“Even if you are not actively using Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and other social media tools in marketing your consulting services, I guarantee you that there is a conversation out there somewhere about your area of expertise.  Whether or not you choose to use social media yourself, you should at least be listening, so that you know what your clients, partners, and competitors are talking about.”

Download the PowerPoint presentation.

Bruce Govan participated in a panel at a Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network meeting, where he explained the value of building relationships with your “competitor” consultants through settings such as MACN. While they may be competitors, they may also represent potential resources that can help you better serve your clients.

No one person can possibly answer all client needs. Bruce related a story where he was called by a “competitor” who had been hired to conduct an in-depth assessment of a skiing resort. The competitor didn’t ski, but Bruce was an avid skier and could help with the assessment of that aspect of the business. Not only did he get more business, he also got several days of free skiing.

Part 2:

A security plan should be implemented in four distinct phases: 1) A vulnerability assessment which identifies assets, threats, risks and vulnerabilities as well as constraints, such as operational issues, culture and cost. 2) Security Program Design which is the selection of countermeasures to mitigate vulnerabilities. 3) Implementation which consists of putting the approved solutions in place. 4) Maintenance continually ensures that solutions to threats are effective.

A security program’s objectives are to deter, delay, detect, deny, respond to and, or recover from reasonably foreseeable events. Since 911 some organizations have added “destroy” to the programs objectives. In order to accomplish these objectives, one must first understand what security problems exist.

Understanding security problems involve the assessment of the kinds of threats that could impact the assets, the probability of these threats becoming loss events and the impact on the assets, should the loss event occur.

If it is determined that a loss will have a measurable organizational impact (which should be estimated in dollars when possible) then countermeasures should be planned. As it relates to risk acceptance, this is determined by management and differs within each organization. An example of risk acceptance is the fine-counting of funds by banks or other institutions responsible for verifying currency. One firm may elect not to fine count $50.00 bills, citing the cost saved by weighing each bundle of currency instead of running each bill through a currency counter, while another firm may decide that this risk is only acceptable for $20.00 bills.

Ira Somerson, CPP cites three primary reasons are cited for security losses: failure to recognize vulnerabilities (weaknesses within a security program); failure to use proper countermeasures and failure to consider change. Unfortunately in today’s world, many companies have either lost their ability or interest to balance risk with profit or they have gambled on shortcuts to reduce expense, hoping to increase profits while placing their employees, their shareholders and the public at substantial risk of injury and or financial ruin.

The total protection of an organization requires that three major security processes exist; Personnel Security, Information Security and Physical Security. If you are serious about improving safety and security results, conducting a risk assessment at each location will greatly help to reduce risk exposure and ensure long-term profits.

Security experts all agree that the human factor poses the greatest single source of risk for any asset. Assets are people, property, information and reputation with people being the most important. Assessing risk requires identifying potential threats that could affect the organization and the frequency that they might occur. A risk assessment involves an accurate assessment of 1) Loss event profile, 2) Loss event probability, and 3) loss event criticality.

Unless management accurately assesses the level of risk that their organization can accept, they may cease to exist. Unfortunately too many companies have become breeding grounds for internal theft by electing to accept employee theft as part of doing business. I review numerous statistics and incidents related to employee theft which is one of the top threats to organizations. Most studies report that between 40 to 60% of employees steal from their employers in one form or another and approximately 1/3 of all business go out of business as a result of theft. We also know that theft occurs with all levels of employees to include CEO’s and their senior management team.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 directs management of publicly held companies to prevent and detect fraud within their organizations related to financial reporting .A risk assessment will not only help to meet some of the SOX requirements but it will help to increase morale, customer service, productivity and profits.

A risk assessment is also needed prior to designing or making major changes in a security program. A security manager might be wasting funds on a new CCTV system as well as placing the organization at legal risk without first understanding and reassessing the risks involved prior to changing the existing program.

Risk Assessment is the art and science of identifying security vulnerabilities and measuring the likelihood that the vulnerability will occur (foreseeability); prioritizing each identified vulnerability in comparison to all others identified (queuing); assessing the opportunity for risk to occur; and measuring each vulnerability’s impact upon the organization’s assets (criticality).

A risk assessment will identify the people things or processes that are necessary to continue the business and assess and determine whether or how much risk is acceptable and what action should be taken to reduce, mitigate, transfer or eliminate the threat.

BASIC STEPS IN THE RISK ASSESSMENT PROCESS:

Step One: Conduct a Security Survey. A security survey should be conducted of your facility and property by an experienced security practitioner and with someone who is familiar with your operation and property. A security survey is the basic tool used in a risk assessment. A security survey consists of an on-site examination to determine existing security measures, indentify deficiencies, establish the protection needed and recommend measures, to enhance overall security. If the person conducting the survey is an outside security consultant, the survey will provide the consultant a better understanding of the organization.

Step Two: Appoint safety and security focus group. Management will appoint a safety and security focus group representing all operational departments and facilities. These participants should be persons who are familiar with day-to-day operations and their facility and grounds. The security consultant will serve as the facilitator meeting with your safety and security focus group to train them in the Vulnerability/Risk Assessment.

Step Three: Identify Assets in need of protection. Assets are people, property, information and reputation of the organization.

Step Four: Identify risks or perils that could impact the assets identified. Risk refers to the possibility of experiencing harm or loss from a security incident, a threat or an event. Risks are natural and made-made and can be moral, economic or physical. The Loss event Profile identifies individual threats that could become events. This profile involves understanding the conditions, circumstances, objects, activities and relationships that can produce the loss events.

Following are a few questions to consider asking when identifying risks or perils that could happen. What person or position could commit the act? Would more than one person be required? How easy would it be to commit the act? Could identification documents be forged easily if needed for access? Could the identity of the perpetrators be learned if activity succeeded? Would the act generate a record or audit trail which would help in the investigation?

A threat is a person, place, thing or event which poses danger to an asset. Possible risks or threats to consider: Employee theft, external theft, workplace violence, fire, robbery, burglary, identity theft, bomb threat, injury, vandalism, natural disasters, industrial espionage, extortion, slander, payroll, accounts receivables and payables, purchasing and receiving, computer, information theft and cyber terrorism.

Step Five: Determine risk probability and ranking. Many security practitioners cite physical environment, social environment, historical experience, criminal state of art and the political environment as probability factors. Loss Event Probability measures the number of ways in which a loss event can occur. The more ways that a particular loss event can occur the greater the probability that it will occur. Factors that impact the likelihood of a threat occurring are: historical experience, social and physical environment, and criminal state of mind. Historical information is often the most helpful since frequency of occurrence suggests probability of future occurrence.

Qualitative and quantitative approaches are used to gather information needed in risk assessment with the qualitative approach being the most widely used.

The qualitative approach evaluates data obtained from police and community interviews, contract and employee interviews, analysis of existing procedural and physical security and process and operational studies. This data is used to assess threats and vulnerabilities and implement countermeasures consisting controls that discover a vulnerability or threat, reduce the likelihood of an incident and or reduce the impact of an incident.

The qualitative approach is often used when statistical information is not readily available and the organization has a more limited budget. These assessments are more descriptive than measurable and only estimated potential loss is used.

The quantitative approach utilizes the annualized loss expectancy (ALE) which is a calculation of the single loss expectancy (SLE) multiplied the annual rate of occurrence (ARO). The quantitative approach attempts to identify those threats and risks likely to occur and rank them in the order of seriousness to the organization and the likelihood that they will occur. Then based on that ranking, appropriate counter measures can be assigned. Ira Somerson, states in The Art and Science of Risk Assessment that probability can rarely be precise, and in some cases, promote complacency.

Step Six: Determine the impact of the loss or loss event on organization in dollars when possible. Loss Event Criticality refers to the impact of a loss on the asset which is people, property, reputation and information.

The Loss Event Criticality Rating assigns letter and numerical ratings to each anticipated event or threat. A or .85 is highly certain, B or .65 is highly probable, C or .50 is moderately probable, D or .20 is improbable and E means that the probability is unknown. $30,000 assigned to a critical event with a moderate probability .50 would be evaluated at $15,000. Criticality ratings used by security practitioners may vary. If unable to assign a probability factor you might note that event Y is more apt to occur than event X.

Step Seven: Determine countermeasures: When all risks have been identified and prioritized, countermeasures are identified to eliminate or reduce the threat or risk and improve vulnerabilities. Vulnerability in the security sense refers to a weakness within the system or lack of safeguards. Countermeasures consist of loss prevention, loss control and loss indemnification that transfer, mitigate, reduce or eliminate the risk or threat. Countermeasures include: police, procedures, personnel, barriers, equipment, records such as incident reports, access reports and transaction logs.

Step Eight: Perform a cost/benefit analysis: Countermeasures and security programs should not cost more than the benefits received and should relate to the level of risk exposure. Prior to spending capital to implement countermeasures, management must measure the return on the expenditures (ROE) which is done by determining the avoided losses (AL), recoveries made (R), and the cost of the security program or expenditure (CSP). AL+R divided by CSP = ROE.

On February 17th a pilot flew his small plane into an IRS facility in Austin, Texas. News stations rounded up well credentialed security experts to solicit comments. One expert stated that we needed to find a way to have TSA or other guards posted at the 5,000 plus small private air strips across the U.S. It reminded me of similar countermeasures following 911 when well intentioned experts over reacted with a counter measure that called for guards at every location throughout the world without weighing the benefits or costs or liability. In my opinion, the posting of these guards without specific post orders or specialized training only served to create a false sense of security and expose assets to even more danger.

I am a proponent of acting quickly to avoid future events but we must one must always remember a cardinal rule in security which calls for cost justification in the selection of countermeasures to ensure that the benefits outweighs the cost! With the Feb. 17, 2010 event, I would suggest that adding man-power without evaluating systems and processes is not a prudent action.

Step Nine: Risk Management: Your team will now implement, review, revise and improve these countermeasures as needed. This is referred to as risk management and it is the essence of continued success within the organization. Many companies have comprehensive security programs and have completed risk assessments but management fails to continuously track, monitor and revise the process as needed. I have investigated numerous thefts, injuries, and other security incidents where the facility had properly positioned CCTV only to find that the system was not working or monitored.

Which Businesses Need a Risk Assessment?

All businesses need a risk assessment regardless of size. Let’s look at a laundry room located inside an apartment complex. Would that sort of building or operation require a risk assessment? The business owner might say no, since these apartments are located in an upscale area but all businesses can benefit from on-going risk assessments.

There are inherent risks to this sort of operation (Laundromat in apartment complex) such as assaults but one risk that most people may not think of is the theft of copper or damage from water. Copper is now a highly sought after item due to its increase in value. I know of a recent theft at a small size local laundry room caused flooding when the copper piping connected to the washers was cut and stolen. The flooding damage most likely cost more than the actual loss of the copper not to mention the interruption of service to the tenants.

One cannot read the daily news without learning of numerous security incidents ranging from white collar crimes such as embezzlement where a banking executive created lines of credit using fictitious names and transferring funds into accounts controlled by the individual or partners in the scheme to violent street crimes, such as serious assaults occurring in hotels and other businesses as the result of inadequate or poor security practices.

I strongly encourage risk assessments for all size businesses, whether the local pharmacy, retail store, church, apartment dwelling, bank, grade school, university, insurance agency, beauty shop or large commercial multi-story building providing work spaces for thousands of employees. Following are three key reasons for risk assessments.

1. Risk assessments help to raise security and safety awareness within the organization. Employees like to feel secure and if they are involved in the risk assessment process, your security program is more apt to succeed. Whether the business is a sole proprietorship or a large operation, risk assessments help to protect the individual and their assets; property, customers, information and reputation. The risk assessment may not eliminate all risks but it sends a positive message to employees that you are concerned about their safety and security and have taken necessary steps to protect them from harm.
2. Risk assessments will help to identify risks that could results in injury to employees or customers resulting in 3rd party law suits. Judgments often exceed the amount of coverage provided by insurance and punitive damages may not be covered.
3. Risk assessments can have an immediate impact in reducing expenses and increasing profits both short-term and long-term. One example is fleet maintenance and driver training programs. During budget cuts or when inexperienced managers assume this responsibility, these expenses are often trimmed back without properly evaluating the result. The end result often results in a 3rd party injury where a driver kills or seriously injures someone in the course of duty. An investigation finds that the driver had not completed the required driver training and the truck had two bald tires and reported safety violations that had been reported for the past week without repair. Risk assessments look at the controls in place to prevent these sorts of incidents from occurring that could result in millions of dollars of court awarded damages.

Many managers are not excited about risk assessments because they associate countermeasures with additional expense which need not be the case. All expenditures should be cost justified and the cost should not exceed the benefit obtained. A good security manager or security consultant understands the importance of cost justification not only for a single expenditure but for the entire security program or department.

Often times a security consultant finds that management has spent funds on security equipment that were not necessary or that a project or job could have been done with less cost had more research been done or that a more comprehensive integrated system would have eliminated man-hours.

Who should conduct a risk assessment?

While most people can be trained to conduct a risk assessment only a security practitioner who is seasoned and experienced with proper security certification should work with the management team to ensure that the risk assessment process is effective. Employees will sense if someone who is trying to explain the program is not experienced and may not buy into the rationale and explanations provided.

What are some important considerations when evaluating foreseeability and what sources are utilized for evaluating foreseeability and counter measures?
Historical records are crucial in determining future events. Records maintained by the organization relating to losses and loss events are helpful when assessing future incidents since frequency of occurrence suggests probability of re-occurrence. The aforementioned probability factors are also reviewed and play a role in the selection of countermeasures and assessment of foreseeability.

Police and other community interviews, employee and contractor interviews, existing physical security and procedures, other facilities and like businesses, standard of care and best practices for similar businesses, police response, access roads, etc. are also considered.

REFERENCES:

Ira S. Somerson, CPP. “The Art and Science of Security Risk Assessment” 2009, ASIS International.
James F. Broder, CPP. “Risk Analysis and the Security Survey”, Third Edition 2006, Butterworth-Heinemann.
“General Security Risk Assessment Guideline” by ASIS international, 2003.
Disclaimer: Based on what the author believes are generally accepted security principles as of the date of its writing, and on data gathered from what are believed to be reliable sources, this article is written for general information purposes only and is not intended to be, and should not be used as, a primary source for making security decisions.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jim McGuffey has 38 years of security management experience protecting public and private facilities and employees against crime, injuries and other work place incidents which destroy company profits! Jim also serves as an expert witness and is retained by both the defense and plaintiff regarding various security incidents.

Jim has earned numerous national awards for consistently improving safety, security and profit while managing numerous profit centers. He has managed numerous investigations of injuries, serious crimes and incidents occurring at malls and many other types of commercial and retail sites. Jim understands the importance that training, safety and security play in preventing and reducing these incidents.

Jim is unique compared to many security and safety consultants in that he was responsible for the P&L of all departments and functions in a service, distribution and manufacturing industry over a 26 year span, holding positions of branch manager, area general manager, district manager and regional vice president. He has substantial experience in managing both risk and profit within the entire profit center.

Jim earned a B.A. in Criminal Justice from Aurora University and an M.A. in Management from Webster University. He currently teaches “Criminal Justice Procedures” and “Crime in U.S. Business” at a college near his home. Jim has been an active member of A.S.I.S. since 1981 and is also a member of the prestigious International Association of Professional Security Consultants (IAPSC). He teaches classes at a local college on Crime in US Business and Criminal Procedure.

Jim earned the Certified Protection Professional certification which is valid through December 31, 2012. Throughout the world, the Certified Protection Professional (CPP®) designation is acknowledged as the security profession’s highest recognition of practitioners. It is evidence that an individual is “Board Certified in Security Management.” The CPP® is awarded based upon experience, education, and of an examination that provides an objective measure of an individual’s broad-based knowledge and competency in security management. Ongoing professional development is required in order to maintain the credential. The CPP® is administered by ASIS International, the preeminent international organization for security professionals, with more than 35,000 members worldwide.

Please contact Jim at jimmcguffey@verizon.net or 215-460-7370 to review your office or facilities to ensure that you have taken the necessary steps to protect your assets and prevent 3rd party law suits. Many companies have expensive and comprehensive security systems and processes in place but without quality supervision, on-going training and auditing programs, these measures mean little. Jim’s goal is not to increase your expenses but rather to ensure that your system is cost effective. Often a risk assessment will reveal that man hours can be saved by the installation of an integrated security system.

Jim acknowledges and thanks security colleague Ira Somerson, CPP, author of numerous publications on risk assessment and risk management and who recently authored “The Art and Science of Security Risk Assessment”, for taking time to review this paper.

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Why do sales processes break down? There is one uncomfortable question – that has to be asked – that few salespeople dare.

People make buying decisions not so much on the things they like about your product or service as much as on hidden issues you don’t know about. How many times have you been in a sales situation where you had all the characteristics they said they wanted – i.e., you were local, carried the right kind of products, had required resources, and maybe even came in with the lowest price – but you still didn’t get the deal? If you’re like most sales folks, this has happened more than once, and you don’t have a good idea why.

Even if you’ve done a good job of qualifying the prospect, have identified how they buy, who’s involved, figured out the price, and have done a great demo, the deal isn’t ready to be sealed until you ask…

“Can we spend some time talking about why it doesn’t make sense to move forward with this purchase? What are the things we haven’t talked about that would keep you from moving forward?”

“Wait a minute!” I can hear you say. “You want me to ask why it doesn’t make sense to buy? I thought the idea was to make a sale, not convince them why they shouldn’t buy from me.”

Let’s pause for a moment. When you make a purchase, what goes through your mind before making the final decision? The answer is all the reasons and perceived risk why it doesn’t make sense to buy. It’s human nature. Some of the reasons often include:

• Pre-existing relationships
• No money
• Too expensive
• Haven’t checked out other options
• A contract still in effect
• No authority
• A previous bad experience
• Institutional inertia
• “We need to get three bids or send out an RFP”
• Etc., etc, etc.

Like you, your prospect has to get past their hidden objections or they won’t pull the trigger and buy. By getting them to open up and share what they’ve concealed, you’ll uncover these hidden deal killers and can help them come up with the answers to solve their own objections, or rehearse them to overcome the objections of others in the company involved in the decision making process.

Bottom line: Until you ask that hard, uncomfortable question that uncovers and resolves the unspoken issues in your prospect’s mind, they won’t move forward. Help them come up with answers and close the deal.

Peter Lantos

Peter Lantos, Ph.D., P.E., spent some 25 years in industry. He held research positions at Du Pont and Celanese, and senior management positions at Sun Chemical, Rhodia and Arco Chemical. The last 25 years he has headed a small consultancy whose clients have included Fortune 500 as well as smaller and off-shore corporations, such as Amoco, Shell Chemical, Ticona, PPG and others.

Key takeaways:

Quote a project price, derived by calculating the amount of time needed, plus 10%.  Helps manage client expectations on overall cost.

Exception:  when working as an expert witness or when unable to determine time needed.

Provide a reduced rate for smaller clients, who are more price sensitive.

Mary Payne

Mary Payne has over 25 years experience preparing proposals and estimates for consulting projects for a broad range of health care providers locally and nationally. She brings pricing experience from the perspective of a large international consulting firm (KPMG), a regionally-based consulting firm, and as owner of her own consulting firm for the last eight years, specializing in business and strategic planning for health care providers.

Key takeaways:

Addresses pricing for a competitive bid.

Pricing starts with your annual plan. What revenue and return do you expect? What are your costs?

Margin and profitability is more important than your billing rate. You do that by managing your costs all the way the project.

Clients use price to simplify their decision. A strong value proposition can support a higher price.

Gary Samartino

Gary Samartino is President of InfoVentions, Inc., which develops technical communication and training materials for a wide variety of industries. He has been responsible for estimating, setting, and tracking project costs and pricing for 25 years.

Key takeaways:

All my bids are project bids. We track the hours for all our projects so I can use the findings for our next bid.

My key metric is hours/page, and I can then determine my cost/page and give clients an overall project bid that meets by profit margin.

Rick Schilling

Rick Schilling established his staffing firm in 1992 after a 19-year career in commercial banking and 4 years in the construction equipment leasing industry. Clients use his cadre of experienced professionals to complete specialized projects and to fill interim and full time staff vacancies in middle management and senior positions.

Key takeaways:

Pick the number you want to make, and then think about whether you have the value to your client to make that rate.

You have 2000 hours in a year. Half of that should be spent on marketing yourself. That gives you 1000 hours in a year. To make $200,000 a year, you need to bill at a rate of $200 an hour.

Dave Vahlsing

Dave Vahlsing, founder of Hydrocarbon Engineering Associates and currently manager of the Becht Engineering Company Philadelphia office, also supports the needs and interests of consultants as an active member of the Chemical Consultants Network (CCN). He continues to search for and match Becht staff engineering consultants with energy and chemical industry client needs, both locally and world wide.

Dave shares his decades of experience and wisdom on pricing success for engineers, chemists, and technical consultants.

Key takeaways:

If you have a customer who pays you promptly, treat them right.

Work to get an up-front deposit or a retainer.

We charge full rate for travel, as it takes you away from your work.

We charge for developing a scope of work.

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The following video is a talk I gave on December 9, 2008 at the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia at which I first coined the acronym, “The C.H.I.N.A. Formula” to guide companies that want to export American-made products and services to China.

Below the video, you will find a transcript in both English and Chinese.

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Transcript of James Chan’s speech on December 9, 2008 at The Entrepreneurs’ Forum of Greater Philadelphia, The Federal Bank of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania:

My name is James Chan. I live and work in Philadelphia. I’ve been in Philadelphia for 25 years. And I also have been running a consultancy based in Center City (downtown Philadelphia) for 25 years. The name of my consultancy is Asia marketing and management; and the focus is to help companies build business relationships in China. And more specifically, my specialty is to help American companies export 100-percent, American-made products and services to the Chinese market.

I have tried over the past 25 years to balance our trade deficit with China (laughs from the audience) and you know that I’m succeeding slowly, but I am not giving up (more laughs from the audience.) Well, that’s what I want to do.

But, I’m very happy doing what I do because the first thing I’d like to share with you in terms of my 25 years helping companies export (to China) is that it can be done. There is money to be made. But for companies that want to do that, and want to be successful, people really need to, kind of, know five (5) very important pieces of the Chinese mindset, which I, for the ease of making it easy for you to remember, call “the China formula,” which is the acronym ‘C.H.I.N.A.’

Now, I’m going to use my next four (4) minutes describing what is C.H.I.N.A. and why it is important to keep this in mind, if you want to succeed in making the Chinese spend money on you.

The first one is C, which stands for Confidence. All my clients who do export and are very profitable have confidence in their products and services. We all know, when we walk into the China market, that there are “pirates,” there are people who want to duplicate our products, and my clients are people who either invent their products or they invent their services. And no matter how hard people are trying to “pirate” our things, our procedures, our know-how and our technology, they just don’t do it very well. So, this is confidence. So, if you don’t have that confidence, you are not China-ready in terms of exporting to the Chinese market.

There is another thing about confidence that you need to know. When you are an exporter, you need to find distributors and agents and salespeople in China who want to work for you … who have to work for you. But it’s not enough just to find people and throw money at them. Because you can always throw money at people but what if they don’t have confidence that your products can sell? So the word confidence here also means: you have to find people and make them feel confident that helping you is not a one-year or two-year deal.

It’s not enough to have confidence. The next word is H, Hunger. H stands for hunger. My clients, the best clients that I have, are people who feel hungry. They are motivated to sell to China. When companies are fat and happy, they don’t go overseas. So, if you don’t have the hunger, you’re not ready. The word hunger also refers to customers in China. We don’t sell to anyone in China. We only sell to people who are “hungry” for our products. When I say “hungry,” I mean people who really desire what we can do, and price normally is not a barrier.

Let’s go to the third one for the ‘I.’ ‘I’ stands for “Insider.” Any company that succeeds in selling to the Chinese has to have one or more “insiders.” An insider can be a customer, can be your agent, can be your friend, can be your employee’s mother in-law’s husband’s brother … somebody who is trusting of you, who feels comfortable with you, who is willing to tip you off. Without an insider in that marketplace, you are going nowhere. And so one of the things I do for my clients is to help them find and then groom those “insiders.” We don’t call them spies, because we are not in defense and military. But, you know, they are “insiders.”

The next word in the formula for N is ‘NO!’ To succeed selling to the Chinese, you have to have the courage and ability and the timing to say “no!” to your customer. If you keep saying yes, if you are only willing to sell to anybody who throws money at you, you get pirated. You won’t be able to establish your brand recognition.

Finally, ‘A’ for Acceptance. ‘A’ stands for acceptance. There is one thing many Westerners don’t think about when they walk into China. The Chinese have … what they really, really, really, really want from the West is acceptance. If you want to sell anything to the Chinese or, for that matter, build relationships with the Chinese, you must make your customers, your contacts, your associates, your partners feel you are not walking in as a marauder, as a barbarian. You are walking in, you are accepting them; and that will help you tremendously in finding the “insiders” in building relationships.

And, there is one more thing, the final note about acceptance is: while you have to make the Chinese feel that you are accepting them, there is one thing about acceptance that only depends on you: you have also to be able to accept the Chinese as they are. You only want to do business with China; you don’t want to change China! The moment you want to walk into that market, looking like you want to change the way they run their lives, you will be resisted; and that it is not a good strategy. So that is my C.H.I.N.A. formula and I thank you very much! (Applause)

Transcript in Chinese translated by Mr. Feng Wu in Beijing, China.

我是 James 陈，我生活并工作在费城。我来到费城已经有25年了，同时我在费城市中心创立的咨询公司也已经有25年的时间了。我的咨询公司名字叫 Asia Marketing and Management (亚洲市场营销及管理)，目的是帮助一些美国公司建立在中国的贸易关系。更具体的说，我致力于帮助美国公司将百分之百的美国造产品和服务出口到中国，以满足中国市场需要。

在过去的25年里，我曾经尝试 (帮助美国政府) 扭转美国同中国的贸易逆差，并且大家都知道，收效甚微。我并没有放弃，因为那就是我这些年来工作的目标。

但是，我对我的付出感到很满意，因为在25年里我帮助了很多美国公司向中国出口商品，并且还赚了钱。向中国出口美国的产品和服务是件能做到的事. 但是对某些想要向中国出口谋利的公司来说，想要成功就必须知道5点非常重要的中国心态。为了使大家更容易记忆，我管这5点叫 “中国式原则”，取首字母过后是 C.H.I.N.A。

现在，我就用我接下来的4分钟来阐述什么是 C.H.I.N.A，为什么当你想要成功的让中国人为你花钱时就不得不时刻牢记？

首先是 C ，指的是 Confidence 。我所有的出口盈利的客户都对他们的产品和服务有信心。我们都知道，当我们进入中国市场的时候会有复制现象；会有人想要完全复制我们的产品。而我的客户们则会发明新产品、创造新服务。这样一来，无论别人花费多大力气来复制我们的产品，复制我们的生产程序，复制我们的诀窍和技术，他们还是做不好，这就叫 Confidence 。所以如果你没有信心，你就还没有准备好向中国出口商品。另外还有一点你应该知道，这同样涉及到 Confidence。当你准备向中国出口商品，你应该首先找到你在中国的分销商、代理商、以及愿意为你工作甚至不得不为你工作的销售人员。但仅仅是找到人并把钱丢给他们还不够，因为你可以总是把钱丢给他们，但是如果他们也对你的产品能够销售出去没有信心呢？所以这里的 Confidence 同样意味着你不得不找到人，并且还要让他们对长期销售你的产品有信心。

但是，仅仅有信心是不够的。接下来的这个字母是 H ，Hunger。H 指的就是 Hunger 。在我的客户当中，尤其是哪些最大的客户，他们能感觉到一种渴望，他们渴望向中国出口商品。一些公司既肥又满足, 他们就不会向海外发展。所以，如果你们没有感觉到那种渴望，你们就还没有准备好。Hunger 这个词也指向中国的消费群。我们向中国卖东西不是要所有中国人都买的，我们仅仅卖给哪些渴望得到我们产品的人。当我提到 hungry 的时候，指的就是哪些渴望我们能为他们做点什么的人，你们给出正常的价格并不会成为销售的障碍。

接下来就是字母 ‘I’ 了，指的就是 “Insider”。任何一个成功向中国卖出商品的公司都具有不止一个的 “业内人士”。业内人士可以是客户，可以是你的代理商，也可以是你的朋友，甚至可以是你的雇员的亲戚。只要他们信任你，感觉和你合作很舒服，愿意时刻提醒你的。如果你没有在相应市场的业内人士的话，你就不知道你将何去何从。所以我的工作之一就是帮助我的客户找到并且培养他们的所谓 “业内人士” 。我们并不会将他们称之为间谍，因为我们并不是在防御什么或者在军队当中。但是，他们只是熟悉市场的人。

接下来这个原则的当中的字母就是 ‘N’，指的是 “NO!”。为了成功向中国销售产品，你得有有胆量，有能力，以及能把握好时机向你的客户说 “NO!”。如果你老是同意他们，或者你见钱就卖，那么你的产品就会被剽窃，你就不能建立起属于你自己的品牌知名度。

最后，字母 ‘A’，指的就是 “Acceptance”。在西方的商人进入中国的过程当中，有一点被他们都忽略了。中国人最最最最最想得到的就是西方的认可和接受。如果你想在中国卖东西或干别的，你就得与中国人搞好关系，培养自己的客户，找好自己的门路，让你的同行和伙伴不觉得你是作为一个外来者来掠夺他们。当你进入中国市场时，你得接受他们，同时他们也会极力的帮助你找到自己的业内人士来建立属于你的关系网络。

最后还有一点，关于 Acceptance 你们要注意。当你们让中国人觉得你们已经承认和接受了他们，有一点将决定你们的胜败: 你们得像中国人接受你们一样接受他们; 让他们觉得你只是想和他们做生意而已；你并不想改变中国。从你想要进入了中国市场那一刻起，如果你们都看起来像想要改变他们的现在的生活方式的话，这将使你们的产品被抵制；那绝不会是一个好的计划。以上就是我提出的 C.H.I.N.A 原则，感谢各位！

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At one point in my consulting career, I decided to examine an important question: was there any one marketing approach which was singularly effective for me? I decided to recall how we managed to secure our ten largest assignments with the hope of gaining insights into optimizing our marketing.

The self examination turned out to be an eye opener, and perhaps so might a detailed recounting of our findings. If nothing else, it may help persuade you to embark on a marketing program which is broad-based. The following is a summary of how our 10 largest client assignments came into being.

1. Former client’s recommendation

One day (clearly a most fortunate one) I received a phone call out of the blue, with a corporate president inquiring whether we had expertise in assessing a company’s marketing/sales capabilities. The prospect, head of a Fortune 500 company, volunteered that they did not quite know how to go about finding the right consultant and they had asked a business friend for a recommendation. That friend happened to be a client of ours (obviously a satisfied one) some 8 years earlier and had given them our name together with a very warm recommendation. From that beginning, an unsolicited referral, came our largest ever client assignment which involved a project of global scope.

2. Presentation at conference

On another occasion I was a somewhat reluctant presenter of a paper at an industry conference. I was reluctant because the presentation entailed a fair amount of preparation and I had agreed to do it mainly to help the conference chairman who had done me favors in the past. At the conclusion of the conference, a member of the audience approached me; he was a division general manager of a large firm who expressed surprise at my in-depth knowledge of the subject at hand and who wanted to discuss with me some similar issues. The result: two concurrent assignments of significant proportion.

3. New contact at a conference

Presence at an industry conference helped also in another way. During a coffee break, as part of my habit of networking on such occasions, I was talking with an old business acquaintance (a former client who had changed jobs) and who proved to be both astute and thoughtful. He pointed out that he was not in a position at that point in time to retain a consultant, but introduced me to an associate of his in a parallel division who might be looking for one. That contact eventually resulted in a series of assignments from that second manager.

4. Repeat business

Relatively early in my consulting career, in the course of beating the bushes for new prospects, I knew that I will have some business in a city 2 hours from my office, and realized that I would also have some free time during that day. It seemed like it might be a good opportunity to make some sales calls. I therefore made a telephone call for the purpose of maintaining contact with a former client in that city, suggesting a lunch meeting. He, however, informed me that he would be out of town that day and would have to forego the lunch. Just before hanging up, however, he suddenly remembered that he did have some burning issues and, in the course of the phone conversation, had realized that it was something I might help him with. He therefore suggested that I visit at his office on another day. The result: a six-month assignment.

5. Bread cast upon the waters

There was another unexpected telephone call from a company which had never been a client, inquiring whether we might be of help to them. Discussing the matter with them revealed two facts: one, that we could indeed help them and, two, that they had obtained our name (and a recommendation to go along with it) from another former client of ours whom we shall call Mark. The latter, it seems, had engaged us a year earlier for an assignment which we were not especially keen to perform, furthermore, we had done the job at a bargain-basement price to help a friend with a limited budget. Mark was so pleased with our work that he recommended us, and only us, for the assignment. It was a broad-scope, meaningful one. I call it payback on bread cast upon the waters. Or maybe just good karma.

6. Publication in a trade journal

During a period of low-level activity, I chose to write an article for one of the major trade publications, and was happy when they accepted and published it. I was even happier when the president of a medium-size company, having read that article and having concluded that we might be the ones to be of help to him, informed me of his need for some planning assistance. It resulted in a 5-month assignment with a client who would have been difficult to find by other means: I have found it difficult to locate and then persuade managers at the smaller companies of our ability to help them, and here was one who came to us of his own initiative!

7. Prospecting letters

During another period of low-level activity, I tried a new approach: I wrote to fifteen company presidents offering a generic assessment and updating of their marketing strategy, indicating that we had a new approach for conducting such an evaluation. In response, I immediately heard back from one of the presidents who had been a client some years earlier: no, he did not need help with that particular kind of study, but might have for us another, related project. He had completely forgotten about us and the scope of our activities, and was happy to get my letter which acted as a reminder. We of course were happy to undertake his assignment.

8. Unexpected phone call

Perhaps the most straightforward situation arose when the president of a company called me for some help. We had executed a series of major assignments for him several years earlier when he had been the president of another major corporation. I lost track of him after he had moved to a much smaller company, but he remembered our work of 10 years earlier and now called on us to help him in his new position. A pleasant and unexpected contact!

9. Directory listings

Being listed in directories has paid off on several occasions. Listing in the directory of a trade association brought us to the attention of a major corporation for a growth and diversification assignment. Another listing in a directory of specialized consultants has resulted in several assignments of narrower scope. Being listed in a directory of expert witnesses has resulted in about one expert witness case per year: these cases are not only stimulating and demanding, but lucrative as well. And one of our bigger assignments came about from a listing (in a major directory of consultants) of which I was not even aware.

10. Ex-employer’s referral

Even a satisfied ex-employer of mine was a source of work for us. That company was contacted by a lawyer, defending a client who had used that company’s product, supposedly a defective one. The lawyer thought that one of their technical people might serve as a good expert witness. On further reflection, however, they decided that this might have the appearance of being self serving, and the company recommended me, their former employee, to serve as the much needed expert. I was happy to oblige.

Conclusion

My analysis suggests that no single marketing approach is the best one for us. One common factor: somewhere in the marketing chain somebody knew me or of me. Another important underlying factor was the importance of keeping our name in front of prospective customers. On a number of occasions, as seen here, prospects either had not connected our expertise with their particular situation, or had not remembered us specifically, or had not even considered engaging a consultant. Reminding the prospect by means of a publication, by presenting a talk, or by phone call or letter, has proven productive on a sufficient number of occasions to make us decide that no single marketing approach is sufficient., We have to make a concerted, ongoing effort to have prospects remember us and our capabilities.

All in all, a pretty basic approach, but a powerful one. It works.

Excerpted from the book CAREERS IN CONSULTING, by Peter R. Lantos, Ph.D., P.E. (ISBN 0-938609-74-2).

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Any dislodging from what is familiar, comfortable and predictable is bound to cause some consternation. Confronted with significant change, individuals and organizations initially react in successive levels of emotionalism. Once the inevitability of change is accepted, responses become more rational in an attempt to cope and survive.

Experience indicates six responses to change: Gasping at the prospect; Groaning at the speculation; Griping about the reality; Groping for ways to cope; Grasping at viable solutions, and Growing towards adaptive attitudes and behavior. The intensity and duration of each of the six responses correlates with the acuity of the change and how change is managed.

Myriad examples of individuals, companies and governments substantiate the universality of the six responses on the change continuum. In organizations experiencing dramatic change, management must first determine where the firm is on the continuum in order to develop the appropriate strategy. For example, the type and amount of information shared with employees, as well as how it is shared should take into account whether the organization is in an emotional response mode or a rational response mode. That assessment should determine the tone of communication to employees; that is, the degree to which it is helpful, friendly and authoritative.

Effective communication is critical to any change strategy. The complexity of change requires the creation of a new partnership between management and employees, based on mutual trust and respect. The need for partnership is critical to the organization’s ability to make the transition from emotional responses to rational responses.

excerpted from the book Organizations, People & Effective Communication, by Richard J. Anthony, Sr. United States: University Readers, 2008, page 13. Please call 800.200.3908 x71 or e-mail info@universityreaders.com for additional information on this book.

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Many seasoned business consultants make the comment: “My firm is on the Internet. We have a website. We spent a lot for it. It gives great detail about what we do.” Such a website may provide a digital presence, but it is hardly the well-conceived digital identity needed to position a business consultant as the “go-to” practice in their niche.

What makes us different is what makes our expertise sought after. So, what’s your brand? How can you begin to even think you can compete with those who promote a solid brand message? That’s where you need to know how to build the appropriate brand identity on blogs, social networking sites and websites. It is the branded content of the site that is important to a consultant, not its technology.

Your digital reputation is the only accepted currency on the web. You must leverage “who you are” to affect how you earn. Today, you are not considered for any engagement without the decision makers “Googling” you. It’s their job to find out as much about you as possible. Your references are “your references”…they are biased! Do you know what the Internet says about you, the consultant?

A branded on-line identity process will drive opportunities to you. For this to happen in this new environment, you first must identify your personal brand – your unique promise of value. Then, translate that distinctiveness into the digital realm. Your resulting credibility and visibility will create demand for your services.

Charles “Charley” Timmins, an experienced coach and consultant with 35 years experience in assisting consultants, professionals and executives to Find Great Work, will be speaking on Developing Your “Brand You” Digital Identity at the January 12, 2009, meeting of the Mid-Atlantic Consultants Network.

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Starting a business during a recession, or even continuing the growth of an existing business, requires a good, written, strategic plan. It’s not enough to know how to put a business plan together.  The key to success is to actually create a plan and then execute on it. Here are 10 pointers to help start the process:

1. Market: Research the market for your product or service. Perform 1st-hand research of customers (or potential customers), employees, vendors and competitors.
2. Value: Determine your value proposition. What can you offer to meet the need of the market? How will you meet the need better than the alternatives? Will you have a superior product, will you market it better, do you have first to market advantage, will you price more aggressively or will you have better customer service?
3. Delivery: Determine your means of producing or delivering your product or service in a superior way. Include development, fulfillment, customer service and administration.
4. Customer: Analyze your target customer. What is the universe for your product or service? Who is the ready, willing and able buyer within that market? How can you define them geographically, demographically and from a marketing perspective?
5. Mission: Craft a mission statement addressing desired size of business, type of entity, growth or income goal, industry in, industry position, company advantages, sought revenue and other overall goals.
6. Management: Assess management and staffing needs. What strengths does the management team currently have and what do they lack? What new positions will you need to hire on in the next year? Who needs to be replaced? What staff skills and growth training can occur to invest in your team to better them?
7. Finance: Look back three years (if available) at financial statements. Do monthly projections for the next year and annual ones for 2010 and 2011. What expenses need to be cut, what revenue areas need to be pushed, where is investment needed for the best long term growth?
8. Milestones: By department, lay out short and long term quantitative and qualitative goals and the action plan to achieve each.
9. Risks: To show investors, a board or yourself, that you have thought through challenges you may face and how you will face each head on, clearly articulate key possible challenges you may face. They may relate to the economy, funding, limitations of the team, development risks, market risks or others. Be honest; what do you worry about regarding this business?
10. Learning: Continue to gather more skills and knowledge. Read books, take classes, participate in webinars, attend tradeshows, etc. which address business and strategy generally and your market specifically.

Research, strategize, plan, take action, persist. Repeat.

Entrepreneurial Consulting has prepared a PowerPoint that outlines the basic components and the process needed to create a successful business plan.

Adam Moskow, President of Entrepreneurial Consulting, can be reached at 610-457-9563 or email amoskow@entrepreneurialconsulting.com