
• 10:41
  Speaker 1: So we just have to know that and be able to speak to that and understand that sometimes, as a consultant, it may be a little bit more challenging to land business initially.
• 10:53
  Speaker 1: However, there is one main difference in terms of how we're able to capitalize on the work that we do from the standpoint of value, and what we are typically able to charge or command in terms of pricing.
• 11:11
  Speaker 1: Most often contractor roles may pay less than a consultant role, because what you're paying for from the contractor is for the work to be done and often that is not viewed as high level or premium as you being a consultant who is actually doing most of the advisement and the strategic planning.
• 11:36
  Speaker 1: So when you're billing in in that consulting role, you're typically undervaluing your services number one and because you're undervaluing your services of what you have to offer, you often end up undercharging.
• 11:51
  Speaker 1: So while, yes, it can be easy to drum up contractor business and it can be easy for you to potentially get your foot in the door that way, it does somewhat confuse your role to how someone sees you in that position.
• 12:08
  Speaker 1: And also when it comes to the contractor roles that are currently in the marketplace, most clients look at those as being interchangeable, meaning that they often are shopping for the person who can either do it cheaply, or maybe they're looking for someone who has a specialty in that particular area, but they know that there are other people typically that could fill in in that capacity.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: They also know that they can hire somebody to do that work because, keep in mind, they are focused on what they want to accomplish and what they've already designed and strategized themselves, and they are not necessarily aware of the pitfalls.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: They're not looking for someone to do that higher level advisement when they are searching for that need.
• 12:52
  Speaker 1: Sometimes they go and they request the services of a consultant but then attempt to position them as a contractor.
• 13:02
  Speaker 1: So we have to be aware of that and know the difference and not just get fixated on the type of contract that we may be landing, because, especially if this is from a corporate entity, we may feel as if, oh my gosh, this is a wonderful, lucrative contract.
• 13:16
  Speaker 1: I need to take it.
• 13:17
  Speaker 1: And I'm not saying don't take it.
• 13:19
  Speaker 1: That is something that you truly need, that will build your business.
• 13:23
  Speaker 1: But what I'm trying to express is that you want to make sure that, if you do take it, that you're making it clear what you are capable of doing and how you truly are able to serve them.
• 13:35
  Speaker 1: But what I would actually say is that, even if they're coming to you for that need, this is when our sales skills need to kick in, because now it's time for you to do the education so that they better understand what you bring to the plate and then shift their perspective and their mindset so that they're able to reimburse you for the true value that you're bringing and not under charge in that capacity, so that you're not just accepting this work for the sake of accepting it, that you truly are taking this opportunity and making sure that the client understands your value and are willing to pay for those services appropriately.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: So this is not just a challenge, I would say, for the client, but it's also a challenge for us as consultants, to speak to how we're able to serve them, how we're able to drive changes and outcomes that are far greater than what a typical contractor can actually do.
• 14:35
  Speaker 1: Let's be sure that we are able to differentiate between the two.
• 14:41
  Speaker 1: One of the things that I want us to not get caught up in is the fact that it may sound difficult to sell yourself as consultants.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: That's not hard at all.
• 14:55
  Speaker 1: What is more difficult is just being consistent with educating your target audience.
• 15:02
  Speaker 1: They're vastly aware of how you are different from a contractor that you may hire, so the more you are doing in terms of education, in terms of content, marketing, in terms of your thought leaderships, to share what you do, how your perspectives are different, how your values are different, how your way of approaching the problem is different and unique, and how that difference can lead to better outcomes.
• 15:28
  Speaker 1: That then helps to position that organization or that client at a higher level, to better compete against their competition, and the more that you can do to better position yourself as a consultant instead of as a contractor, you are going to, number one, win a higher quality client and level of business, but then, two, it is going to be more lucrative to you and your company in the end.
• 15:56
  Speaker 1: So the thing that I want us to know is that, yes, we can do contractor work, as a matter of fact, as a consultant, if you want to do some of the implementation, which I often recommend that we have some elements in there that help us ensure that implementation goes well, because if the client doesn't implement successfully, then they'll walk away thinking that your strategy didn't work as a whole conversation for another day.
• 16:23
  Speaker 1: But although we may do some work, all the contractor will.
• 16:27
  Speaker 1: We fill in and perform some tasks.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: That is at your discretion.
• 16:31
  Speaker 1: Your value still lies in the expertise that you're bringing to the table, and I want us to really understand that difference, because this is how you are going to elevate yourself in your expertise so that you're in more of a leadership role.
• 16:48
  Speaker 1: Instead of following along with what the client has laid out, we are usually following their direction.
• 16:54
  Speaker 1: They are the leader of the project and we tend to be following that path.
• 16:59
  Speaker 1: However, what I teach my clients to do is that you're going to collaborate very closely with the client and you are going to help, guide and advise them through the process so that they're making the best decisions.
• 17:13
  Speaker 1: So this puts you in a seat of leadership.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: These are very different things, and the more that we can better understand how they are different, then it's going to help us to shift the way that we are approaching the jobs that we're taking on, the clients that we're working with, and how we're going to approach how we are marketing and selling our services in general, because we want to sell from a position of leadership.
• 17:39
  Speaker 1: We want to promote our services from a position of advisement.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: We want to focus on how we're able to help them more effectively solve the problem and how we can guide them to the outcome that they desire and that they need.
• 17:54
  Speaker 1: So I want you to shift away from thinking of yourself as just being able to do work for a client, do work for a corporate entity.
• 18:04
  Speaker 1: I want you to think about how you're going to show up as that expert in the room, how you're going to show up as an consultant that is ready to lead the team.
• 18:12
  Speaker 1: That is vastly different from you being a contractor and, like I stated before, one is not better than the other.
• 18:20
  Speaker 1: It depends on what you desire for your business and for the work that you do.
• 18:25
  Speaker 1: But if you do desire to be a consultant, there's a need for us to show up that way, and the more that we're showing up that way, the better it's going to be for our business, for our longevity and for the amount of revenue that we can bring in.
• 18:39
  Speaker 1: That makes our businesses more profitable, and we have to become profitable so that we are sustainable, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to have this conversation.
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: So if you have been focused on doing more work that aligns with being a contractor and you desire to be a consultant and excel in the consulting industry, I want you to focus on the shifts that you can make to better position yourself as a consultant.
• 19:05
  Speaker 1: I want you to think about how you're able to educate your client about the differences between being a consultant and being a contractor.
• 19:12
  Speaker 1: I want you to be able to better articulate your value so that you can speak to the type of outcomes that you can help them achieve through your expertise, through your lived experience.
• 19:23
  Speaker 1: And then I also want you to be able to lead, lead and show them how you are able to take them point A to point B so that they have the comfort and reassurance that they can trust you with their biggest problems.
• 19:39
  Speaker 1: And when you do this, then everything is going to work out and align, with you having the most amazing consulting business that you have ever dreamt up.
• 19:49
  Speaker 1: Remember position yourself as a consultant, not as a contractor.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: Sell your expertise, what you know and what you can do through the knowledge you have.
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: All right, guys, take care.
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: Bye-bye.
• 20:02
  Speaker 2: Thank you for tuning in to the Black Girls Consulting Podcast.
• 20:05
  Speaker 2: If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to leave your review on Apple Podcasts, subscribe and share it with a friend.
• 20:12
  Speaker 2: We're on a mission to increase the success and longevity of women in consulting, and you can help us do just that.
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: Also, I'd love to hear from you, so let's connect at Dr Angelina Davis on Instagram or LinkedIn, and don't forget to visit ExcelAtConsultingcom for more information to support your consulting journey.
• 20:32
  Speaker 2: Until next time, keep breaking glass ceiling.
• 20:35
  Speaker 2: All right, take care.
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: Bye.