Maintaining Personal Brand Stewardship as an Independent Training Consultant

Clients will most often remember the names of consultants who were highly exceptional or highly unreliable once a project has ended. Naturally, independent training consultants understand the importance of promoting their services and to prospective and current clients. How do you stand out as exceptional consultant in an intensely competitive market?

Making sure that your name ends up in the "exceptional" pile takes more than just providing a good product or service. Just as a store clerk ensures that their customers are satisfied with their purchase, independent training consultants should also take a proactive approach to customer service when interviewing for and engaging in projects. Personal brand stewardship goes beyond client satisfaction; it involves maintaining your integrity by making subtle behavioral adjustments to send a clear message that you care.

Whether you are currently engaged in a contract or are attempting to close one, make personal brand stewardship your priority by exhibiting the following behaviors:

Contact Information - Provide your most current and accurate contact information in order to be reached as well as searched. Internal databases have the ability to search for parameters such as area codes, zip or postal codes, states or provinces, to isolate candidates in a particular geographic region. When creating a profile for online media, choose a local region, such as the closest urban centre, to optimize searches without revealing sensitive information on the internet, and ensure that your profile is "searchable."

Be Upfront: Let stakeholders know your true intentions regarding your involvement with a project. If you cannot commit to the timelines or the deliverables of a project, don't overload your schedule by accepting responsibilities you cannot deliver on, only to let them down in the long run. If there are logistical issues that can be worked out, bring them up immediately so as not to impose any further delays to the project.

Be Prompt: Even if delays are unintentional, they send a negative message to clients and stakeholders. Arrive to all interviews and meetings on time and prepared. Take extra efforts to produce deliverables on time, on budget and within scope. Make certain that all paperwork and administrative aspects of the project are conducted promptly so operations can run smoothly behind the scenes.