David A. Fields Consulting Group 5 Ways to Create a Client-Friendly Consulting Firm that Attracts Follow-On Business
Your consulting firm’s likeability directly affects your Revenue Truth.
That’s because the people inside your clients’ organizations behave like children’s books: they talk to each other.
I learned this inter-book communication fact as a small child, when I would scamper into the children’s section of the library. Any unread Encyclopedia Brown book would call out, “Read me!” since it had, obviously, been informed about me by other installments in the series.
Similarly, every volume of Babar-the-creepy-elephant knew to broadcast “Stay away!”
I learned somewhat later that client personnel also talk amongst themselves.
They share whether or not they Like your consulting firm!
You already know that Like—a purely emotional and subjective quality—is important for winning an individual project.
However, Like looms even larger at the organization level, where your consulting firm’s reputation as being enjoyable or unpleasant to work with spreads throughout your client’s enterprise.
Like can grease the skids for future projects or stop you in your tracks. It determines whether multiple buyers will reach out to your firm or keep you at bay.
The following five, interrelated practices will help you be loved like Winnie the Pooh* or eschewed like the Grinch.*
5 Best Practices to Build “Like” In Your Clients’ Organizations
Be Likeable
This sounds like circular reasoning, but it’s not for firm leaders and project team leaders.
Remember that your attitude sets the tone for your group. If you want a likeable firm, be likeable yourself!
Be Easy to Work With
Your consulting firm is smart, capable and delivers outstanding results, but do you play nicely in the sandbox?
Operationally, do your projects run smoothly or are they disorganized?
Is it completely clear to the client whom they should call in any circumstance?
If the client requests something extra that requires a modicum of time or effort from your consulting firm, is there grumbling or cheerful collaboration?
Ask your clients how easy they find it to work with you and your teams and you’ll discovery improvement opportunities.
Be Responsive
When the client calls, how long does it take someone from your team to respond to them?
If a client has a request, do you immediately find a way to meet it or at least discuss their needs?
If your client runs into a hiccough, whether it’s being late for a plane or struggling with a presentation, do you proactively respond to their needs?
As noted in many of my articles, responsiveness rules. Anything you do to improve your performance in this area will pay huge dividends.
Be Professional
This particularly applies to problems or complaints during a project.
Jump on whatever issue arises as quickly as possible and manage it with integrity and professionalism.
Defensiveness, stubbornness and the blame game all paint you with an unpleasant brush.
Conversely, listening, seeking to understand, and relentlessly focusing on reaching resolution will win you fans.
Be a Source of Value, Not Trouble
Consultants have a reputation for stirring up dissent and disturbing people’s work; for putting extra demands on employees without explanation, apology or even respect.
Since ruffling a few feathers may be unavoidable to make progress, keep an eye on your benefit-to-detriment ratio across the organization.
Small gestures can quickly tip the scales in your favor. Help complete a difficult task, volunteer a few provocative ideas, or serve as a safe place for an executive to vent their frustration.
These minor, everyday, value-adding moments mitigate ill will you cause just by doing your job.
The five practices above are just a starting point. What else have you found to be effective in building a reputation for being Likeable?
Text and images are © 2025 David A. Fields, all rights reserved.
Great stuff as always! Thank you David.
Ps. Read all the Encyclopedia Brown books!
Thanks for your feedback, Frank. The whole team appreciates it.
These are helpful tips David. I would also recommend the book “The Likeability Factor: How to Boost Your L-Factor and Achieve Your Life’s Dreams Paperback” by Tim Sanders which has some very specific and practical tips for increasing ones likeability in an authentic way. If there are other resources on the topic it would be good to hear about them.
That sounds like a great book, Gwen. I’m definitely going to check it out, and I’m sure David will too once he’s back from vacation.
Thanks for suggesting it.
I like the post-project survey because it allows you to objectively ask how effective and also how likeable you’ve been. It also helps clients recognize the value by thinking through how far you took them and how much work it took to get there.
If you are unliked, it won’t help, but it can help clients to articulate the value you provided. Nothing like helping people remember why they like you.
You’re right that a post-project survey is very helpful, Tom. We also recommend a mid-project survey. That way if you’re not liked, you can find out what’s going wrong and take corrective action.
Thank you for sharing your insights.
Great advice! Seemingly so obvious… (Duh!) And yet, not-so-easy to apply in the dark and gritty trenches of real world consulting — where people mess up (ourselves included), politics prevail, personalities diverge, technology fails, bad news must be delivered, and work & life is just generally busy or exhausting. That’s where truly practicing these best-practices, building experience through trial and (many) error(s), and professional risk-taking come into play. There’s always room to learn, grow and do better.