Entry by Merv Forney

A Consulting Approach Is About Process

  4 Comments

One of the articles I presented some time ago is "Why developing fees is so hard to do" and is filed in Best practices and Setting rates and fees. One of the important concepts introduced is about process. Here's an important excerpt ...

Consulting is about a process with a pattern that is repeated in every engagement a consultant participates in:

  1. understanding the problem (objective, goal),
  2. price the study effort to perform the following,
    • study (data gathering),
    • evaluate (analyze),
    • assessment (opinions),
    • recommend (advise, report),
  3. receive payment for the study,
  4. collaborate on appropriate plan of action,
  5. price the plan of action based on work to be performed,
  6. perform,
  7. receive payment for performance.

How you manage and present these makes the fee part almost a mute point. Focus on delivering high value (role) at a competitive price (fee). Most non-consultants in real estate start at number 5 above assuming the client's objective has one and only one plan of action and a price already determined (a commission). Hire an electrician or hire an electrical consultant? Treat the symptom or diagnose the disease? If a client is hiring you as a consultant, you owe it to them to go through the entire process above.

As an exercise, take the general outline and match it up with a typical real estate transaction. Those who have SmartPlan™ ought to see it right away!

You might want to review the original article with its many comments to put this in context.

4 Comments

Thanks for revisiting this important thought process Merv. It's a great exercise!

Fee schedule. I am in the process of putting my fee schedule in place. I mean focus is FSBO's. I know that I have to come up with my own fees that match my market, I would like to have a samply of what it looks like.

oops! my main focus is FSBO's.

Go back to your account and complete the Workbook for Business Practice Paractice. That will get you Started strtaed.

This page contains a single entry by Merv Forney published on April 13, 2011 10:16 AM.

Question For Any Texas ACREs, Or Anyone Else who may have the answer. was the previous entry in this blog.

Flat Fee MLS Service is the next entry in this blog.

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