Is There Enough Pain?
Moving from the corporate world to the consulting world has it share of differences, and things that are the same. As the Throughput Improvement Process progressed through GM, I got a lot of high level support, from people like Gary Cowger, Tom LaSorda (when he was there), and others. When that level of support existed, there was little doubt that the plant was going to would listen to what I had to say, and at least give a pilot program a worthwhile effort. They were pretty much sold after that.
In the consulting world, I run across a lot of potential customers that would be great to work with. They have an interesting product, they have a lot of sharp people, they are poised to grow significantly, etc. Many times the need for the solution I am offering is very apparent, at least to me. But the question I ask myself now is, “is there enough pain?”
It has become a filtering process to help me decide who I am going to spend time with, and who am I going to push farther down the list of prospects, especially for follow up work. Many of my potential clients are interested in the Theory of Constraints, simulation, data collection, scheduling, project management, etc. But often it is just that – curiosity. They don’t really feel enough pain to change their paradigm to the solution that I am describing to them.
For some of these clients, I could rattle off a list of Undesirable Effects that are due to one conflict or constraint. I could then follow that with a proven solution that I can clearly explain will have benefit to them. I could go through a list of clients that would be willing to sing the praises of that solution in their company. But for this client to make the change from where they are to the new process I am proposing is a tough choice for them, because they fear the solution more than their current situation. For most of my clients to make the jump, they have to feel that of pain from their current situation is so bad that they are willing to try any solution that makes sense.
Some of the consultants who I work with get stuck on this – they see a client they would REALLY like to worth with, and who they think they can provide a lot of benefit. But they are frustrated that the client doesn’t want to move to the new solution. These consultants keep going back to these clients, constantly trying this method or that method to get the client to buy their solution. But their target clients are fairly comfortable with their current situation, and see little reason to move. Like in the Mermaid situation in a previous posting, they are okay dealing with the problems they have. I have to advise these fellow consultants to move on to other clients, because if their potential clients don’t feel the pain, the chances of your solution being adopted are slim to none. They are better off quickly moving on to the next potential client, and hope that this one is squirming with pain. Then they might see a client “getting off the pot,” and adopting the proposed solution.
