Consulting Archives - Page 2 of 12 - Nicole Clark Consulting

2 Mar, 2022

Ask Nicole: The Best Way to Follow Up with Former Clients

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-03-02T08:17:08-05:00March 2nd, 2022|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole, Client Relationships, consulting|0 Comments

*Have a question you’d like to be featured? Let me know.*

In late Summer 2021, I started a strategic planning project with a new client organization. During the initial meeting, the Executive Director and I caught up a bit. This Executive Director had previously been a Co-Executive Director for a client organization I worked with at the start of my consulting practice.

At some point during our conversation, the Executive Director shared with me what happened after I completed my project with their former organization, and how things have shifted over the years.

Mind you, the Co-Executive Directors both wrote a client testimonial for me, but it was a treat to hear how this organization was able to move forward. I still keep in touch with this organization via their newsletter and social media.

At some point, your relationships with your client organizations will come to an end.

And over the years, I’ve slowly reached out to former client organizations just to ask them how things has gone for them since the project ended.

No expectations for future work, and no expectations for referrals. I also share their events and resources in my newsletter and on social media.

This is the best way to follow up with former clients.

I don’t make it a habit of choosing projects that don’t align with my values. Because of this, I have an invested interest in what happens next for my clients. Any ahas, successes, or hiccups, and what they’ve learned along the way.

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2 Feb, 2022

Ask Nicole: Be Honest About Your Organizational Culture

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2022-02-02T21:04:07-05:00February 2nd, 2022|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole, consulting, Organizational Culture|0 Comments

If there’s anything I’ve hated about a consulting project, it most likely stems from the organization I worked with, and less about the actual project.

In some ways, the process of securing a new consultant or consulting team mirrors the process of recruiting and onboarding a new employee. You’re assessing whether this candidate can perform the job description and fit into your organization’s culture.

Beyond task descriptions and deliverables, how often do organizations choose a consultant and consulting team that understands and fits into their organization’s culture?

On the flip side, some organizations are aware of their culture and its toxicity. From micro aggressions, lack of diversity (in all the ways diversity looks), low wages, and micromanagement, if a job candidate knew this about your organization, of course they wouldn’t want to work with you.

Try as you might to shield candidates from these toxic aspects, your new hires will eventually notice them.

If that’s the case for an employee, wouldn’t this be the same for your consultants?

While your project may be amazing, if consultants are experiencing any of the red flags below, the chances of them returning for a new project is not likely:

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13 Oct, 2021

Ask Nicole: Prepping for Your Consultant/Partner Discovery Call

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-11-03T09:19:47-04:00October 13th, 2021|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole, clients, consulting, Partnership, Project Planning|0 Comments

After searching the internet, asking your networks for referrals, and scouring social media, you’ve finally found someone or a team that you can see your organization working with.

Checking out their website, social media presence, and testimonials is the first step.

The next step is scheduling a “discovery call”.

A discovery call is an initial conversation you have to determine whether you will be a good fit. It’s an opportunity to do a deep dive into your project/event, and get a sense of what it would be like to work together.

I normally don’t go in completely unaware. For my process, prospective partners and clients fill out my questionnaire form. After I scan to make sure their project falls into my focus areas and what they’re looking for is something I can help with, and they pass my “do I actually want to work with them?” scan, I set up a discovery call, specifying this as a preliminary call to determine if we will be a good fit.

Of course, you won’t know what it’ll be like until you actually start working together, but you can look for red flags as well as see if they understand your vision. Here are some tips for prepping for your discovery call:

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1 Sep, 2021

Ask Nicole: How Do I Avoid Mission Creep?

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-09-01T10:05:29-04:00September 1st, 2021|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole, consulting, Mission Creep|0 Comments

I recently took a week off from client and partner consulting work to catch up on some administrative tasks that have been piling up.

One of my tasks was revamping my website, focusing on easier navigation (in some cases, redesigning web pages) and clarifying my overall messaging.

I had a aha moment while redesigning the Blog Archives page. I noticed where I’ve been spending most of my time blogging about, and I’ve decided moving forward to limit the amount of content I create around starting and running a consulting business.

I’m at a place now where I prefer sharing successes and lessons learned in my adventures with clients and partners both in real time and in reflection of past projects. Plus, it makes sense to showcase what I’ve done, from a marketing perspective. Unless something major happens that impacts how I run my business, I prefer to take this approach for now.

So consider this Ask Nicole post to be the last business related content I write publicly for a while. However, I will continue sharing more about my journey in my newsletter.

Another reason for limiting this type of content is the amount of inquiries I’ve gotten regarding helping people with set up their consulting businesses.

Many of these inquiries are from social workers and public health professionals. This is great, and I appreciate the well wishes I’ve gotten for being transparent about my professional journey. And raising your voice for women and girls of color* may look like leaving your day job and doing your own thing so that you can do that.

But coaching people through this process takes me out of my mission. Which brings me to the point of this post.

When a new idea emerges, evaluate whether it keeps you in alignment with your mission or takes you out of it.

The services I currently provide are in alignment with each other. Essentially, they work together to help organizations focus on sustainability, being data driven in their decision making, and ensuring that decision making is culturally and equitable responsive to important stakeholders.

This is how I raise my voice for women and girls of color*, and this is my preference. Fortunately, I have colleagues I’ve admired and followed for a while that I can refer these inquiries to such as Eva Forde, Kyshira Moffett, and Rosetta Thurman, as they focus specifically on building a business and brand and I’ve learned a lot from them.

Ask yourself:

Does this new idea make sense for my mission?

Even if it sounds like profitable, even if many are asking for it, even if it sounds like something you may enjoy doing, still ask yourself this question. Avoid mission creep.

The last thing I would want is having an abundance of opportunities for business coaching that overshadow the work I feel more aligned to do. Without this reflection, creating a new service because people ask you for it can make you feel resentful. Especially if that idea takes off.

Always evaluate a new idea against your mission. If it makes sense, go for it. If it doesn’t, refer out. Reject the notion of taking on people’s ideas of what you should be doing.

And isn’t that the point of moving on and doing your own thing?

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** PS: * “Women and girls of color” refers to gender-expansive adults and youth, including cisgender, transgender, non-binary, gender non-conforming, gender queer and any girl-identified person)

Raise Your Voice: How do you avoid mission creep? Share below in the comments section.

4 Aug, 2021

Ask Nicole: Hire a Consultant vs. Do it Yourself

By Nicole Clark, LMSW|2021-08-19T21:12:50-04:00August 4th, 2021|Categories: Consulting|Tags: Ask Nicole, Capacity Building, consulting|0 Comments

I had a discovery call with a prospective client recently, who wants to build an evaluation framework for their staff to implement. The executive director wanted an evaluation framework that was general enough to cover each program but could be tailored to each program’s specifics.

This organization has the budget to hire a consultant, but once the consultant’s job is over, the organization will have to pick up where the consultant left off. That often includes understanding their capacity to implement evaluation activities.

It’s no surprise that many organizations doing amazing work tend to have a small staff. And just like the larger organizations, they focus on the bigger picture and how to measure their impact. (I’ll touch on how grassroots organizations can be more data driven in next week’s blog post.)

They’re getting funding (via their supporters or from foundations) to help build out their infrastructure and capacity to do this data driven work while also being deep within the communities they serve.

“Who will implement this framework and all of its activities?“, I asked the executive director. In order to build an appropriate evaluation framework, I have to understand staff capacity.

It’s not a waste of time or money to hire someone to help. It is a waste of time if the end product isn’t conducive to where your staff’s capacity currently is, which could lead into finding the money to bring in another consultant to help with implementation.

Should you hire a consultant or should you do it yourself?

As a consultant, while my business thrives on being hired to do stuff, the answer isn’t that simple.

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Ask Nicole: The Best Way to Follow Up with Former Clients

Ask Nicole: Be Honest About Your Organizational Culture

Ask Nicole: Prepping for Your Consultant/Partner Discovery Call

Ask Nicole: How Do I Avoid Mission Creep?

Ask Nicole: Hire a Consultant vs. Do it Yourself

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