Embedding yourself in a client’s organisation
What do we mean by 'Embedding yourself within a client's organisation'?
Becoming a part of day-to-day operations, almost like an employee and being a recent face to one or more specific parts of a business (e.g. sales team, strategy and customer success team, operations team).
This means coming to every key meeting, learning all there is to know about your business and its functions, and working day to day with the team and managers to truly understand the team and the business as if it were my own. We do this because we really don’t believe in being that paradigmatic consultant who sits on a sideline and shouts some unjustified advice then runs away. We want to become a real part of your team, and follow our motto of being the “champions behind champions'', and embedding ourselves ensures our advice and implementation are accurately calibrated to your business’s needs.
Why might a client ask us to do this?
Rather than a client asking us to do this, for us, it is usually a necessity. For example, to properly consult on how to build a CRM and maintain a pipeline, we do an in-depth discovery, and sometimes, if there is no team member or capacity to implement the suggestions, we are the executive stop-gap. So, when your remit is sales support and pipeline maintenance for let's say, a CEO, you become au courant of the daily workings very quickly and you can provide feedback and advice based not only on exterior knowledge and prior experience, but applying this to an in-depth knowledge of the client and it's capabilities and shortcomings to truly tailor our approach to your needs.
How deep is too deep? How do you balance your Vollardian self & your client self?
You can tell you are too deep as soon as you begin to do off-scope work, especially when the off-scope work you’re doing could be a project in itself. Knowing when this happens comes with experience and always going back to the proposal to understand what you are there for, but it can be difficult to see it coming sometimes as it usually happens slowly and it just becomes a slippery slope.
You learn to balance the Vollardian self (as a consultant), and your client self by having regular internal check-ins with the rest of the team working on the project. Because of the manager’s embedment into the client organisation, it's easy to forget there is an entire team working on the client’s project. Therefore, there should always be a buffer between you and the client, in the form of a sort of hierarchy. So this means giving your client multiple points of contact with Vollardian. They will always have a manager such as me as their main point of contact, however they will also have contact with a Vollardian Director or Project Lead who have higher level oversight of the project, as well as other Analysts staffed on the project through those regular check-ins.
Don’t just take our word for it, take it from the pros: case study
Vollardian acted as an "Acting Chief Marketing Officer" and project managed a client's entire transition to a new website - including running a tender process to employ the best web development / brand agency, appointing SEO and paid marketing agencies, holding these agencies accountable to deliverables; and establishing Action Rehab's localised social media presence for each clinic.
Vollardian’s team specialises in helping businesses grow. With a team that has a wide variety of industry experience and professional backgrounds including finance, sales, science, product, start-ups, and more, we understand that growth is defined differently by each company, and we tailor our approach to fit any need.
Like most consultants we come up with growth strategies, but we implement these solutions too. A strategy is worth nothing if it's not adopted right? So our main role is to make those strategies come alive.
Contact us at hello@vollardian.com if this sounds like something your business may need!
