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More and more professional consultants are using Internet links and Web-based research and resources to conduct online presentations and, yes, to provide services to clients.
Today's most effective consultant business people are, in fact, establishing themselves as Web-savvy "human search engines" during face-to-face meetings with prospects and customers. On-site visits are likely to feature tours of market-pertinent websites that professionals have researched expressly for the purpose of sharing with key contacts. In-person presentations may make use of a company extranet (a series of pages designed exclusively for use by a company's customers and suppliers). And more and more professionals are using Internet links to conduct online presentations and, yes, to provide products and services.
Make no mistake: The in-person consultant is still alive and well and we are available to meet with our clients in person at their convenience. But it's worth noting that a growing number of top professionals are relying on Internet-driven research to enhance their in-person recommendations to prospects and customers. A senior executive at a large company in the financial-services field recently described his sales team as "people who are really good at figuring out exactly where to find out the stuff that other people want to know right now. " These days, such people are relying very heavily indeed on their Web browsers.
Of course, the truly effective online consultant must, first and foremost, know what the prospect is looking to accomplish - and that means knowing and listening to the customer. He or she must then be ready, willing, and able to use the Web to track critical industry trends in a given field, and to relay important information to key contacts. This often takes place via e-mail and involves information that prospects want but don't have the time, inclination, or online experience to gather for themselves.
The bottom line is. Many clients overwhelmed by the overabundance of information and faced with important business decisions, are looking to consultants to help them become "virtual experts" in complicated subject areas such as employee benefits, pension planning, or other valuable programs and are buying more from consultants which offer ongoing services through the internet.
One senior decision maker at a manufacturing company recently told me, "These days, I look for good prices from my suppliers. But I also look for them to be my eyes and ears with regard to what's going on in the world of manufacturing as a whole. If a consultant can use the Net to peer around corners and give me advance warning of pricing shifts, schedule changes, inventory problems, or anything else that affects my bottom line, that's a plus in the relationship."
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