We’ve been so blessed to work with great colleagues and clients over the past 10 years and have learned much from these relationships. We’ve taken some time to reflect on those learnings, and want to share them with you as part of our anniversary celebration.
- Wear Our Client’s Jersey: It’s not enough to be smart and offer value. Our clients are looking for true, collaborative partners. They want us to “wear their jersey.” This was a phrase shared by former football player, Pinball Clemonns, at a CMC conference Cheryl and Dick attended a few years ago and it’s really stuck. We can’t just sit on the sidelines and watch, we need to be a super-fan, wearing the team jersey, buying into team culture and, sometimes, being a direct teammate.
- High Client Satisfaction isn’t Always that Satisfying
The vast majority of our projects result in satisfied or very satisfied clients and we can still feel that we haven’t made enough impact. It’s something we ask ourselves regularly – What impact are we truly making, beyond client satisfaction? Did what we do really matter?
- Change Management is Huge: Given #2, we’ve learned that it’s not enough to provide a great strategy, plan or advice. Often, we need to guide our clients towards their goals. Change management, even if we don’t use that exact terminology, is a large part of what we do.
- Walk the Talk. We follow our own advice. We have a strategic plan, we meet regularly, we live our purpose (Let’s see it through) and we demonstrate our values. These things are important for our clients and for us. Truly, it’s why we came together in the first place, 10 years ago.
- Trust the Process. It’s not always easy to convey the importance of what we do and expected results. We’re grateful for clients who trust the process and trust us to guide them through to their goals. Success depends more on the client’s management team than us and a client who is committed, focused and stays the course, even when it’s difficult, equates to successful outcomes.
- Be Curious. We don’t have all the answers (and that’s okay!). But we do have questions, lots of questions. Our clients don’t always know what they need, what they want or where they’re going but by asking questions, we can help them get there.
- Vulnerability Goes a Long Way. To truly make the greatest impact, we need clients to be honest and introspective about the challenges they are facing, requiring a certain degree of their own vulnerability. It’s a lot easier for them if we’re true to who we are as well. Sometimes we need to step out of our comfort zone to do this.
- Have Courage to Have Difficult Conversations. “Tell clients what they need to hear, not what they want to hear.” It’s an oft-repeated phrase at Omni MCA, one shared by Dick from the very beginning, and still holds true.
- Be True to Yourself. Every consultant in this world has to find their own style, and we’re not for everyone or every project (that’s also okay!) but we still want clients to succeed and will do whatever we can to connect you to the right resources – which leads to our last point.
- Build Community. It’s a lot more fun being a consultant when you work with other like-minded consultants. It’s less isolating and we are able to bring much more to our clients as a result. Like working with clients over the long-term, working with our colleagues for years benefits everyone through trusting relationships and building better, together.
What have you learned from Omni MCA in the Past 10 Years? We‘d love to hear from you!
