Executive Consulting Services
Communicate your compelling vision clearly and concisely to stakeholders,
both inside and external to your organization.
Our top priority is to clarify and prioritize your goals, so that we can bring your vision to your audience.
Next, we focus on your audience: who can help you achieve your goals, and what do they want?
By considering the perspectives of all your stakeholders we can frame a powerful communications strategy.
Next, we leverage my tried-and-true system for translating your value proposition into a compelling set of communications tools and talking points designed to engage your target audience.
Your chances for success are enhanced by delivering your value proposition with authenticity and validation.
You need to tell your story in your way, while making it compelling to your audience.
We will collaborate on messaging and on identifying best media for that audience.
Then it is just a matter of translating the draft materials into print, digital and verbal media for each audience to help you succeed.
Join the > 1,000 clients who have raised > 1 Billion USD to date to achieve your vision
One-on-one or in small teams, Consulting Services will get you ready fast.
Executive Consulting Process
Use Cases - Clients
Use Cases - Situations
Stop thinking of your board meetings as opportunities to just update the members.
Turn your presentations into pitches, where your ask is for their support in your actions, whether through votes of confidence, introductions or actionable feedback.
Your board members’ job is to help your company succeed by holding you accountable for your strategy and your staff’s execution.
Board meetings can devolve into a dog-and-pony show where you bring out key staff members for updates, expecting that the members will understand the context and relevance of each in supporting your plans.
But very often, the context you experience every day is invisible to your board.
They may appreciate the positive points shown and still miss the big picture, and how your team’s advances fit with the strategy.
Properly framed and delivered, your team’s board presentations can make these critical meetings more useful and the members more supportive of your strategies, even when you are going through challenging times.
Whether you have a new company or a new product in a hot space, a market analyst can make or break your reputation. Or just ignore you.
Whether you reach out or they call you, be ready with a clear, concise and compelling presentation that will make them want to include your news in their latest reports.
Don’t do what many young companies do today:
A market analyst recently told me that companies that wanted to raise their profile would call and pitch him with their innovations. But lately, they call and say, “So, what would you like to know about us?”
His answer? “I don’t know. You’re the one who called me, remember?”
Market analysts, as a rule, are very smart and well-educated, excellent writers and overworked.
They can help make your reputation in the marketplace, or leave you in oblivion. Make it easy for them to recognize your value.
All-hands meeting announcements can be greeted with fear or annoyance. Employees rarely look forward to them, because they expect to hear a sanitized version of reality with little relationship to their own jobs.
Make your all-hands meetings relevant and engaging by avoiding filler material and instead focusing on the points they care about, in a context that is meaningful to them.
If you have to announce a difficult time coming in the near future, present it in a way that encourages them to pull together.
If they are getting a reward for helping with a big success, show them how their contributions fit into the big picture and get buy in for doing it again.
Don’t waste their time. Make it shorter – more clear and concise – with a message that resonates for them – so it is compelling.
Investor pitches have a reputation for being too long and detailed or too short and superficial.
A great investor pitch is one that delivers the right level of detail addressing all the investors’ potential red flags in a way that is consistent, comprehensive and compelling.
You should feel as though you are telling your story in your way. That is what makes you come across as authentic and trustworthy – and investors only invest in people they trust.
Many innovators use other startups’ successful pitches as templates… which just means that they are telling their story in someone else’s way.
Consulting Services Description
Consulting Services Description
Initial Strategy Consult
Build consensus at the team level
Tactical communications processes rely on copying older presentations and changing a word or image here and there, resulting in a patchwork document. Efficient development of compelling communications depends on solid fundamentals that can be adapted to any circumstance.
Consensus is especially challenging when you bring people together from across different groups, departments or organizations.
The problems multiply: Meetings take too long, people do not feel heard, and any apparent consensus falls apart shortly after the meeting is over.
The Initial Strategy Consult is a moderated process for groups of two to twenty with strong opinions about goals or process or both. Achieving consensus requires active moderation that allows people to express themselves while managing disagreements and lengthy monologues.
Preparation is essential. In addition to obtaining the project objectives from the team leader(s), I interview the stakeholders ahead of time: all of them if possible, but at least across the spectrum of responsibilities and authority that will be represented at the consensus-building session. People appreciate being heard in a one-on-one environment and, at the session, I can lead the discussion quickly to address the primary challenges revealed by the interviews.
After the session, I capture the major issues, decisions and action items that emerged during the discussion and produce a report that can serve to move the project forward internally or form the basis of our continuing work…
I have done this work with investment firms, academic groups from two campuses, and innumerable startups. In each case, the result has been a clear statement of goals and an outline of process to which all members can agree to work towards.
Initial Communication Consult
Create a robust foundation
Tactical communications processes rely on copying older presentations and changing a word or image here and there, resulting in a patchwork document. Efficient development of compelling communications depends on solid fundamentals that can be adapted to any circumstance.
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People invest in people who they know, like and trust. Therefore, anytime you communicate with someone who you want as a customer, investor, partner or employee, you need to speak authentically.
Our first goal in the Initial Communications Consult is to be sure that we are telling your story in your way. For this reason, our ICC will start with you presenting your story the way you like to do it today. That way, I will know your style and delivery, and can also provide you with feedback on your presentation skills as desired.
On the other hand, people are most willing to listen to information that is of direct interest to them. No matter how exciting your story is to you, it won’t excite them unless and until you frame it in a way that matters to them. Thus, the rest of our session comprises our working collaboratively to build your story from the ground up, creating a narrative that is engaging to your target audience while maintaining your integrity and vision.
At the end of the session, we will have a new narrative including talking points and draft graphics to support it. I will deliver the new presentation back to you (and record it) to ensure that we have captured the critical content, your vision and the audience’s attention.
I have done this work with investment firms, academic groups from two campuses, and innumerable startups. In each case, the result has been a clear statement of goals and an outline of process to which all members can agree to work towards.
Done-for-you development
Professional materials produced for you
Customers and investors want products that solve their problems, first and foremost. But sloppy, incomplete and inconsistent communications (words and graphics) make them nervous about the level of organization, product quality, and attention to detail that your team delivers.
Most presentation and marketing materials have either too much information or not nearly enough. Your team has more urgent things to do than fiddle with their decks and ensure that the branding and layout are consistent. But if they don’t make time to make their materials professional, the result is often distracted, bored or confused audiences.
You can develop amazing materials by enlisting professional graphic designers if you have the budget and the bandwidth to ensure they understand the technical and business aspects of your value proposition.
But if you are short on time or money, don’t waste them on producing materials that are ineffective. I can develop them directly for you, or work with your graphics team to ensure that subtle concepts are captured.
The messaging we need to convey is clear from our collaboration on talking points and graphics during our Initial Communications Consult. However, the devil is in the details! Translating the draft into compelling materials requires that I develop a script and clean graphics for your review. This process typically results in further clarifications and improved graphics.
You are then provided with a more refined version of the materials accompanied by a recording of the script for your feedback, which is then implemented and provided for final review. This review is often done via webinar or in-person meeting.
If you have a graphic design team, the materials can be developed collaboratively with them to deliver an exceptional set of materials.
My clients, from startups to executives, typically use the graphics and scripts I develop for them for years, whether they are presenting to investors, customers or partners. They even appear on their websites and print media.
You can approach each communications opportunity with confidence that your materials support you in telling your story in your way, while being engaging and compelling to each audience.
Polish Consult
Present your message with polish
Delivering your communications with confidence and authority lends credibility to your message. Whether you take advantage of our “Done-For-You” service or use your own graphic designers, the Polish Consult will ensure that the final product supports your strategic communications needs.
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Professional communications materials are only useful if they actually support your telling your story in your way. If you find yourself struggling to memorize your script or find that you often leave out critical points, your materials are not well designed.
Similarly, if you find that you say too much or do not engage your audience as appropriate, your materials are not well designed.
Great graphics are beneficial only insofar as they help you to communicate well. If you are struggling to connect with your audience, something is wrong.
The Polish Consult is a one- to two-hour session in which I listen to you deliver your message with the materials you want to use. Together, we will identify any problems or sub-optimal words and graphics then refine them to support your message.
These improvements can usually be done in real time, preparing you for your next meeting quickly and efficiently.
The Polish Consult is typically either combined with Done-For-You Development or provided after you or your graphic designers have completed a satisfactory version of your materials.
The clients that skip the “Done-For-You” service have found that providing multiple “touches” in the form of Polish Consults on a quarterly or semi-annual basis result in greatly enhanced skill and polish in delivery.
Long-term strategy consulting
Maintain focus to attain your vison
As your vision and your organization grow and change over time, the one constant is your need to bring your stakeholders – from customers to investors – along for the ride! Periodic check-ups keep everyone on message with strong delivery skills and materials.
New employees, strategic pivots, developing technology, additional target markets – change is constant for any healthy organization. It is all too easy to assume that everyone knows how to communicate your vision to other stakeholders, but the fact is that that is rarely true.
Sales professionals, especially those selling technology-based solutions, need to position their pitches such that potential customers quickly understand the benefits your products and services provide.
Internal meetings such as board meetings and all-hands meetings require that the management team are on the same page, delivering a consistent message while providing domain-focused detail.
External communications, including annual reports, pitches to market analysts and even websites, need to reflect the vision and execution you and your team are delivering.
Rapid change combined with very busy professionals means that clear communications are often neglected, resulting in missed opportunities and addressing avoidable problems.
The Long-Term Strategic Consulting is customized to your needs and wants. Whether it is providing sales training, consults on board presentations, or refinement of materials, I am here to help you to achieve your vision by helping to keep your stakeholders engaged and supportive.
Time frames, frequency and specific services are simple to determine based on successful completion of the Initial Strategic Consult and Polish Consult, with or without the Done-For-You Development package.
FAQ
Are your services available in person or online ?
Can you work with my whole team or do you just work one-on-one?
What is the time commitment for each service?
- The Initial Strategy Consult is usually a half-day program and should be attended by all stakeholders. Preparation time consisting of interviews with representative stakeholders is required.
- The Initial Communications Consult ranges from 2 to 5 hours, depending on complexity and experience. The speaker/ pitcher must attend; other team members are invited at your discretion.
- Done-For-You Development requires a minimum of 2 weeks and can be longer if multiple versions or materials are required. Feedback from stakeholders is needed periodically to refine the final product(s).
- The Polish Consult generally lasts one to two hours and requires participation by the speaker/ pitcher. Other team members are invited at your discretion.
- Long-Term Strategic Consulting is fully customized to your situation so cannot be summarized in terms of time or participation.
What do i need to open the files ?
What are your fees?
Do you offer group programs?
Certainly! Please visit the Training page for a list of programs.
In addition, I often bundle Consulting services with Training into comprehensive Coaching programs for accelerators.
You can also review the Online Courses for self-paced and managed group programs.