The Cobbler's Kids

"But who is wurs shod, than the shoemakers wyfe, With shops full of newe shapen shoes all hir lyfe?"  -- J. Heywood, Dialogue of Proverbs, c. 1546.  via answers.com

You often will hear consultants sheepishly refer to themselves as "the cobbler's kids" (who legendarily go without shoes) when it comes to their organization's business systems and practices, and I've had lively discussions with colleagues over the years about how we need to model the types of behavior we encourage our clients to invest in.

It's an excellent question to consider:  in light of the size and type of firm that we want to be, what's the right level of investment in the types of collaboration, insight, and productivity solutions we help our clients implement, not to mention other operational and administrative functions?

In addition to the voluminous ideas for improvement that my colleagues and I tend to generate (hey, we're consultants!), here are a few things to consider:

1. The "table stakes" or "meets minimum" approach. In some non-strategic areas, we must consider the minimum we can invest without creating an uncomfortable client or associate experience.  While it may not differentiate us competitively to generate beautifully formatted invoices with a minimum of automation, our invoices do need to be timely and accurate.  If we fail to meet this basic standard, we run the risk of hearing from our clients what I recently heard directed to a CIO in a story:  "If you can't run your business well, why would I let you anywhere near mine?"
2. Direct client feedback.  If we create opportunities to listen to our clients (face-to-face meetings, social media interactions, surveys), we are privileged to learn directly from them what they need, whether it's new offerings such as post-deployment SharePoint administration services, or improving the client experience via secure extranets where we can collaborate together on project documentation.
3. External benchmarks.  We're fortunate to be part of a program Microsoft has developed for key partners called "Partner Builder," where they guide us through a self-assessment of our capabilities along a maturity model, across a series of business operations.  Although it would be improved by a report showing us how we compare to peers around the world, it is a useful exercise that helps KMA assess our capabilities, and will serve as a good input for strategic discussions going forward.

There are many places where you can invest in your business, especially in a small services business, but if you balance your natural "consultant-y" problem-solving orientation with these factors, you should be well-shod for years to come.

[Flickr photo:  "shoe repair man" by dmahendra, used under Creative Commons license]