What's an SOW?

Statement of Work. Basically the broad strokes 'to-do list' for the project.

Statement of work

Your scope / statement of work. What you are on the hook to deliver.

couple of questions to that:

> * You can win by getting every contract reviewed, or by just signing them blindly

could you elaborate on that? not sure i understand

> * Keep your SOWs vague

that can help you or hurt you, right? i'm working at a big consulting firm and our motto is to write the SOWs as explicitly as possible to prevent scope creep.

> * Don’t do conferences/conventions

why? isn't that a perfect way to stay up to date and network?

>> You can win by getting every contract reviewed, or by just signing them blindly

> could you elaborate on that? not sure i understand

Not the OP, but what I think they mean is that the time or money spent to review contracts just about pays for itself: if you spend a lot of time reviewing contracts or a lot of money having them reviewed by professionals, you may save some money some of the time, but if you just sign contracts after a cursory glance you will probably come out even just the same, on average.

We reviewed everything, but large competitors of ours did almost the opposite, and they were fine. If it was me, I'd get everything reviewed, but apparently it's just a school of thought.

For SOWs, I find that it helps to keep them very explicit about the larger goals and the "why" of the project, but vague on details, and then enter into an agreement where the customer pays you to keep scope at a level where the larger goal and "why" can be accomplished within budget, not into an agreement where the customer controls the scope and you just balloon the budget if they increase it.

I tend to keep my SOWs vague so allow for reprioritization of work and protect myself. I also never write SOWs on basis of outcomes, but as an activity. Ie here is what I will do, but if you decide to not take my advise, don’t blame me if the desired outcomes aren’t delivered. This makes a big difference when chasing up invoices.

I read that Alan Weiss preferred to keep SOW detailed so that the client cannot give you extra work during the scope that was not the initial focus due to the vagueness.

Good list but curious why you advise against doing conferences and conventions. The obvious benefit in my mind is advertising, potential clients, and most importantly, advertisable "credibility" on your website in the form of "Speaker at X conf".

I'm not in the consulting business, however, and the list of benefits is speculative.

Don't, like, set up a booth. By all means give talks.

Conference booth presence can be an enormous time and resource cost. Giving talks is far better marketing.

Some contrasting perspectives, three years in:

> Specialize

Or die.

> Bill daily, not hourly (you can bill weekly, or quarterly, too.)

Largely agreed, the hour is a bad unit which poses the potential for customers treating you as someone they can throw random time-wasting tasks at. I'd add, consider fixed/value pricing on certain projects. Particularly if/when you specialize, and as you take on tasks that are more close-ended (consulting, analysis, design, ie, anything that's not implementation) you may be able to shatter your rate ceiling this way. I've had projects where I've effectively 5x-10x'd my rate with fixed prices.

> Your availability on a calendar is worth money; so is your implied consent to be terminated on no notice; make sure you’re charging for it

Worth reminding your customers in a casual chat explicitly (and tactfully, of course) if they raise an eye brow at your rates. I've done it and have brought potential customers back into the fold very quickly.

> Don’t hire a salesperson

Your mileage might vary on this one. I'm currently testing a playbook / sales process that I might be able to delegate in a few months... This can be further made easier if you've specialized properly. I've heard of some people having success with some degree of sales delegation, but I'll admit I have no experience with it. At any rate, I'd agree that you are always going to be Chief Sales Officer, unless maybe you form a partnership (ie, a proper company) with someone who takes on that role - and even then you'll still need to devote some degree of time to sales (going to critical meetings, etc.)

> Don’t waste time on your website design

Unless you're doing design-ey things, maybe. But regardless, don't make it utter crap either, there are so many consulting firms with off-putting websites that reek of lack of professionalism that offering a clean design might be a differentiation factor.

How would you suggest someone new to consulting handles sales? I've talked to consultants that get all of their leads from old conference talks they did, but you advise against it.

In my book, there is a finite number of options:

1. Go through your network - lots of writing / talking in case someone knows someone who's looking right now.

2. Become famous - conferences, blogging etc.

3. Cold call potential clients.

4. Work with recruiters and dedicated boards for this.

For an established consultant, I can imagine they get a lot of business through referrals, but for someone just starting out, I don't think so. What worked for you in the early days? Did I miss a strategy that works?

I think that's this bullet:

* Don’t waste time on your website design (but do write)

Specifically, "do write". Your writings will be way more accessible than conference talks.

He also may mean "don't sponsor or have booths at conferences or conventions". I personally find them valuable for connections but you don't need to attend them to make sales.

I’ve been contracting for four years and added a former colleague as a subcontractor to my contract for the past year: is that the sort of thing you are advising to “get out of” quickly or being a subcontractor yourself?