Friday, February 27, 2009

BACK From Winter Break

Hello, everyone. I AM BACK TO SHANGHAI, hope all of you doing well!

I had no idea that I would enjoying such a long winter break traveling, spending the entire days eating, relaxing, doing nothing past that. It feels great to put off the "business face" and stay around with family and friends. I like the time at school and getting involved with work, but it is wonderful to get back in my own element. Attending college 2000 Kms away from family when you're used to seeing them whenever you want is really difficult....So, everytime I went back home, I shopped/cooked and stayed with parents, tried to see as many people as possible, and committed myself to helping high school students with their incoming college lives. Finally, this time I also traveled to cities like Dong-guan, Shenzhen and those in Hainan province, took the chance to observed how people live and do business. I took notes all the way and will post for that later to put down my thoughts. Overall, it's so great to not to worry about getting up for classes :P

Well...OK, here I am :) now back to school. Although homesick and missing folks, plus the annoying rainy days in Shanghai are tough, I'm ready to for everything ahead for the Year of Bull ! I will be right back for some forecast of incoming content on isteward, so see you soon.


Over the past few days, I had been seriously stuck with some S* caused by my newly purchased cellphone(see my post on live space if you want to show some concern J), hope it will end soon (bless~)


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Friday, February 20, 2009

聊聊咨询那些事 14-WARM UP YOUR COLD CALL

By 阿杜.Steward
Shanghai

COLD CALL是咨询师工具箱里最令人作呕(对多数人而言)也是最重要的技能之一。

1. 什么情况下需要COLD CALL

对于从来没有cold call经验的同学,会产生疑惑-我只是想来做一份体面的实习,为什么要打那么多电话骚扰陌生人?毫无疑问,如果拥有先天禀赋,例如电台DJ般楚楚动人的声音,那么你将在电话交谈中占尽优势,更容易与对方产生化学作用从而更加得心应手。一旦你没有这些出类拔萃的油腔滑调先天优势,只是平凡人中的一员,则需要掌握一些方法从而提高成功率。

这是是你需要打cold call 的各种情况:
- 获取第一手资料(这常常比你在互联网上为了某些翻箱倒柜而来得快捷)
- 进行电话访问,了解顾客偏好,和竞争者动态,验证某种假设
- 联络供应商(在采购项目中常常需要广撒网地联络很多供应商)
- 推销产品 (像银行的理财产品、保险、红酒、英语培训等等)
立志于成为咨询顾问的你,你自学过芭芭拉.明托的演讲写作,在于咨询顾问的合作中学习到了如何专业地展现分析结论。你最擅长的事情就是,发现问题,然后设计一些工具/技巧去解决他们。

最后,不论本文最终会演变成如何的长篇大论的建议,最后一条建议永远是接受现实。不是所有的目标受访者都喜欢你或者愿意接受访问,有些时候对方给出的理由是合理的(你的素养不够,他们太忙),有时候理由是不合理的(你的言语很业余,不像行家)。然而这些大山不需要你去跨越。如果对方粗鲁固执、顽固好斗,那么尽快不伤和气地分手,换一条路子。这种想法和心态会让你在接下来的表现能放得更开。


2. “中间人”干扰因素

很多情况下,一个看似合乎情理,甚至能给对方带来巨大商业利益的cold call,你都不能指望那将一帆风顺。因为你的电话,首先遇到的往往都是训练有素的看谁都是电话骗子的前台和助理小姐。我们称之为“中间人”,中间人的职责就是将你与真正当受访者隔开。你的目的是要与真正的受访者建立关系,而“中间人”的角色会在半路杀出,给你添加许多麻烦。

有Cold call 经验的朋友都会面临这样一个问题,我们大量花在电话上的时间是用在接触那些不肯合作的“中间人”身上,这些家伙不是目标受访者,没有真正决定权,但制造出很多令人沮丧的事情让你极难接触到目标受访者。

她们会问你是谁,你为了说服她尽快帮你接通经理的电话,你把自己的国际化背景和这个项目巨大的合作机会全告诉她了,表达有条不紊。但你越是说得流利就是越是让人觉得”too good to be true”,于是你在她眼中越是符合骗子的特征了,她们更坚信你是骗子了。如果你说得结结巴巴,那对方则仍会认为你是骗子,并且是一个刚出道的骗子。没错,很多情况下一宗世纪大订单就这样被活生生被扼杀在摇篮里了,如果他老板知道他的白痴秘书这样拒了送上门的生意肯定会愤怒地解雇她五十遍。看似很讽刺荒唐,却是事实。很多情况下,秘书和行政助理会在你解释清楚情况前,告诉你不要再打电话来了。尽管大多数情况下cold call 的干扰因素无所不在,但在使用以下所建议技巧之前,请不要放弃:


3. 首次通话,如何对付“中间人”

简单来说就是要毫不留情地绕过和忽略他们。与“中间人”建立关系的目的只是为了确定谁是目标受访者(你要辨别“中间人”后面是否仍然有下一个“中间人”),通过他联系上受访者。这一点很重要,除此之外,不需要与其发生进一步打交道。

A. 不要初期就深层次介绍。 不可能一次通话就交代清楚所有问题,需要分开步骤,逐步跟进。很多人在初期就与“中间人”做深层次分享和介绍,这是没必要的。放轻松些,有的时候一句带迫切语气的“麻烦转xx部经理”就可以绕过某些人了。

B.自尊和无畏。尽管”中间人”角色有势无权,蛮横无理,但双方之间的关系不应当是对抗性的,也不应当是处于两种不同等级的从属关系。若要避免糟糕的事情发生,你需要与“中间人”建立互助的关系。就像外国人依靠自己的律师或者理财顾问来解决问题,但他不认为这些代理人与他处于同等的地位。鼓起勇气,绝对不要让自己胆怯,寻求外部帮助或者提前了解更多行业背景,都能增加你的底气和自信。

C. 谈吐得体,丰富你的词汇。 电话上对方会根据你的语气语速判断你是否成功人士。丰富你的词汇,绝对不要让人觉得你的言辞枯燥乏味。如果你的说话中不断使用单调的小学句式和“呃呃啊啊 ”之类的词汇,任何懂行当人都不会尊重你。记住,你已经入行多久,对这个行业有多少认识不重要,谁都会遇到不熟悉的问题,如果你需要思考,请大方地停顿,承认自己对某个问题不熟悉,并会做好记录。

D. 运用幽默,不要无事道歉。幽默可以缓解紧张的局面,自我贬低和无事道歉是不自重和自我贬低的表现。不要说“很抱歉耽误了你宝贵的时间,希望….”(我刚开始的时候确实这样说过)这样听起来像是乞求,难道你的时间就不宝贵吗?当你这样做时,你不仅是一个推销员,而且成了一个低级的推销员。幽默是高智商和有很强自信心的表现。要像领导教育的那样“战略上藐视,战术上重视”

E. 事先做些准备工作。通过互联网、人际关系了解对方公司、行业产品和服务的背景信息。或者先打几个无关紧要的电话到其他公司,阐明你是消费者,想了解相关信息的目的,通过与销售部门或者前台小姐的交谈了解情况,看这个公司的人是否有特殊需求。你会发现,你懂得越多,自信心越强,掌控对话越发容易。

F. 还击质疑,提供有力证明。 “中间人”会对你的观点提出质疑,不要感觉如履薄冰,对方最容易怀疑那种只会应声附和道人。假设你自己是一名经验丰富的员工,你不但能记住自己公司的名称地址传真号(没错,很多实习生由于准备不足,会在别人提问这些问题时哑口无言),而且能提及一系列客户公司以及在本行众所周知的人物的名字。与视图夸张地吹擂相比,谈及过去曾有的经历更为有效,从而将球踢回给对方。

G. 当直奔主题受阻时,不要操之过急。当对方没有对你的资料和谈话内容表现出兴趣,尽管会遇到阻碍,尝试雕琢一下你的言辞,换一个理由去见受访者:“我明白你的工作是xxx,实际上,我只有了解决策者的目的和期望后才能提交我们的工作步骤,我确信你们也会有类似的商业上信任和道德的考虑。”这种说法其实没有表达什么实质性内容,但会放对方觉得这里理由很恰当,因为你为他们设身处地想过了。实际上是在降低他们的风险,因为一旦“中间人”让业务无关的电话干扰到上司,最终承担批评的将是他们。

F. 问一些引人深思的问题。如果在电话中,大部分时间是你在滔滔不绝,那么另外一方肯定会听得不知所措云里雾里。事先准备好一些问题,在谈话中随意提问,不要让对方觉得你在审问他。不要担心对方说话太多会不愉快,相反,人在谈论自己熟悉的问题时总是心情畅快的。


4. FOLLOW UP, 持续跟进

以上我们讨论了首轮cold call中一些策略。同样严峻的是,Cold call 往往不是一蹴而就而是需要不断跟进的过程。有几种原因使你的跟进工作受到阻力,令你倍感沮丧:

1) 对方已经收到你的宣传资料、项目介绍,但没有表现出兴趣
2) “中间人”但应了帮你联系相关的同时,但从此没有给你回复
3) 你的跟进方法出了问题

在跟进工作方面取得成功的主要策略是,在首轮接触的同时,就约定好下次跟进的时间,提前告知对方你的下一个步骤,然后再约定时间务必履行你的承诺,给对方致电。例如,你给某公司打了电话,确定了对方是“中间人”,在电话上留下几点需要“中间人”代为传递的口信,对方会想你索取书面的资料(事实上已经准备好了),你就会说“我会稍后立即给你一份资料。我的习惯是在x天内给你们打电话,了解你们的问题和讨论下一步骤。”然后记录下对方的全名、职位、分机号码。在首次电话中双方没有建立多少信任关系,你可以采取这样的方法“我想明天再次跟进你们的进度,同时想更多了解你上司的反馈。明天下午如何?”一旦你提出再次联系的时间,对方心理上会产生一种责任感,与那种模棱两可的提示“我将会打给你”或者“你有什么问题,请打给我”(实际上,极少有人会主动回电),效果要高得多。在电子邮件中附带关键的时间信息作为提醒,总是十分有效。如果你还愿意不厌其烦地阅读,下面几条建议或许能让你减少一些犯错。

A.辨别对方回复.有时,对方听完你的来意后,没有拒绝你,而是告诉你“好的”,他会转告相关的同事。当然有些时候,事情会按照好的方向发展。但另一种情况是,“好的”并不总是代表乐观的情况,可能他们意识到“不”这个回答会促使你更加锲而不舍地反驳他们,因此他们用“好的”来敷衍你,这样做仅仅是为了快点挂断电话。所以当一个电话交谈处在初步阶段时候,你可以提出双方进一步联系的日期。如果对方给出的是含含糊糊的回答,你一定要和他确定再次联系到时间。最后,最重要的一点,准时兑现你的承诺,这样你就可以展现出诚意和给对方施加善意的压力。

B.停止反复骚扰。如果你能够接触到受访者的助理,询问一下受访者什么时候在公司,你就可以通过电话预约一次访谈。如果连续不能联系到受访者,在语音信箱留言或者告诉他的助理,说明你很遗憾没能联系到受访者,留下你所有的联系方式,解释你不想打扰,并且你时刻准备着随时给予回应。(绝对不要拨打私人电话,即使是你知道这个号码,除非是十万火急或者事先得到允许) 你没有收到回电,客户可能是不想和你通话,可能生病了,度假了,或者其他公司的事物占据了他的精力,如果你锲而不舍你会成为不受欢迎的人。

C.及时做好记录。做好记录十分重要。每打一个电话之后,及时记录进度和做好笔记。将所有cold call 的名单记录在电子表格上,系统地标记。你可以发送一封电子邮件跟进,在邮件中申明你的需求,突出重点,重新提醒对方。

D.欲速则不达,聪明地施加压力。在cold call 的过程中,耐心是一种强有力的技能。当你行动太快时,你会吓着别人,这点非常讽刺。提高你的速度,及时follow up进度没有错,但是急进不可取。你需要有自己的战略和惯用套路,你可以参考他人的套路,但是没有绝对的好差。如果你确实希望一切进展得快些,请制造一些客观压力。所谓客观压力,就是指让对方感觉压力来自于第三方而不是你本身。例如提示你们的顾问正在对方的城市跨区域地为项目疲于奔命,或是出于项目进度迫切。这样能营造出共同协商的信任关系,让对方确信你积极与他同一阵线参与其中。列举逻辑使人思考,而动用情感能使人行动!
有时,我尽职地与“中间人”确定了时间日期,积极地跟进。我打了十几个电话,发了许多电子邮件和传真,然后得到的回复是她们不愿意进一步合作。其中的寓意 就是,当你确信工作会达到预期结果时,也可能出现相反,无论你做得多么职业。尽管出乎意料,但不是不会发生,过失不在于你,而是运气,你要保持警觉。

关于运气,还有一个例子。某次我负责 cold call安排一个访问,受访者是台湾一个身兼十几个行业协会董事和n个公司的管理层,行业协会网站上单是电话号码就十几个。我挑了其中一个顺眼号码打过 去,那是某协会的前台,碰巧的是那位德高望重的受访者正好当日在该协会参加会议,更更更巧的是他此刻正好踏进办公室。前台小姐惊叹我的电话为何如此精准打 入,估计我非常有来头之人,异常热情尽责。而往后的一切安排变得出奇地顺利。
好了,你阅读完本文,已经付出了比别人更多的努力,带上自信,开始演练吧!
欢迎留言。


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Wednesday, February 11, 2009

[Q&A] Questions from an HR major student

By 阿杜.Steward
Shanghai

Hi, folks, below is an email from reader Tracy, who’s very interested in pursuing a job in consulting industry upon her graduation in 2010, but wondering whether her school major/academic background and internship experience will be a disadvantage to prevent her from reaching her goal. And at the time, it doesn’t seem like she’s got her plan worked out well either-she’s also considering to continue her study abroad as alternative to job-hunting. In other words, she has a lot more thinking to do for the incoming hiring season. In my response, I tried to answered her questions and give some unsolicited advice, which of course only represent my own opinion.

[Note. I started writing the reply a few days ago, but it turned out to be a long piece. I think her situation may apply to other readers so I decided to quote her email and make a post here. At the same time, if you’ve got some advice for her, please be kind to make a comment, it's appreciated !]

From: Tracy.C
Sent: Sun, Feb 8, 2009 at 9:09 PM
To: Steward.du[at]gmail[dot]com

Hi steward,

Actually I'm in final year of college and will graduate in 2010. I am very interested in pursuing consulting as a starting career upon graduation, but my academic background and several working and voluntary experience mainly on admin which quite relevant to my major: human resource management. And I think that is actually against my passion in analysis and somewhat limit my job-hunting for my desired job. I'm not sure whether to be an executive or a professional consultant with my double character. I've been a reader of your blog, could you please tell me is it possible to find a way which can balance my major and personal interest? If the answer is HR consultancy firm, what's your suggestion on taking the fist step into this field? I understand that barely having interest is not enough, but no one is willing to offer someone who doesn’t have targeted educational background and relevant experience to have a try and prove herself, especially in this recession year, isn't it?

I planned to further my education abroad and have already taken TOEFL test with a fare score. But the problem come the same with job hunting. Continue the HR major or not. It would be little chance to apply for another major with scholarship as far as I know.

In all, I don't want my major to be the limitation, but it seems that networking and experiences come along with the major itself. I'm afraid I'll be restrained in this field and have no chances or high opportunity cost to transfer as the time goes by. How can I think and act beyond the major at the very beginning? Do I really need to do this?

Sorry for troubling you.

Regards.Tracy

----Response----
From: Steward
Sent: Wed, Feb 11, 2009 at 9:33 AM

Hi, Tracy

I hope this message finds you doing well. Thanks for the readership and thinking of me as a resource for your question. I’m happy to discuss with you in fleshing it out.

As I read your email, I realized that you are driven, you don’t lack passion and you still have a brand new 2009 ahead. Therefore, I want to assure you in advance that DO NOT over-worry your “weakness”.

It looks like your biggest concern is your school major and work experiences aren’t strong enough to land you on a competitive position on the start during hiring process. And the short answer from me is that, pursuing a dream job IS NOT something that should be taken lightly for anyone. It’s harsh for all job applicants, so once you set your goal, first of all mentally prepare yourself for the rigors lie ahead. Cool?

...Good, let’s focus more on the execution part of your situation and be prepared for the harder words (I don’t mean to make it harsh, but that’s something you should really ask yourself internally, and try to face it without fear of failure). Are you certain you’re right for that industry before you decide to pursuit the job? Should you focus more attention on some other professions that better match your situation instead?

- In your email, you blamed your school major and work experience all the way through. These are disadvantages but don't take them as EXCUSES or only REASON for the setback you encountered.

- You wondered is it possible to find a way which can balance your major and personal interest in analyzing and solving problems. But I don’t see any conflict between your major and your interest. You’re studying Human Resource, and I’m pretty sure your course covered business knowledge such as accounting, corporate finance, general management, marketing etc. Those basic you picked up in text book already gave you many edges when competing with another candidate who’s major in Civil Engineering or Literal Arts. Besides, through some campus student activities, you have probably developed a set of soft skills, including problem solving, leadership, and effective communication. These skills apply in many contexts and can defiantly prepare you for lots of career opportunities! Then you have some work experience in admin, good, so that’s your chance to perform as a self-driven person. Did you leverage the chance to observe a real company’s structure with both breath and depth, identify opportunities and challenges in organizational contexts, and build personal relationships with your mentors from whom you can seek more specific advice?

- You worried you’re not from a top-tier targeted school. Many people are asking variation of this question. And as far as I know, no doubt top consulting firms have school favor during campus recruitment, but please don’t bet all your luck on these big names. There’re bunch of good companies that worth a try and they offer decent personal development as well. However, if you have strong experience in your resume that outshines other competitors (achievement in world-class firms, award of contest, start-up/student activities that show your leadership), you have higher chance of sitting in front of an interview. You admitted that you don’t have relevant work experience, and obviously you lack a clear understanding about consulting and that’s simply not good enough for your application to be taken seriously. Otherwise, what do you think you can differentiate yourself from other candidates?

- You're puzzled and found networking and experiences come along with the major itself,then your major become limiting factor again. Yet I don’t see you’re trying hard to achieve this. I understand that this maybe due to lacking channels to meet people or getting referred-in to a job. But that isn’t a valid excuse for not being able to reach out to more people. You don’t need to start as an intern in a consulting firm to know some consultants, right? Utilize your school alumni networks / extended personal network (you know from blog or through friend) and join some careers forums, company workshop, read their blogs/article and try to contact them literally etc as the first step. To be honest, I can’t offer you an exhaustive list of methods to extend your network, only by thinking long and hard can you figure out the right way for your own. That showcases your problem solving ability, agree?

- You asked for my suggestion on taking the fist step if you want to target an HR consultancy firm. I recommend you inject more time in the following area to pave your way through in the remaining year of your college:

a) Be serious with your class, GPA matters. Think further the theories you learned in text books and connect them with real world cases. Take the lead and enjoy any study group homework.

b) Practice your English. English is good weapon to impress others. Are you orally fluent, and can you write a clear email that people can catch your points easily? (Email is handy tool to stay connected with others) Well, it requires practice and persistence.

c) Network. You can’t anticipate how a contact may help you in the future, you need to find out joy of talking to people with shared interests. If this makes you feel uncomfortable, don’t force yourself to do so. At the same time, be general to offer your help to others in need if possible.

d) Stick to your interest. People love to work with fun person instead of a working machine. So do you have any hobby besides job job job ? It could be sport, music, reading, writing or even collecting crappy Chinese sneakers. Your personal interest indicates if you hold passion in a certain area and reflect your creativity as well.

e) Stay tuned on isteward. You're probably tired of the dry humor of the author, but there’re bunch of great readers around that with experience and kindness to offer their help :)

Wow, this turned into a much longer email than I expected when I started it. I hope that you find it helpful at some points. Good luck on your 2009 and eventual prosperous result upon your graduation! Don't hesitate to shoot me emails to share with me your good news from time to time :)

-Stew | www.isteward.cn


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Tuesday, February 10, 2009

[Just4Fun] Street battle, consultans vs bankers

[MSN message history]
...
C.H 11:51:01

btw,bankers really look down upon consultants in a harsh way. here is a funny clip, see below
阿杜.Steward 11:51:32
Yup, but the world now all looks down upon the selfish greedy bankers seriously...





[Background info of the video| From portal-a.com]

In addition to producing the video, Portal A developed a unique distribution strategy to help it reach a wide audience. This involved finding placement for the video on a number of popular blogs, including Wallstrip, Valleywag, Dealbreaker, and Next New Networks. After launching on YouTube, the video had over 200,000 views within a week.

----Lyrics----

[Hot Dog Vendor]
Bankers and Consultants, it's time to squash the beef
Gonna settle this now
Right here on the street
Uh-oh-oh-oh
Uh-oh-oh-oh

[Consultant]
M C.K. Prahalad (echoes)
MCKinse
It's about to get weird...

You bankers don't have a clue, better take some courses
I'm on some Jedi mind sh*t, using all five forces
Work hard, play hard even your mom thinks you're a tool
Be a burnout banker, teaching math at my prep school
I make sick decks
I use the three C's -
Chicks, Cash, Cristal, that's my only strategy
You're playing with Excel doing nothing but grunt work
I'm analyzing both qualitative AND quantitative research
(OH!)
You slave away, another piece of the machine
I make a really significant impact and get home by 7:15
I work half the time you do, I know you must hate this
Hold up... I'm about to put you in a two-by-two matrix
I'm the star homey, your a*s is a cog
You're in the lower-right quadrant but you still aint my dog
(OH SH*T!)
And I know something about you...
You went to Walt Whitman - that's a PUBLIC SCHOOL!

Hot Dog Vendor
Oooh Sh****t! The consultant straight ripped it,
Now let's see if the bankers can kick it.

[Banker]
Button collar, Kenneth Coles.
Sh*t son, your blackberry's like four year's old.
While you're out mining for gold out in saskatchewan
I'm going for bronze at the tanning salon
You try to add value...I straight create it
You get one sh*tty idea then take six months just to bake it.
Still get paid in a recession, homey you know this.
Where's the dow at? (11,000!)
Still bigger than your bonus.
I got a house in the Hamptons and a penthouse loft
But you've got intangibles, is that why your skills are so soft?
Over at 1OAK the bouncer looks at you sideways
Get back to your roots, there's no line at TGI Friday's
Hypothetical scenario: you get into the joint
You still can't buy bottles with Starwood Points
Free on nights and weekends with no discernable skill
Not sure if you're a consultant or my cell phone bill
Might work 100-hour weeks, barely sleep
Do some blow off my desk when I'm eight red bulls deep
Compared to what you do, my job's a challenge
I like my bank roll, bro
KEEP YOUR F#$*ING WORK-LIFE BALANCE

This is Wall St., b#$*h, you don't belong here
I'm your greatest fear, the sh*t you wish you could be
but are two weak to get near
Is it starting to make sense?
Is it starting to come clear?
Here.

Take this mouse and get back to making $60K a year

Hot Dog Vendor
That's not a lot of money,
We found out who's the real gangster, sing it with me now

Damn it Feels Good to Be a Banker
Oh Oh Oh!
Damn it feels good go be a banker.
Banker.

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Need someone for a short interview | France 24

Dear readers,

As an observor working for France24 (Click to know more),we are working on an article for the crisis and unemployment and may need your help. One of my colleague Segolene would like to follow several unemployed people from different countries along 2009.

The idea is that to know how they’ve been fired, how they are going to recover, how they manage to pay their bills and their loans, if they plan to do a training to get another job, etc …
(we will conduct a brief interview with that person thruough email or telephone, upon his/her convenience )

If you know any people who would be interested (within this week would be great ! ), contact me, it's more than appreciated !!!!


If this post is making you uncomfortable, sorry I was being jerk.

Thanks
Steward.du@gmail.com

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Friday, February 6, 2009

[连载]聊聊咨询那些事 13 之听合伙人讲故事(下)

By 阿杜.Steward
Shanghai


...接 《听合伙人讲故事(上)》
4.获得项目的方法
获得项目最好的方法就是手头上已经拥有项目。相对于小咨询公司或者独立咨询师,这就是大型咨询公司的名气品牌优势,大家都喜欢与胜利者通行。如果在洽谈业务的时候,你正在处理其他大单的业务,以至于要马上真诚地决绝这位未来客户了,他们肯定爱死你,因为他们肯定觉得你们有特别之处否则不会生意都被排满了。即使你们不是在洽谈业务(就好象在那个“论坛”上,你们有过接触),他们肯定会记住你,在他们企业遇到问题的时候,他们会想到你。


对于合伙人来说,他们可以享受很多免费的日本寿司,但是很难听他们说他们正享受适当的业务量。这个行业中,最糟糕的恶性循环就是“抱一顿、饥一顿”的现象。(这种现象对于小咨询公司或者一些创业型小企业而言更为明显。对于大公司,在咨询行业中,因为有部分长期积累的“老客户”,他们会定时提供生意上门,你们两家的全球分公司都在紧密合作,哪怕是不在项目上仍保持密切关系。同时,我之前分析过,咨询行业的这个现象相对于其他行业而言,不确定性更大)所以几乎所有人应该从中吸取的教训就是,在专注手上项目的时候,不要忽略了这时候的营销。实际上就是说,为了防止业务匮乏,你需要同时建立持续渠道,持续营销和曝光自己。

5.营销和曝光自己的渠道
如果因为上面提到的“获得项目最好的方法就是手头上已经拥有项目”,所以生意好的越来越好,生意差的越来越差。以至于让他们产生了错觉,公司头衔和名气将会带来源源不绝的生意,似乎忽略营销和曝光的重要性影响仍不大。这在经济好的时候的却是真的,因为所有行业都在快车道上。
但是在项目干涸的时候,这种差别便显示出来了,市场需求少了更需要销售能力强调人了。也就是现在,处于金融危机的时候,咨询公司最需要的不再是成绩优秀的大学毕业生和MBA毕业生了,你去打听一下,现在最需要的是能帮公司卖项目招揽生意的人,或许你已经听到不少高层跳槽的八卦了(那些手上有过硬account的高层全都成了救命稻草了)。

6.那么营销曝光的渠道有哪些呢?
为了曝光自己和推销自己公司的服务,高层会把自己的行程表排满以下的各种活动:

1)其中包括参加协会论坛、联盟研讨会(已被本文多次提到)

2)发表文章(你了解过麦肯锡季刊吗?你会发现出名的咨询公司都会发表大量文章和行业报告,其中的观点大多数来自于他们为客户做的项目。有时候还和客户一起撰文来增进彼此关系。或者委托给新加入的顾问来一起撰写,来帮助锻炼他们开始退化的写作能力。让初级人员承担一些高级人员的职责,可以给他们发展的机会,同时节省合伙人的时间。)

3)其他渠道还包括访谈、图书(这个国内有但是不多见,太忙了)、博客(一个现象是,在国外普遍企业家拥有个人博客的较多,咨询顾问拥有博客的也较少。在国内对应群体博客的普及程度相对又更低些。国外许多这方面的博客是有专门的助手代写的,当内部资源和外部资源相称的时候,博客的却能起到更好的聚合作用。这方面同出于兴趣而办的个人博客是不同的)、赞助活动、个人人脉(邮件、电话、高尔夫球)等。

这些渠道被多大程度地发挥了取决于每个人的性格、进取心和天份。
- 例如有些合伙人天生是谈判高手,他口中说出的词汇永远是那么丰富优美平易近人,很快就能和客户产生化学作用(这是某合伙人的原话大意),这样不但你会赢得客户,甚至你的客户还会帮助你推荐新的客户。

- 例如有些合伙人特别注重培养自己的演讲技巧,于是许多群体愿意花钱请你去演讲,哪怕你像唐骏那样每次讲同样的故事,听众还是听得兴奋。

- 例如有些合伙人不但管理好,而且写作也一流,所以很多杂志喜欢向他约稿(在国外有些咨询顾问的稿费或者书本版税能成为重要的收入来源!)

- 例如有些合伙人天生有美术细胞,他们为自己设计独特的标识(名片和信封,还有其他印刷品),在适当的场合分发这些印有你联系方法的东西。

- 有一次我发现,原来他们还会整理一份邮件名单(恩,他们多数会将所有名片用机器扫面成电子版储存起来,而不是把几千张名片堆放在抽屉里),这份名单能帮助你迅速找到需要的潜在客户群。同时,你定时向他们发送邮件(对,以个人的名义)。我发现我认识的一些较资深的销售的朋友就正在使用这招保持人脉。这对于合伙人来说同样管用,不过发送的不是笑话,而是预先分类好,对不同类别客户有价值的东西,同时为客户的回馈提供方便的空间。
最厉害的老板,把上述所有阀门都打开了,让他的企业在金融危机中财源滚滚而不是裁员滚蛋。看到这里,你对我开头引用的那张consultanninja的表格中的“sell sell sell”应该有了更深的认识了吧?


7.来自合伙人对新员工和大学生的建议
我建议学生们从两方面培养扎实的技能(solid skill),在职业的早期,这些技能越越扎实越好。

1)锻炼沟通能力
要成为出色的咨询顾问,沟通能力必不可少。我接触过不少学生,他们绝对聪明,因为他们能拿到很高的GPA,但是当中能拥有良好沟通能力的只是少数。(所有咨询公司深知沟通能力的重要性,所以在招聘新顾问的过程中,他们利用面对面的形式来案例面试)因为一个人的沟通能力在大学教育中未必能引起足够的重视,很多人在大学的学习终止于期末考试,只要努力看书然后考出高分便觉得已经可以了。他们没有额外的压力迫使其去锻炼沟通能力,直到要求职和接触社会的时候问题才暴露出来。(沟通能力既包括说,也包括写,有些人天生能说,将其话来滔滔不绝,这也许是先天环境一种无意的影响,但是对于多数人来说,这是可以通过后天锻炼大大提高的。例如注意积累丰富的词汇,以及反复锻炼表达逻辑。)
培养阅读习惯

2)广泛阅读
阅读会给个人发展巨大帮助,我一直保持贪婪的阅读习惯。现实中大量有用的信息,对一些难题的分析,是从阅读中获得。并且把交流阅读心得作为你跟你的朋友邮件、聊天的内容之一(他们来自不同的专业背景也无所谓),那些信息也许对你目前的发展没有直接帮助,却可能在一你好遇到问题时帮你找到答案。

这两条建议是本文最有价值的部分了,也就是建议所有希望成功的读者们踏实积累。基本上其他方面的事情,都是会等你在那个职位上耳濡目染不断犯错然后回头改正从而逐渐把事情做完美的。(完)


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[连载]聊聊咨询那些事 12 之听合伙人讲故事(上)

Conference Hall
如果你对咨询公司高层(合伙人、董事)充满好奇,那么你值得花一些时间读一读这篇帖子,因为其中相当部分的内容来直接自于他们的言传身教。如果你手头上有更重要的事情,请略过这个帖子。因为任何高层看到他的下属在研究他们都会发抖,高层并不欣赏这样的做法,员工们不需要知道高层真正从事的工作,员工只需看到工资、报销津贴和办公条件便足够了。特别对于一个实习生,如果高层正在做一个不错的项目,其中大部分工作实质上是不会被你看到的,这样也不会妨碍你成为明星。

这篇文章主要目的不在于娱乐,而是出于两个更正经的目的:

1. 如果你打算在不久后申请一个咨询顾问的职位,也应该了解一下在全球市场阴霾的今天,这个行业是否仍然值得你追求;
2. 即使在你遥远的未来从事咨询事业的可能性非常小,甚至根本没有这种可能,也能在这篇文章得到一些收益:诸如行业共通知识和个人发展的建议。


(如果你觉得文中某些幽默显得做作而生硬,请含给我发邮件含蓄告知)

写作背景:
在参加过的一个被包装成“论坛”的推介会上,同其他的“论坛”一样,硕大的屋子里,整齐摆放着椅子还有长长的桌子。上面放着水瓶,空白的笔记本和笔,还有三个麦克风。出席论坛的有我从未见过的企业高层,还有几个企业家,也是从来没听过。屋子座无虚席,有来自各个企业的商业人士,有扛着摄像机的记者,还有一群急于找工作的大学生。
演讲者中有来自咨询公司的高层,讲话的前一部分是关于他们如何帮助客户解决问题和取得成功的,当中包括许多响当当的企业名字以及政府项目。这是不可避免的,因为大多数的论坛同时也是推介会,推介会就是推销自己(的服务和产品)。而讲话的后半部分涉及了项目的销售以及各种兴趣盎然的故事,一下将演讲者和观众(当中应该包括了其潜在的客户)的距离拉近了许多。本文就是根据演讲内容,会后network以及适当的follow up夹着个人胡思乱想整理而成。

1.合伙人之痛
我在consultantninja的博客上发现了下面这张概括咨询公司整个级别结构的表格,一针见血一目了然,于是转载过来(考虑到你可能因GFW打不开原网址,所以我引用些有用的。附带他给新人的建议,作为课外阅读了。特别适用于如果你是这里的新读者或者对咨询公司的认识仍然模糊)

071105_consultant_levels
All strategy consulting firms have the same 6-level structure even though the titles may change, as the above table shows. There’s really only 4 when you’re talking about day-to-day work actions, and how to succeed. I’ll tackle these one at a time in separate articles.

Level A – Business Analyst / Senior Business Analyst (McKinsey-Equivalent)
Ok, we get it. You’re smart, you double majored in math and literature at Harvard. You’ve been to India, and you went to the coolest homecoming party ever last week. You read GettingDrunkInFirstClass and consider yourself a TD.
The trouble is, you can’t analyze your way out of a paper bag. Associates spoon-feed you slides to make and excel models to build, only to have to step in to constantly correct your slides so you don’t embarrass the team with fuckups. You can’t present to the client because they don’t trust a 22-year old (rightfully so).
We don’t hate you. We just know that you’re pretty worthless, and that you have an inflated ego that needs to be beat down. So, let me give you the key success factors you need to follow:
KSF 1) It’s better to be right than to be fast.
Don’t fuck up your analysis. If you can’t build the model right, say so. Otherwise you’re going to embarrass the team. To try mightily and fail is a good personal ethic, but don’t sign up your team to fail right alongside you.
KSF 2) Know Excel and PowerPoint better than you know your own mother.
Make these programs your bitches. Stop using the mouse, and look down with disdain on your peers who don’t know as many keyboard shortcuts as you. Crush your excel models, have them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of your workbooks. To paraphrase the Marines, “Every consultant is an excel jockey.”
KSF 3) Make your Associate’s Life Easier.
Can you get his coffee in the morning when you get yours? Are you doing the collating, the printing, the sorting, the stapling? Can you proofread? Yes, these are shit jobs, but it’s better that you do them than the Associate.
KSF 4) Make your Associate’s Life Easier (2).
Watch your Associate and see what he does with your work. What’s the next step in the “value chain” of the analysis, and can you do it? Look to see how you can move forward in the analysis. What is the Associate going to ask, once he sees your analysis? What will your answer be?
If you adhere to these 4 Key Success Factors, you will rapidly be promoted in the organization. If you don’t, you’ll be fired.
需要解释一下的是,Analyst(分析师)中仅仅有15%的人最终成为合伙人(数据来源于其讲话内容),大多数都选择了自行离开(或许是因为所得到的报酬让人难以抗拒,或者因为他们希望生活方式有所改变),他们打算在公司混两年,然后去读商学院,读完回来再当顾问,他们年轻,聪明敬业,非常好用。对于年轻的咨询师,他们要做的是培养扎实的咨询技能(solid consulting skill),做好了这些,他便成为了众人眼中的好顾问。associate是指那些拥有MBA学历并梦想着成为合伙人的人。

噢,天啊,能成为公司的拥有者,要是能成为合伙人,该是件多么了不起的事情!能经常去新加坡出差,中途在巴厘岛度假,四处忙碌做空中飞人。嗯,其实你还不是很清楚其实这样的生活有多么痛苦。他们是在忙着制作幻灯片吗?不是的,在每个项目上,董事和合伙人的参与时间实际只有短短几天。余下的事情,都是由他们手下那群训练有素的由project manager带领的团队去完成。
合伙人要在商场上为生存而推销自己公司的服务,否则他们手下那只优秀的团队将因业务不足而“饿死”。(在即将晋升为董事和合伙人之前,你的推销和搞定了多少单生意将会为你赢得注意力)

2.应对项目销售的挑战

先说几年前,经济欣欣向荣的时候,对于公司高层本身,开拓业务本来就是十分考验交际能力,本身就是一件很累的事。合伙人要为公司带来更多收入,以及抵御未来不确定性时期的来临,所以他们必须要与许多行业的客户保持来往(不可能厄运同时降临到所有的行业,这样的做法类似股票的不把所有鸡蛋放在同一个篮子里)。在中国,客户还常常让你头疼,例如和一些民企、些政府客户交流中,你需要处于防御的境地,并且担当耐心的“教导者”。处理不好他们,你便得不到生意,哪怕你的公司是咨询巨子MBB,他们不认识你。他们会有种种问题:你对我们公司理解多少?我们能依靠你的逻辑分析节省百分之十的项目成本?还有另外一个问题,会令上述问题黯然失色的,这个问题充分表示出极端的残酷性,那就是:究竟你们咨询顾问是做什么的?(场面相当于,你自豪地递出一张细长的名片,上面有一个向下的箭头,然后对方看了一下公司名称,然后问你们公司是做什么的。)

更不要说经济不景气的时候了,这时会产生不利的情况:首先,五百强的跨国企业那些每年跟我们签了global contract的客户停止购买或者将项目延迟和取消(总之是通过各种五花八门的原因,包括他们已经建立了内部咨询团队,他们更换了CEO等等);然后,仿佛许多客户都忙于处理公司内部严重的问题,你无法联系到他们,电话变成语音信箱/电子邮件设置成自动回复,无人举办推介会,渠道干涸。

于是在经济衰退期要进一步去挖掘国内市场。国内市场在经济景气时期咨询也生意表现不错,因为经济发展引发了需求。在经济衰退时也大有机会,因为客户需要有良好教育背景和训练有素的人来帮助他们度过难关。但一个问题是,现在的中国,经济是差是好?还是都不是?这些都不确定,也就是这个时期什么都是模棱两可,是最不愿意做出承诺的时候,潜在的客户往往会举棋不定。所以市场不确定是最讨厌的。另一个问题是国内市场长期以来有许多独立咨询顾问(如大学教授)和小型公司在争夺市场(没办法啊,咨询公司实体负担小,管理费用非常有限,于是有些学识的人都去当顾问了)。

3.关于小型咨询公司
传统的咨询公司被分为战略咨询、运作咨询、和技术咨询,但是就目前的情况看来,多数情况下,这样的分类不能正确概括其业务,不但没有实际意义,而且容易让读者可客户感到更不解,要知道,有些人对咨询公司本身已经困惑了,这无疑是在原本的困惑上又增加一层困惑。(关于这方面的分类的详细介绍,请到这里参考第二讲)。除了大型咨询公司,咨询行业还有另一部分份额被小咨询公司占据,这类公司有些是从大型公司离开的顾问组成,有些则是有某些特定资源的。小咨询公司的业务集中于一两个行业。小公司的销售一大特点就是业务量不稳定,空闲的时候很空闲,有项目的时候非常集中,就像上文提到的一样,要达到刚刚好的平衡十分难。在这方面,大公司可以通过不同业务和项目周期来保证所有的员工被充分利用。另外,小咨询公司在技能的广度和地域上也是其明显的劣势之一。对于新员工,他们不能提供清晰的发展机会。由于这些原因,小咨询公司经常会经历巨大动荡,当中不少人做几年后就转向做其他事情了。

(未完待续...)

更新:[连载]聊聊咨询那些事 13 之听合伙人讲故事(下)
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Thursday, February 5, 2009

[推荐]电子邮件 非诚勿扰

babyCrackberry
电子邮件在商务沟通中使用十分频繁,尤其上班的人玩得最起劲,重要性不言而喻。工作之后也被卷入电子邮件的漩涡,当然,电子邮件速度快,能附带丰富信息,是与世界各地的同事和朋友保持联系的一种非常经济的方式。 然而,由于快速而便宜,可能缺乏应有的重视。如果你正在寻找关于撰写电子邮件的建议,我绝对要向你推荐 Chris 的这篇《Email Etiquette - Ten Checks Before Sending Out Your Next Email》。在送出你下一封邮件之前,注意这些细节,能直接提高了沟通效率和效果。

下面几条是我的补充和额外的建议,


1.整理邮箱通讯录
a)养成习惯,及时把你收到的电子邮件/名片中相关联系人信息输入到邮箱的通讯录中,设置好分类标签;
b)姓名采用统一格式,eg.“Chen, Lele ”。这样能加快日后对联系人的搜索,特别对于那些诸如xyz_happy2009@hotmail.com这类无规律的邮箱地址;
c)这个通讯录最好是线上而非本地的(例如Gmail的通讯录),一方面能避免硬盘损坏而丢失重要数据,同时方便移动办公;

2.突出邮件重点信息
a)例如用大写字母或者加粗强调重点字眼 eg.USING ALL CAPITAL LETTERS LOOKS AS IF YOU'RE SHOUTING. 你还可以通过bullet points,排版,颜色来达到这一目的。
b)如果邮件中包含大段文字,一定要加入总结性文字。

3.紧记你的电子邮件随时可能被转发
a)多数使用email的人最喜欢做的事情就是不断按forward键转发邮件,这可以是好事提高沟通效率,也能导致你丢掉工作。

4.邮件只是邮件
a)邮件虽然是高效的沟通手段,但是你不能确保你的文字能完全表达你的所有感情。给对方打个电话或者一个见面同样必要。

__________________________

如果你一天需要收发几十封电子邮件,我则建议你阅读 How Many Times a Day Should You Check Email? 和检讨自己是否电子邮件上瘾。工作后的人们电子邮件沟通超级频繁,常常需要花大量时间在电子邮件上。许多美国员工对使用电子邮件的上瘾(Email addict),以致发生了像IBM,英特尔,Google,微软这些公司不得不成立了 IORG协会(Information Overload Research Group)协会来共同商讨如何引导员工高效使用Email的趣事。包括美国总统奥巴马也承认自己是“黑莓发烧友”,而不得不为了上任后继续使用手机而说服安全部的官员(Blackberry黑莓手机,又称Crackberry"烂霉",因为其接受电子邮件功能变成商务流行)。

回想我第一次使用电子邮件是学会上网不久,我申请了第一个电子邮箱(21cn的,带2M附件空间)。那时候上网基本靠电话线(费用贵,所以极少人会一直在网上“挂”着),手机短信也没普及,网上没别的东西玩,于是电子邮件成了我用得最多的工具(用来给读大学的哥哥写信,写些文章到当时最流行的《电脑商情报》和《21st century》骗稿费和交笔友)。转眼已经十年过去了,有时翻查Email Inbox,俨然像在阅读一本特殊的日记:)
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