Robert K Taylor, Former Public Adjuster, Explains How to Be a Successful Consultant
It’s no secret that consultants are high performers. This is especially true of the experienced consultants who have been in the business for many years. If you ask any one of them about the secret to their success, you might get different answers. That’s because there’s more to being a successful consultant than meets the eye.
Robert K Taylor is a former public adjuster turned consultant from Sanger, California. From his experience as a professional consultant, he sums up the best qualifications that make a successful consultant such as attention to detail, specialization, having critical thinking, being resourceful, and asking the right questions.
Attention to Detail
In most cases, the problem the consultant is hired to find a solution to is a complex one. There are always so many variables and moving parts, so you have to be on your guard all the time, former public adjuster Robert K Taylor explains. You don’t want to submit a report full of errors or base your recommendations on the wrong data.
It’s one thing to be all about the big picture. But you also have to keep your eyes on the little details. A successful consultant needs to be a big picture as well as a detailed person at the same time. The solution could be hiding behind a tiny detail that you might overlook. So, you need to be meticulous and create a list of tasks to help you stay organized.
Specialization
Most consultants start their careers working for different industries without focusing on a specific niche. According to former public adjuster Robert K Taylor, this is a necessary step to help the consultant get as broad of an experience as they can. But sooner or later, he adds, you will have to find your niche. That is what makes you stand out from the pack. That special skill or specialization will make you the go-to consultant in your specific field.
The idea is to find something you’re good at and get better at it. It could be a skill related to your field, such as financial modeling or analyzing charts. It also could be a general skill such as communication or creating rapport with the people you meet for the first time.
Critical Thinking
The difference between an average consultant and a successful one is that the latter doesn’t take anything for granted. As a consultant, former public adjuster Robert K Taylor elaborates, you don’t take what’s given to you at face value. You have to apply your critical mind to get to the bottom of the problem.
This critical thinking becomes crucial when you’re talking to a manager in the company who might have something to hide. As you conduct more surveys and interview more people, you’ll need to analyze their input and use your best judgment to process the data and find the facts. But it’s not just what you come across in analyzing your tasks; even your original task or mission needs to be examined critically. This helps you explore any related issues to come up with a comprehensive solution and recommended actions.
Be Resourceful
You might have noticed that the scope of your work will sometimes take you to unfamiliar territories. That’s just part of the job. You start with a simple task that examines the feasibility of a supply chain and how much the company would save if it invested in one. But as a brilliant consultant, you decide to apply your critical thinking to the task.
This would lead you to examine the financial situation of the company, the competition, and whether the company is facing a decline in sales. In short, your research will take you from one department to the next as you doggedly follow the leads looking for the cause of the issue.
Ask Questions
The way former public adjuster Robert K Taylor sees it, one cannot be an excellent consultant without having the ability to ask the right questions. Your task is to find solutions to a problem, and you will interview many people and conduct surveys to get a better understanding of the problem. This involves not being afraid to ask questions even if the questions are not comfortable to some people.
A successful consultant is someone who builds a broad experience in different fields before specializing in a specific industry. They use their critical thinking and resourcefulness to delve deeper into the task at hand and find the right solutions.
