Okay, repeat after me:

* "That's not a good idea."

* "Why that arbitrary alternative?"

* "That won't work."

* "No, I'm not going to do that."

The lower level the contact from a prospect, the more you'll be asked to submit a response to some "program" or "intervention" that the requester has in mind. The higher the level, the more you'll be asked to demonstrate how you can generate certain results.

Recently, a human resources committee contacted me from a major pharmaceutical company. They wanted detailed answers to ridiculous questions. I mentioned that I had worked with a dozen major pharma firms and began my projects by discussing objectives with the project owner. The HR guy sniffed that they would never simply "allow" just anyone to talk to an executive.

Ciao, baby. Your loss.

Most bright training and HR people will respond maturely when you tell them that their process is suspect or their approach is flawed. But the rest will take offense and become defensive.

We're not in business to try to obtain clients no matter what the cost. In fact, we won't be in business long if we cater to unreasonable demands and sacrifice our own perspective and integrity. This is not about arrogance or "attitude," it's about self-esteem.

The Bigger They Are, The Better They Are

Even in current clients, you serve the buyer best when you oppose the unwise and unlikely. Internal people are busy being "yes persons" at every turn. The client doesn't need more of us agreeing for the sake of keeping a job or staying in favor.

Senior people are really the easiest to confront. They are confident and powerful, and will listen to rational argument (though they won't suffer fools gladly). One of the toughest (and most successful) CEOs I've ever worked with, Roy Vagelos at Merck, was more than willing to spend time listening to pushback and resistance when faced with a legitimate case. His tenure at Merck set performance records.

Ethically, we're obligated to tell a prospect or client when something doesn't have the chance of a strawberry shortcake in an "all you can eat buffet" of surviving. Whenever I've said to a strong prospect, "There may be a better way to do this," the response has taken the form of "What would that look like? We're open to suggestions." But with weak prospects, the reaction is, "Look, this is the way we do things" (there is no reason for it, it's just our policy).

Life is too short to be obsequious. In fact, most of us are refugees from large, bureaucratic institutions, so why be a sycophant on the outside?! Lousy prospects make horrible clients. I've never yet seen a rude, unreasonable, and/or intransigent prospect become a cordial, reasonable, flexible client.

A client called the other day and asked if I'd do something on better sales presentations. I asked why there was a need and what the background was. I was told that a sales executive accidentally watched people practicing at the last conference and thought the results were dreadful, so he now wanted people to formally practice in front of him. I explained that this was crazy, since it would make people nervous and would result in rehearsed presentations, not real improvement. I suggested that what they were really after was an increase in influence and persuasion, without any "auditions" or forcing anyone on the spot.

The client loved it and said "proceed." We never discussed fees. There is intrinsic value not just in our helping achieve results, but also in helping to achieve the best route to get to them. Value trumps fee, cost, and objection every time. But you don't provide value if you're busy caving, collapsing, and capitulating to every nutty prospect notion. ("Can you help improve morale while we downsize?" "Oh, sure, great idea!!")

The Advantages Of The "Outsider"

The reason that there is still a strong market for external consulting help is that organizations no longer have the residual talent to engage in transformational change and sophisticated organization development in an increasingly complex age. Internal staffs lack credibility and quake in the face of line executives who are, understandably, demanding and bold.

Don't sacrifice the credibility and independence that are our key assets as external resources. I know the mortgage has to be paid and the responsibility of supporting others is not to be taken lightly. Ironically, though, we create better business for ourselves by being willing to walk away from nutty suggestions and intractable procedures.

I could tell you that the customer is always right, that any business is better than no business, that it's tough competing with larger firms, and that we should do anything possible to "get in the door."

But I'm not going to do that.

© Alan Weiss 2007 All rights reserved.

Alan Weiss, Ph.D., is a contributing editor to RainToday.com and has been cited by the New York Post as “one of the most highly respected independent consultants in the country.” His clients have included The Federal Reserve Bank, Hewlett-Packard, Mercedes, JP Morgan Chase and over 200 similar world-class organizations. He has written 26 books which appear in 8 languages. He conducts a global mentoring program. You can reach him via his web site: http://www.summitconsulting.com or his blog: http://www.contrarianconsulting.com.